american history quiz....

[riverc0il]

I don't think they're saying people should know this stuff. I think their real agenda (considering the "Media Highlioghts" of Rush Limbaugh and Fox News) is that college educated folks are elitists who don't know history and are leading the country astray. Of course, I haven't bothered to read their "latest findings," as I believe it will only make me angry, but that's my guess.

Yea, I went back and added something to my prior post after having read some of their research findings from the past few years. They were rather critical of TV et al. and even mentioned that elected officials scored worse than the GP during one year. :roll: That seems to fit as elected officials are elected not for their understanding of civics or history but rather than understanding of voters and a particular party platform. That is the only concern I have.... the founders of the country knew mob rule was not a good idea thus our democracy is representative specifically because human nature and society is such that every citizen will not be an ace at civics, economics, and international relations. I don't think citizens having a better understanding of history or civics would have much effect on the direction of the country, though. It is too much of a chicken versus the egg thing and too systematic throughout history for me to believe otherwise. But I do think we should do better than less than half of the public knowing the three branches of government. Not for the public benefit but rather for the individual's benefit.

 

[Marc]

This is more civics than history though some historic questions were included. 84.85% here but I think some questions/answers were not phrased well. Such as Question 8 about the Supreme Court in which the correct answers to me read that the President can just appoint justices any time he wants when the Court disagrees with them whereas you need to await a vacancy. Question 29 is tricky in that I was skimming the answers and didn't see the word "directly" in the correct answer. 33 I should have read more carefully as well, tricksy on the wording.

I had no idea on questions 4 and 7.

8 was in reference to FDR's court packing scheme.

 

[riverc0il]

8 was in reference to FDR's attempted court packing scheme.

Guess I need to brush up on my history.

This thread has now proved educational for me.

 

[bvibert]

I did so poorly on the quiz that I apparently broke the system, the website keeps crashing and won't give me a score. It's probably for the better though.

 

[Geoff]

90.91% - 3 wrong

Crap reading comprehension on two of them

 

[MR. evil]

I thought I would do better on this.I agree with rivercoil about the wording of #8. I wanted to choose Roe V Wade on #12 but it seemed too easy of an answer so I thought it was a trick. I though I selected what turned out to be the correct answer for #33 but I must have selected the wrong button.


You answered 28 out of 33 correctly — 84.85 %

Average score for this quiz during April: 74.6%

You can take the quiz as often as you like, however, your score will only count once toward the monthly average.

If you have any comments or questions about the quiz, please email americancivicliteracy@isi.org.

You can consult the following table to see how citizens and elected officials scored on each question.

Where to from here?

Answers to Your Missed Questions:


Question #7 - D. Gettysburg Address
Question #8 - C. appoint additional Supreme Court justices who shared his views
Question #10 - C. Religion
Question #12 - B. the Supreme Court struck down most legal restrictions on it in Roe v. Wade
Question #33 - D. tax per person equals government spending per person

 

[bvibert]

I did so poorly on the quiz that I apparently broke the system, the website keeps crashing and won't give me a score. It's probably for the better though.

Wow, it finally gave me my score: You answered 27 out of 33 correctly — 81.82 %

Way better than I thought I'd do

 

[bvibert]

I though I selected what turned out to be the correct answer for #33 but I must have selected the wrong button.

Same thing for me, I know I selected D, not C.

 

[ctenidae]

Pretty good scores all around. Some of the questions are a little outside the normal bounds, but seems like a relatively knowledgeable crowd here, despite daily indications to the contrary.

 

[bvibert]

BTW - we went through this quiz in 2008, I think they change the questions, but the topics remain the same.

http://forums.alpinezone.com/showthread.php?t=42502

I actually scored better than I thought I would, 21 out of 33 - 63.64%. I couldn't imagine anyone knowing less about this stuff than I do...

Guess I got more smarterer since then...

 

[Marc]

Pretty good scores all around. Some of the questions are a little outside the normal bounds, but seems like a relatively knowledgeable crowd here, despite daily indications to the contrary.

Last night I stuck a pea up my nose.

 

[ctenidae]

BTW - we went through this quiz in 2008, I think they change the questions, but the topics remain the same.

http://forums.alpinezone.com/showthread.php?t=42502



Guess I got more smarterer since then...

I did too- at least, I remembered Socrates, but still had a block on Lincoln.

And Marc, didn't you learn anything from the Great Raisin Fiasco in November? Or the Carrot Calamaty in February? Clearly, you did not.

 

[legalskier]

Got two wrong, one of which I was so close to answering correctly (27). Darn.
I have to agree that the wording on several was tricky; I had to read them very carefully.

Last night I stuck a pea up my nose.

Nice.
You might consider treating yourself with a neti pot for that. Here's an instructional vid using various liquids: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQm7YpxgOnA
Good luck Marc! ;-)

 

[Marc]

I did too- at least, I remembered Socrates, but still had a block on Lincoln.

And Marc, didn't you learn anything from the Great Raisin Fiasco in November? Or the Carrot Calamaty in February? Clearly, you did not.

Slow learner.


The funniest was still the Danish Debacle of '06. The ceiling is still has stains on it.

 

[ctenidae]

Slow learner.


The funniest was still the Danish Debacle of '06. The ceiling is still has stains on it.

I've never seen anyone do that with icing. Astounding. And the things the girl from Tijuana did, spinning the Danish on the burro's...well, this is a family show.

Makes me think of the Raisinets episode with the twins. When was that, '05?

 

[mondeo]

I got the same ones wrong. I still think the Pres declares war and Senate confirms.

 

[mondeo]

1783 is "Modern" world history. In my round 2 College career, had to take it again. One of teh students asked why the book started at 1783, and the proff wasn't sure. Being the smart ass I am, I had to chime in- US constitution, French Revolution, the beginning of the rule of law, government on paper, relatively important elements of the modern world. I slept through the rest of the semester.

Wait...there's college level history classes?

 

[Hawkshot99]

You answered 29 out of 33 correctly — 87.88 %

 

[BeanoNYC]

Wouldn't have mattered. Unless you're taking a college course specifically dealing with it, most schools never get past WWI; history apparently doesn't exist after that.

The course I teach starts with U.S. Imperialism and ends with the Obama Administration.

 

[severine]

The course I teach starts with U.S. Imperialism and ends with the Obama Administration.

It's been 15 years, I'll give you that... but I hear the same thing from freshman and sophomores at school who are traditional students. I can absolutely see the value in focusing on the newer rather than the older information, though. Obviously more useful in the long run.