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On November 30, 2006, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Emilio Gonzalez announced the release of 144 questions and answers for the pilot test of a new naturalization exam. USCIS will administer the pilot exam to about 5,000 volunteer citizenship applicants in 10 cities beginning in early 2007. USCIS included new questions that focus on the concepts of democracy and the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. In designing the new exam, USCIS received assistance and worked with test development contractors, U.S. history and government scholars, and English as a Second Language experts. USCIS also sought input from a variety of stakeholders, including immigrant advocacy groups, citizenship instructors and District Adjudications Officers. The pilot will allow USCIS to work out any problems and refine the exam before it is fully implemented nationwide in the spring of 2008. During the trial period, volunteer applicants who choose to take the pilot exam can immediately take the current exam if they incorrectly answer a pilot question. To pass, applicants will have to correctly answer six of 10 selected questions. The 10 pilot test sites are: Albany, NY; Boston, MA; Charleston, SC; Denver, CO; El Paso, TX; Kansas City, MO; Miami, FL; San Antonio, TX; Tucson, AZ; and Yakima, WA. According to a report from Washington Post, even most of Americans cannot answer the new questions correctly. What happen to their citizenship? One volunteer responded "will they take our citizenship away from us?" More detailed report, see this interesting article at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/03/AR2006120301012.html. CIS Director also announced that fees for naturalization will increase significantly soon. Therefore, if you are eligible to apply naturalization, you had better be hurry. Pilot Exam Questions and Answers 1. Name one important idea found in the Declaration of Independence. A: People are born with natural
rights. 2. What is the supreme law of the land? A: The Constitution 3. What does the Constitution do? A: It sets up the government. 4. What does “We the People” mean in the Constitution? A: The power of government comes from the people. 5. What do we call changes to the Constitution? A: Amendments 6. What is an amendment? A: It is a change to the Constitution. 7. What do we call the first ten amendments to the Constitution? A: The Bill of Rights 8. Name one right or freedom from the First Amendment. A: Speech 9. How many amendments does the Constitution have? A: Twenty-seven (27) 10. What did the Declaration of Independence do? A: Announce the independence of the
11. What does freedom of religion mean? A: You can practice any religion you want, or not practice at all. 12. What type of economic system
does the
A: Capitalist economy 13. What are the three branches or parts of the government? A: Executive, legislative, and
judicial 14. Name one branch or part of the government. A: Congress 15. Who is in charge of the executive branch? A: The President 16. Who makes federal laws? A: Congress 17. What are the two parts of the United States Congress? A: The Senate and House (of Representatives) 18. How many
A: 100 19. We elect a U.S. Senator for how many years? A: Six (6) 20. Name your state’s two
A: Answers will vary. [For
21. How many
A: Two (2) 22. The House of Representatives has how many voting members? A: 435 23. We elect a U.S. Representative for how many years? A: Two (2) 24. Name your U.S. Representative. A: Answers will vary. [Residents of territories with nonvoting delegates or resident commissioners may provide the name of that representative or commissioner. Also acceptable is any statement that the territory has no (voting) representatives in Congress.] 25. Who does a U.S. Senator represent? A: All citizens in that Senator’s state 26. Who does a U.S. Representative represent? A: All citizens in that Representative’s district (each state is divided into districts) 27. What decides each state’s number of
A: The state’s population 28. How is each state’s number of Representatives decided? A: The state’s population 29. Why do we have three branches of government? A: So no branch is too powerful 30. Name one example of checks and balances. A: The President vetoes a bill. 31. We elect a President for how many years? A: Four (4) years 32. How old must a President be? A: Thirty-five (35) or older 33. The President must be born in what country? A: The
34. Who is the President now? A: [Current president] (as of November 20, 2006, George W. Bush) 35. What is the name of the President
of the
A: [Current president] (as of
November 20, 2006, George W. Bush) 36. Who is the Vice President now? A: [Current vice president] (as of
November 20, 2006- Richard (Dick) Cheney) 37. What is the name of the Vice
President of the
A: [Current vice president] (as of
November 20, 2006- Richard (Dick) Cheney) 38. If the President can no longer serve, who becomes President? A: The Vice President 39. Who becomes President if both the President and the Vice President can no longer serve? A: The Speaker of the House 40. Who is the Commander-in-Chief of the military? A: The President 41. How many full terms can a President serve? A: Two (2) 42. Who signs bills to become laws? A: The President 43. Who vetoes bills? A: The President 44. What is a veto? A: The President refuses to sign a
bill passed by Congress. 45. What does the President’s Cabinet do? A: Advises the President 46. Name two Cabinet-level positions. A: Secretary of Agriculture 47. What Cabinet-level agency advises the President on foreign policy? A: The State Department 48. What does the judicial branch do? A: Reviews and explains laws 49. Who confirms Supreme Court justices? A: The Senate 50. Who is the Chief Justice of the
A: John Roberts (John G. Roberts, Jr.) 51. How many justices are on the Supreme Court? A: Nine (9) 52. Who nominates justices to the Supreme Court? A: The President 53. Name one thing only the federal government can do. A: Print money 54. What is one thing only a state government can do? A: Provide schooling and education 55. What does it mean that the U.S. Constitution is a constitution of limited powers? A: The federal government has only
