Dumbest Citizenship Test Question
posted by Gerard Magliocca
I was recently looking at the questions that are asked on the citizenship test. There’s a mix of good, bad, and confusing in there, but the oddest question is clearly this: “What is one thing Benjamin Franklin is famous for?” I’m not sure why this is so crucial, but things get worse when you look at the (only) acceptable answers:
1. U.S. Diplomat
2. Oldest Member of the Constitutional Convention
3. First Postmaster General of the United States
4. Writer of “Poor Richard’s Almanac”
5. Started the first free libraries
Something is missing here. Do you see what it is?
November 10, 2012 at 12:07 am
Posted in: Uncategorized
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Responses (12)
TJ - November 10, 2012 at 12:34 am
The question is way to vague, since I can add notable facts from “being on the $100 bill” to “signer of the Declaration of Independence” to “accomplished scientist and inventor.”
nidefatt - November 10, 2012 at 12:49 am
Kites and keys, bifocals, other such things come to mind
paean - November 10, 2012 at 1:07 am
“6. all of the above”
Steven Lubet - November 10, 2012 at 7:41 am
He was the founder of the Pennsylvania Anti-slavery Society.
For more on problems with the citizenship test, see:
http://www.salon.com/2007/02/21/citizenship_test_2/
mtb - November 10, 2012 at 11:01 am
Well, Jefferson gets all the credit, but he really was one of the authors of the Declaration of Independence. Plus, he was president — of Pennsylvania. But if you are looking beyond citizenship, I’d say his experiments with electricity were pretty important.
Adam - November 10, 2012 at 11:13 am
Hookers.
Veracitor - November 10, 2012 at 11:57 am
Come on, friends! Obviously the one thing missing is a WRONG answer, so the prospective citizen who is just guessing about Ben Franklin can have a ~20% chance of missing the question! (It diminishes the dignity of the United States to have a citizenship test you can’t even fail if you want to.)
Sam Bagenstos - November 10, 2012 at 2:51 pm
Inventor of the stove, of course.
Jimbino - November 10, 2012 at 6:57 pm
First Atheist among all those Deists and the superstitious Romanists, Jews and Puritans.
Nicole Huberfeld - November 11, 2012 at 4:40 pm
Founder of the University of Pennsylvania (as well as “all of the above”).
Ray Campbell - November 12, 2012 at 2:26 am
Author of arguably the best American autobiography, and inventor of the self-improvement genre.
Edward Still - November 12, 2012 at 2:20 pm
He was not Postmaster General of the US, but of the North American colonies under the British Crown.
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