Can You Pass the Citizenship Test?

When immigrants want to become Americans, they must take a civics test as part of their naturalization interview before a Citizenship and Immigration Services officer. Beginning this past October, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) changed the sample questions used to test all applicants who file for naturalization. Some of the new questions are easy, but some are not. We have selected 20 of the new questions for you to test your knowledge of U.S. civics. The questions are typically given orally in an interview and while there may be multiple answers to a question, there are no multiple choice questions. The answers to all of the following questions are listed on page 17 in the Kid’s in the Kitchen section. Good luck, no cheating, and if you are a registered voter, don’t forget to exercise your right to vote here in November! For a complete listing of all 100 questions used to test applicants for citizenship, visit the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website at www.uscis.gov.

  1. Who is the Commander in Chief of the military?

  2. What are the two parts of the U.S. Congress?

  3. Who is considered the “Father of Our Country”?

  4. Name two U.S. territories.

  5. Name the two longest rivers in the United States.

  6. During the Cold War, what was the main concern of the United States?

  7. Who did the United States fight in World War II?

  8. Who was President during World War I?

  9. What did Susan B. Anthony do?

  10. What did the Emancipation Proclamation do?

  11. What territory did the United States buy from France in 1803?

  12. Why does the flag have 13 stripes?

  13. What do we call the first ten amendments to the Constitution?

  14. What did the Declaration of Independence do?

  15. Who are the two Florida Senators?

  16. The House of Representatives has how many voting members?

  17. We elect a U.S. Representative for how many years?

  18. What is one thing that Benjamin Franklin is famous for?

  19. What stops one branch of government from becoming to powerful?

  20. What is the Supreme Law of the land?

Answers:

  1. The President
  2. The Senate and the House of Representatives
  3. George Washington
  4. Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands, or Guam
  5. Missouri River and the Mississippi River
  6. Communism
  7. Japan, Germany, and Italy
  8. Woodrow Wilson
  9. Fought for women’s rights
  10. Freed the slaves in the South
  11. The Louisiana Territory
  12. Because the stripes represent the original colonies
  13. Bill of Rights
  14. Announced our independence from Great Britain
  15. Mel Martinez and Bill Nelson
  16. Four hundred thirty-five (435)
  17. Two (2)
  18. He was the oldest member of the constitutional convention, first Postmaster General of the U.S., started the first free libraries, and he was a U.S. diplomat
  19. Separation of Powers
  20. The Constitution

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