Quiz: Test your civics

[proud2BlibKansan]

America's top students struggled to answer these questions. Can you do better?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15013517/site/newsweek/

[cynatnite]

1. I missed two

but I don't feel bad at all about it...

Sept. 26, 2006 - Does going to college make students better-educated citizens? A new study of more than 14,000 randomly selected college students from across the country concludes that the answer is often no. Not only did many respondents at the 50 participating colleges fail to answer half of the basic civics questions correctly, but at such elite schools as Cornell, Berkeley and Johns Hopkins, the college freshmen scored higher than the college seniors. Josiah Bunting, III, chairman of the National Civic Literacy Board of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI), the nonprofit that funded the study, decried “the students’ dismal scores” as providing “high-quality evidence of… nothing less than a coming crisis in American citizenship.” Mike Ratliff, a senior vice president at the ISI spoke to NEWSWEEK’s Pat Wingert about the study’s findings, which were released today.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15014682/site/newsweek/

[RC]

5. I missed 7 & 8

7 because I was getting tired of straining my brain and

Who'da thought I could have missed #8? It has to be wrong. Maybe I didn't.


On EDIT!
http://www.warresisters.org/piechart.htm

[cynatnite]

38. I missed 8, too

I thought we spent more on the pentagon and military than anything else. Perhaps it's changing since so many baby boomers are beginning to retire.

Missed the one about seperation of church and state in the Jefferson papers as well/

[VeggieTart]

28. I missed number 8 as well

Seems like a lot of us think there's more spending on the military than on Social Security.

I recently read in Robin Morgan's "Fighting Words" (which you all should pick up sometime) that Thomas Jefferson was pressured to add the word "Creator" to the Declaration of Independence.

[Rabrrrrrr]

2. 75%, but I call bullshit

They say that the government spends more on Social Security than on the military. I don't believe that.

Unless Social Security spending is not included in the general budget that says that 50% or so of our budget goes to the military.

[proud2BlibKansan]

12. Yes I missed that one too

I could have sworn military spending was more than SS.

[mod mom]

19. me too. I thought of my True Majority pen that shows defense as #1.

[lonestarnot]

13. I'm with you on that question.

[TahitiNut]

15. There's "budget" and "off budget." (Social Security is "off budget.")

Discussion of federal spending requires a comprehension of the terminology, like it or not. :shrug:

[stevebreeze]

23. just from your little chart here the test is WRONG

Military spending would include not just "national defense" but also "veterans benefits" which on your chart add up to more then SS.It is also reasonable to include that portion of the "interest on the debt" attributable to military spending.

[TahitiNut]

26. Well, that's not how the terms are used.

Convince the OMB, GAO, Congress, etc. and then write Newsweek. :shrug:

[Kingshakabobo]

32. I would put Veteran's benefits under 'entitlements'...........

I got that question right because I assumed entitlements count for our largest outlay.. But I see your point.

I got this wrong:

>>>The idea that in America there should be a “wall of separation” between church and state appears in<<<

...because I didn't read it literally for the terminology(wall of separation). I picked Constitution due to the establishment clause.

88 percent

[IChing]

16. It said payout not spend.........trick question

[MethuenProgressive]

20. Look at the figures on what % got which questions wrong

holy smokes - looks like a bunch of childs were left behind!

[IChing]

30. I taught students to take tests and made tests

payout (ie checks money etc) is not the same as spend. So the question and answer, though deceiving was correct.

[TahitiNut]

37. Yep. (Former teacher here.)

:thumbsup:

It's not uncommon for people to answer the question in their head rather than the one asked.

It's also quite common in courts, business, and everyday discourse.

People. Don't. Pay. Attention.

:shrug:

[devilgrrl]

29. I think it's bullshit too.

:mad:

[buddhamama]

48. i scored the same

and, answered the same question incorrectly. i echo you in calling it bullshit.

[Buck Turgidson]

3. I got seven out of eight....

only because I read DU.

[The Deacon]

34. 100%

And that's WHY I read DU.

[lonestarnot]

4. That was fun.

[StrongbadTehAwesome]

6. I got one wrong...

we pay out more for social security than military/defense (though SS is separate from the general budget, of which the military IS half the spending). Those correct-answer percentages scare me, though.

[tenshi816]

45. I think that question was worded badly.

Military is the big budget item, but not a "pay out" in the sense that social security is. Very tricky wording.

[TahitiNut]

7. "You answered 100% of the questions correctly."

