For the Americans: would you pass the new citizenship test?

The test which immigrants must pass in order to be granted US citizenship has just been made a little tougher, with less emphasis on trivia and more on civic knowledge.

I gave it a try and got 24 out of 25 correct. If you'd like to try your luck, you can do so here:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21019797/

15/25 - guess I'd have a tough time trying to become a citizen with only a 60% mark

What Matters Most Is How Well You Walk Through The Fire. Bukowski

Actually you would have passed. To take the test you're given ten out of 100 possible questions. If you answer six correctly (60%), then you've passed.

I got 100%...but I admit that I pride myself on being a history buff

Excellent job! The only one I missed was the one about how long a term is for representatives.

Well Dravus see how well you do on the Australian test...

http://www.australiantest.com/

What Matters Most Is How Well You Walk Through The Fire. Bukowski

Meh...only 4 out of 10 on that one. Guess I won't be becoming an Australian citizen anytime soon.

That just goes to show how silly these tests are because I'm sure this country could only benefit from Puss becoming a citizen

BTW, with all these tests you do have an opportunity to study and/or practice.

What Matters Most Is How Well You Walk Through The Fire. Bukowski

It seemed like most of the questions were mostly trivial stuff, such as what the animals are on the Australian coat of arms, and what was the name of Captain Cook's ship. Is knowing any of that really necessary for living one's day to day life?

23 out of 25, guess I'm alright. Like it says on the statue of liberty: "Give us your wealthy, your competent, your huddled masses with connections in high places."

We shouldn't arm ourself for war, arms are for hugging

These trivialities are no different to something like "What year was the Constitution written"

But these trivialities are important to some.

I immigrated with my parents at a young age and assimilation was very important at the time so learning all these "trivialities" was important to fitting in. But in this day and age I believe it is just as important to know the customs of all the nations that cohabit our great countries.

What Matters Most Is How Well You Walk Through The Fire. Bukowski

Yeah, knowing all that stuff is part of the assimilation/integration process. I'm not surprised to learn you're an immigrant. Something like 40% of Australia's population are immigrants.

I'm an immigrant too. The Swedish work for immigrant is "invandrare" which looks to me a lot like the word, "invader."

Especially:

8. Give three Australian colloquialisms for swimming suit
1) budgie smugglers, cossies, swimmers
2) budgies cossers, toggie batties, swimmy budgers
3) togs, bummies, sossies
4) swommies, cossies, mugglers

how about 2?

No.1.

Well the thing is Jessie, if you want to understand references in the popular press you do kind of have to know these things (colloquialisms, I mean). My partner picked all three without even being told the multiple choice options.

It seems as silly to me as it would to most but the answer was also embedded in my head years ago.

BTW. This question is the only one you need to get right to get your citizenship, none of the others count.

What Matters Most Is How Well You Walk Through The Fire. Bukowski

AWESOME!!! That's one of the four that I actually got right.
Let's throw another shrimp on the barbie, mate!