Check your Knowledge of American Government/History [Archive]

protectkidz

10-01-2008, 11:23 AM

"...The first people we asked were Julie and Peter Caruth, 66 and 68. The Sacramento residents answered nine of the 10 questions correctly, tripping up only on how old citizens had to be to vote for president.

They answered 21 years old — which was the correct answer for when they became eligible to vote. But the 26th Amendment was ratified in 1971, making the current voting age 18 throughout the United States.

Brian Billings, 69, a retiree from Tulsa, Okla., knew how old you needed to be to vote, but was stumped when asked: "Who was the president during World War I?"

"That's a good question," he replied. The correct answer: Woodrow Wilson. Of those who missed that one, the most common response was Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was president during World War II (the answer to another of the 100 questions on the government's test).

Andee Scarantino, 23, a New York waitress, missed on Wilson and on something very important in the lives of adults in America: Tax Day. Scarantino guessed that federal income taxes are due April 24.

It's actually April 15. But as Billings pointed out, extensions can be granted, as long as you apply for them by April 15.

Our third-, fifth- and eighth-graders didn't know when taxes were due, either, but we gave them a pass on that, since they have a few years before they have to worry about making sure Uncle Sam gets his due. (Their parents, on the other hand, are another story.)

Our third-grader got four of 10. The fifth- and eighth-grader each got six of 10, good enough to become U.S. citizens. They knew what the Constitution did and could name three of the 13 original states.

All three answered that William Howard Taft was president during World War I, leading FOXNews.com to believe that they may have collaborated on parts of the test.

British citizen Hanks Johnson Oshinaike, 40, a motivational speaker who hopes to become a U.S. citizen before the end of the year, got six of the 10 right, eking out a passing grade. He missed Tax Day, how long a congressman serves in one term, and Woodrow Wilson.

David T., a 43-year-old engineer who from Princeton, N.J., who declined to give his last name, became a U.S. citizen in 2003. He got eight of the 10 questions right five years after passing the government's old citizenship test. He didn't get the Woodrow Wilson question and the question the most often incorrectly answered on our list: "How many justices are on the Supreme Court?"

Five of the 10 test-takers missed the mark, guessing between seven and 12. (There are nine.)

While he didn't know how many justices were on the court, 42-year-old Willie Johnson, a contractor from Brooklyn, was able to name several members of the sitting court and a few former Justices.

On his list: William Rehnquist, Sandra Day O'Connor, David H. Souter, Clarence Thomas and Ruth Bader Ginsberg.

"I used to be great at history," said Johnson, shaking his head. He got five of the 10 questions right, not enough to pass. "I've got two kids entering college. My mind is scattered. … I was trying. I was trying."

John Jenkins, 42, an operating engineer from Smithtown, N.Y., managed to get eight of 10 questions right — missing the number of Supreme Court justices and the number of years a member of Congress is elected.

Lawrence, 59, and Kim Chapman, 52, of San Diego, got the same questions wrong as Jenkins.

"It was a little tricky," Jenkins said. "I haven't been asked those questions in a long time."..."

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,431212,00.html