the powers that the Constitution states that it has. 56. Who is the Governor of your state? A: Answers will vary. [ 57. What is the capital (or capital city) of your state? A: Answers will vary. [District of Columbia residents would answer that DC is not a state, and that therefore it does not have a capital. Any answer that mentions one of these facts is acceptable.] 58. What are the two major political
parties in the
A: Democrats and Republicans 59. What is the highest court in the
A: The Supreme Court 60. What is the majority political party in the House of Representatives now? A: Democrats 61. What is the political party of the majority in the Senate now? A: Democrats 62. What is the political party of the President now? A: Republicans 63. Who is the Speaker of the House of Representatives now? A: Nancy Pelosi 64. Who is the Senate Majority Leader now? A: Harry Reid 65. In what month are elections held in
the
A: November 66. What is the current minimum wage in
the
A: $5.15 67. When must all males register for the Selective Service? A: At age 18 68. Who is the Secretary of State now? A: Dr. Condoleezza Rice 69. Who is the Attorney General now? A: Alberto Gonzales 70. Is the current President in his first or second term? A: Second 71. What is self-government? A: Powers come from the people. 72. Who governs the people in a self-governed country? A: The people govern themselves. 73. What is the “rule of law”? A: Everyone must obey the law. 74. What are “inalienable rights”? A: Individual rights that people are born with 75. There are four amendments to the Constitution about who can vote. Describe one of them. A: Any citizen over 18 can vote. 76. Name one responsibility that is only
for
A: Vote 77. Name two rights that are only for
A: The right to apply for a federal
job 78. Name two rights of everyone living
in the
A: Freedom of expression 79. What is the Pledge of Allegiance? A: The promise of loyalty to the flag and the nation 80. Name one promise you make when you say the Oath of Allegiance. A: To give up loyalty to other
countries (I give up loyalty to my [old][first][other] country.) 81. Who can vote in the
A: All citizens over 18 82. Name two ways that Americans can participate in their democracy. A: Vote 83. When is the last day you can send in federal income tax forms? A: By April 15th of every year 84. Name two of the natural, or inalienable, rights in the Declaration of Independence. A: Life 85. Who wrote the Declaration of Independence? A: Thomas Jefferson 86. When was the Declaration of Independence adopted? A: July 4, 1776 87. Name one reason why the colonists
came to
A: Freedom 88. What happened at the Constitutional Convention? A: The Constitution was written. 89. Why did the colonists fight the British? A: They had to pay high taxes but
did not have any say about it. (Taxation without representation.) 90. When was the Constitution drafted? A: 1787 91. There are 13 original states. Name three. A: Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Virginia. 92. What group of people was taken to
A: Africans 93. Who lived in
A: The Native Americans 94. Where did most of
A:
95. Why were the colonists upset with the British government? A: Stamp Act 96. Name one thing Benjamin Franklin is famous for. A:
97. Name one famous battle from the Revolutionary War. A:
98. Who is called the “Father of Our Country”? A: George Washington 99. Who was the first President? A: George Washington 100. Name one of the writers of the Federalist Papers? A: James Madison 101. What group of essays supported passage of the U.S. Constitution? A: The Federalist Papers 102. Name one of the major American
Indian tribes in the
A: Cherokee, Seminoles, Creek,
Choctaw, Arawak, Iroquois,
[Adjudicators will be supplied with a complete list.] 103. Name one war fought by the
A: War of 1812, Mexican American War, Civil War, or Spanish-American War. 104. What territory did the
A: The
105. What country sold the
A:
106. In 1803, the
A: West of the
107. Name one of the things that Abraham Lincoln did. A: Saved (or preserved) the
108. Name the
A: The Civil War 109. Name one problem that led to the Civil War. A: Slavery 110. What did the Emancipation Proclamation do? A: Freed slaves in the Confederacy 111. What did the abolitionists try to end before the Civil War? A: Slavery 112. What did Susan B. Anthony do? A: She fought for women’s rights. 113. Name one war fought by the
A: World War I, World War II,
114. Who was President during World War I? A: Woodrow Wilson 115. The
A: World War II 116. What was the main concern of the
A: The spread of communism A: The Soviet Union [ 117. What major event happened on
September 11, 2001, in the
A: Terrorists attacked The
118. What international organization was established after World War II (WWII) to keep the world at peace? A: The United Nations 119. What alliance of
A: NATO ( 120. Who was President during the Great Depression and World War II? A: Franklin Roosevelt 121. Which U.S. World War II general later became President? A: Dwight Eisenhower 122. What did Martin Luther King, Jr. do? A: He fought for civil rights. 123. Martin Luther King, Jr. had a
dream for
A: Equality for all Americans 124. What movement tried to end racial discrimination? A: The civil rights movement 125. What is the longest river in the
A: The Missouri River
A: The
127. What country is on the northern
border of the
A:
128. Where is the
A:
129. Where is the Statue of Liberty? A:
130. What country is on the southern
border of the
A:
131. Name one large mountain range in
the
A: The
132. What is the tallest mountain in
the
A:
133. Name one
A:
134. Name the state that is in the
middle of the
A:
135. Name one state that borders
A: Alaska, Idaho, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont, or Washington 136. Name one state that borders on
A:
137. What is the capital of the
A:
138. Why does the flag have 13 stripes? A: Because there were 13 original
colonies 139. Why do we have 13 stripes on the flag? A: Because there were 13 original
colonies 140. Why does the flag have 50 stars? A: There is one star for each
state. 141. What is the name of the National Anthem? A: The “Star-Spangled Banner” 142. On the Fourth of July we celebrate independence from what country? A:
143. When do we celebrate Independence Day? A: July 4 144. Name two national
A: New Year’s Day
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