Sunday, January 18, 2009

They might throw us both out of the country

This coming March marks the 7th anniversary of my husband's entrance into the United States. While he's always been proud to call himself a Canadian, the time has finally come when he has decided to become a US Citizen. The process, while lengthy, is not actually difficult. They ask 10 questions, of which only 6 need to be answered correctly, and all of these are picked from a bank of 100 questions, which are publicly posted on their website, complete with corresponding answers. Pretty easy, right?

Upon learning this information, the Lisa Simpson part of my personality decided that she IMMEDIATELY needed to take this test and be graded on it. She got 65 right out of 100.

When you consider that I never studied for this quiz, and didn't peek at the questions ahead of time, then 65% isn't that bad. But, when you realize that I've lived in this country for 31 years and probably could have scored 100% if I took the quiz in 8th grade, then yeah, I should probably make sure I carry my birth certificate around with me.

Here are some of the pitfalls that hup & I fell into while quizzing each other:

Question: What is the supreme law of the land?
Hup's answer: Survival of the fittest!
Correct answer: The Constitution

Question: What one thing is Ben Franklin famous for?
My answer: Inventing the bifocal!
Correct possible answers: U.S. diplomat; oldest member of the Constitutional Convention; first Postmaster General of the United States; writer of “Poor Richard’s Almanac”; started the first free libraries

Question: What do we call the first ten amendments to the Constitution?
Hup's answer: The Ten Commandments
Correct answer: The Bill of Rights

Question: What did the Declaration of Independence do?
My answer: Freed the slaves
Correct answer: Declared our independence from Great Britain

Question: Name one branch or part of the government.
Hup's answer: The CIA
Correct possible answers: Congress, legislative, executive, judicial, the President, the courts

Question: The idea of government is in the first 3 words of the Constitution. What are these words?
My answer: E Pluribus Unum
Correct answer: We the People

Question: Name one of your state's US Senators.
Hup's answer: "Demon"
Me: "Demon?"
Hup: "Devil! Deval. What's he? State Representative? Lord of the Land? What is he? Mayor?"

I think we both have some studying to do.

Thursday, January 01, 2009

I can't put my arms down!