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Old 02-09-2012, 08:25 PM   #21
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Did anyone else think some of the questions were worded like a push poll?
Yes they were.
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Old 02-09-2012, 08:26 PM   #22
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Yes they were.
+1
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Old 02-09-2012, 08:37 PM   #23
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27/33 - not great but acceptable for someone who is not from the US
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Old 02-09-2012, 08:44 PM   #24
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Brilliant! You are entitled to some leeway in these matters.
Thanks, I don't suppose I would do any better on a UK civics test.
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Old 02-09-2012, 09:17 PM   #25
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The link has been going around in emails for awhile. We had already taken the test. I got 30 of 33. DW has taught HS American Government in the recent past. She got 31 of 33 and said the two questions she missed were wrong. She found good (at least it looked good to me) documentation to support her arguements. Whenever I get anything like this in an email I question the accuracy of the editorializing and the motives of whomever started the email. The test seemed pretty easy to me (40+ years since I sat in a Civics class). I have a hard time believing that college professors did so poorly on the test. What I can believe is that a whole bunch of people have flunked out of college and do not like college professors.
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Old 02-09-2012, 09:19 PM   #26
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Dang you guys are smart!

Did anyone else think some of the questions were worded like a push poll?
A couple of the 'free market' ones struck me that way, though I agreed with them, but it should be presented more neutrally. Or did you mean others?

29/33. One I really should have got, too embarrassed to mention which one.

I can understand others missing the Lincoln-Douglass debate one, being from IL I've got a bit more exposure, so I knew the answer was a bit different from what many people might assume. I'd bet most people's ideas about the "Emancipation Proclamation" are off-kilter as well.

But then I screwed up the 'of/by/for the people' - knew a few it wasn't, but I needed a 50-50 life-line. Doh! I might have to turn in my IL plates!

And I tend to lump all those amendments together, I really don't recall which rights are which amendment. FWIW, I don't think that captures the 'spirit' of civic knowledge, that's moving towards trivia. One should score well on the concepts of what our rights are, the number/order is less important IMO. I guess you could say that about a lot of the questions, but if you know the answer, it's no big deal

What I find more fascinating is that that some of those had to be amendments!

I hemmed and hawed over the 'public good' question - I sorta don't agree with their answer, but it's a bit squishy.

But average scores of 49% are a little frightening, as are lower scores by those in office. But who knows, I could go on, claim to be President, or a Supreme Court judge, and then try to do poorly. Can't really trust a self-selected group like that.

Also, did anyone else notice they Capitalized "Supreme Court" and "United Nations", but "president" was not? That seemed odd to me.


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Old 02-09-2012, 09:54 PM   #27
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I got 30 of 33 correct. The only ones I missed were the ones about the Puritans, the one about Socrates, and the one weird one about free markets. Several others were tough and I took an educated guess and got them right.

Pretty scary at how low some of the others were correctly answered, either by citizens or elected officials. Same for overall percentages of correct answers. I agree with push-poll bias in some of the questions.
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Old 02-09-2012, 10:02 PM   #28
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33/33 but I was not sure of my answers on maybe 3 or 4.

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Old 02-09-2012, 10:09 PM   #29
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A perfect score is remarkable.
I think it means that we both spent way too much time "feeding the Elephant's Child". :-)
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Old 02-09-2012, 10:58 PM   #30
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Showoffs.
I think anyone getting in the upper 20's should be commended. Most of us do not have much exposure to this information once we get beyond our school years. A perfect score is remarkable.
29 here.
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The link has been going around in emails for awhile. We had already taken the test. I got 30 of 33. DW has taught HS American Government in the recent past. She got 31 of 33 and said the two questions she missed were wrong. She found good (at least it looked good to me) documentation to support her arguements. Whenever I get anything like this in an email I question the accuracy of the editorializing and the motives of whomever started the email. The test seemed pretty easy to me (40+ years since I sat in a Civics class). I have a hard time believing that college professors did so poorly on the test. What I can believe is that a whole bunch of people have flunked out of college and do not like college professors.
29/33, but I demand a recount.

Question: If taxes equal government spending, then:
Your Answer: government debt is zero
Correct Answer: tax per person equals government spending per person on average

Yeah, but what if the government spends the money on foreign aid? Different people paying the taxes and different people receiving the revenue doesn't imply that tax per person equals spending per person...
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Old 02-10-2012, 04:47 AM   #31
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Dang you guys are smart!