:shrug:

[DRoseDARs]

8. Only got the first one wrong; hesitated on the SS vs Military spending. nt

[hyphenate]

9. I got 6 right

Just bad judgement on the two I got wrong. :shrug:

[Bucky]

10. Nailed it! Eight for eight, baby. I'm the man! I should have seven votes!!

It reads "Thanks for taking our quiz. You answered 100% of the questions correctly. You have very large ones."

Gee, how did they know?

[Gabi Hayes]

27. me, too, baby! but where's the bit about the very large ones?

I want them to know that about me, too!

damn them

Thanks for taking our quiz. You answered 100% of the questions correctly.

1. This battle brought the American Revolution to an end:
Correct
Yorktown
—Percentage of seniors who scored correctly: 45.6 percent

2. The idea that in America there should be a “wall of separation” between church and state appears in:
Correct
Thomas Jefferson's letters
—Percentage of seniors who scored correctly: 27.2 percent

3. The phrase “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal . . .” is from:
Correct
The Declaration of Independence
—Percentage of seniors who scored correctly: 47.9 percent

4. The Bill of Rights explicitly prohibits:
Correct
establishing an official religion for the United States
—Percentage of seniors who scored correctly: 49 percent

5. What kind of government is a junta?
Correct
military
—Percentage of seniors who scored correctly: 53.3 percent

6. Among which of these groups would Saddam Hussein have found his most reliable supporters?
Correct
Baath Party
—Percentage of seniors who scored correctly: 45.2 percent

7. A progressive tax:
Correct
requires those with higher incomes to pay a higher ratio of taxes to income
—Percentage of seniors who scored correctly: 66.2 percent

8. The Federal government’s largest pay out is for:
Correct
social security
—Percentage of seniors who scored correctly: 19.9 percent

[Der Blaue Engel]

11. Wow, I only missed one

I thought for sure I'd get them all wrong. I'm not as dumb as I thought. :D

Federal spending tripped me up.

[RC]

14. You didn't get it wrong.

Funny accounting by the criminals. The fix is in.

[Scoot420fla]

22. yeah, I thought it was military myself...n/t

[MethuenProgressive]

17. 100% - cuz I knew the answer they wanted for #1

Yorktown wasn't really "the battle that brought an end to the Revoluntionary War".

MethuenProgressive aka HistoryNerd

[TahitiNut]

25. "The World Turned Upside Down"

Was it or wasn't it? :evilgrin:

[Scoot420fla]

18. I missed 2 & 8 - 75% ... n/t

[Scoot420fla]

21. weird...

4. The Bill of Rights explicitly prohibits:
Correct
establishing an official religion for the United States
—Percentage of seniors who scored correctly: 49 percent

5. What kind of government is a junta?
Correct
military
—Percentage of seniors who scored correctly: 53.3 percent


...more seniors know the definition of a Junta than know that we can't establish an official religion.

[karlrschneider]

24. I missed 1 and 2 but I quarrel with the response to #2

The "exact phrase" isn't in the Con but it is implicit. And I should have known better about Yorktown.
...

[Kingshakabobo]

36. I agree on 2.....The "idea" is in the establishment clause.......

.....the "phase" is in the Jefferson letters.

[karlrschneider]

39. Exactly. They focused on the wording rather than the principle.

I realize there's some art involved in formulating objective questions and that makes it difficult to get similarly objective responses. I wish there were fewer morons in the world. ...:eyes:

[tenshi816]

46. That's another one that was worded badly.

Why didn't the question ask where the term "wall of separation between church and state" came from instead of the "idea"? No wonder so many people got it wrong.

[Bluerthanblue]

31. 88% missed the last question- SS not military, but that doesn't

take into account the CIA/FBI expenditures, or the cost of the Iraq/Afghanistan Wars does it??

[LostInAnomie]

33. Missed the last one

But I dispute their answer!

[sakabatou]

35. 88%

I knew that #2 was off. It was in Jefferson's papers but also in another paper... can't remember the name off the top of my head.

[ms liberty]

40. I missed #8...n/t

[VOX]

41. Got all except the Soc. Sec. question, which I thought was military. n/t

[Spirochete]

42. I missed #8

Thought the answer was military.

[OregonDem]

43. Got them all.

Thanks for taking our quiz. You answered 100% of the questions correctly.

[RiDuvessa]

44. Missed one.

#8 same as everyone it would seem

[Habibi]

47. Ayup, me too

Got all the others right--gosh, like the poster above stated, I didn't know I knew so much!