Did anyone else think some of the questions were worded like a push poll?
Yes.

The results make it seem some forum members paid attention during high school. I am not part of that group. I do like the way REW uses his own score to set the bar for good vs excellent.

As for Alan, my experience with expats is, as a group, they have far better knowledge of US civics than a comparable group of US born, raised and schooled. This is very good fortune for the US.
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Old 02-10-2012, 05:29 AM   #32
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I do like the way REW uses his own score to set the bar for good vs excellent.
The opportunity to make myself look good doesn't come along all that often so I jumped all over this one.
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Old 02-10-2012, 06:06 AM   #33
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Though it might be a stretch to expect citizens to remember the particulars of all the amendments, or even the Bill of Rights, the firtst and second amendments in particular, and maybe the fifth and tenth as well, get enough coverage in the popular press to warrant some public awareness.

What amuses me is when people rant about following "The Constitution" and "The Bill of Rights", as if they were seperate documents...
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Old 02-10-2012, 06:45 AM   #34
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One thing I liked about the quiz is how it differentiated between the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Too many people, including politicians, seem to confuse the two (often intentionally, it seems) when trying to support their positions.
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Old 02-10-2012, 06:55 AM   #35
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It is not at all a surprise that forum members score substantially higher than average or even college educators.
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Are you more knowledgeable than the average citizen? The average score for all 2,508 Americans taking the following test was 49%; college educators scored 55%. Can you do better? Questions were drawn from past ISI surveys, as well as other nationally recognized exams.
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Old 02-10-2012, 06:58 AM   #36
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29/33. Oh well, we all have an off day.

I haven't take a philosophy class since 1970 so I missed the one on Socrates, et al.
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Old 02-10-2012, 07:13 AM   #37
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Question: Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and Aquinas would concur that:
Your Answer: all moral and political truth is relative to one’s time and place
Correct Answer: certain permanent moral and political truths are accessible to human reason
Question: Free markets typically secure more economic prosperity than government’s centralized planning because:
Your Answer: property rights and contracts are best enforced by the market system
Correct Answer: the price system utilizes more local knowledge of means and ends
Question: What was the source of the following phrase: “Government of the people, by the people, for the people”?
Your Answer: U.S. Constitution
Correct Answer: Gettysburg Address
Question: The Puritans:
Your Answer: were Catholic missionaries escaping religious persecution
Correct Answer: stressed the sinfulness of all humanity
Question: If taxes equal government spending, then:
Your Answer: government debt is zero
Correct Answer: tax per person equals government spending per person on average
28 of 33
I need to read all the answers before picking the right one...
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Old 02-10-2012, 07:15 AM   #38
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Originally Posted by jclarksnakes View Post
The link has been going around in emails for awhile. We had already taken the test. I got 30 of 33. DW has taught HS American Government in the recent past. She got 31 of 33 and said the two questions she missed were wrong. She found good (at least it looked good to me) documentation to support her arguements. Whenever I get anything like this in an email I question the accuracy of the editorializing and the motives of whomever started the email. The test seemed pretty easy to me (40+ years since I sat in a Civics class). I have a hard time believing that college professors did so poorly on the test. What I can believe is that a whole bunch of people have flunked out of college and do not like college professors.
How many of those college professors attended high school in the USA?
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Old 02-10-2012, 07:23 AM   #39
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"Question: Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and Aquinas would concur that:
Your Answer: all moral and political truth is relative to one’s time and place
Correct Answer: certain permanent moral and political truths are accessible to human reason
Question: Free markets typically secure more economic prosperity than government’s centralized planning because:
Your Answer: property rights and contracts are best enforced by the market system
Correct Answer: the price system utilizes more local knowledge of means and ends
Question: What was the source of the following phrase: “Government of the people, by the people, for the people”?
Your Answer: U.S. Constitution
Correct Answer: Gettysburg Address
Question: The Puritans:
Your Answer: were Catholic missionaries escaping religious persecution
Correct Answer: stressed the sinfulness of all humanity
Question: If taxes equal government spending, then:
Your Answer: government debt is zero
Correct Answer: tax per person equals government spending per person on average"

jIMOh, the three questions I got wrong were among the 5 you got wrong. And I answered the same wrong answers you did. I had no chance on the first two, but on the Puritans one I was mentally flipping a coin between what I chose and the right answer. The Gettysburg one was tough, it sounded more like it was from a speech than from a document.
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Old 02-10-2012, 07:31 AM   #40
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27/33....with a few outright guesses.
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