This past week.....the Homeland Security folks announced a 'test' episode for the current US citizenship test.
Currently....there are four parts to the test (civics, English language, reading and writing).
To pass the current test.....you have to answer six of the ten questions right. To be honest....they kinda tell you the questions ahead of time....from a 'listing' of 100 questions. So you'd have to be an idiot....to fail this test.
What they want to change? Well....to make it multiple choice, and then they hinted....there would be new material, but they really weren't clear what this meant. They did say there would be a different type of English test...leaving you to wonder what they meant by this.
Having taken the German orientation class, and passed it.....it kinda runs the same way.
Lessening the test business? You would do that if the incoming folks really weren't that bright or educated....like they were at the 5th-grade level at age 25. That would make sense but beg questions if you admitted that you had a bunch of 'new' Americans who really weren't that bright.
But lets get honest here.....probably one-third of Americans probably are at the 5th/6th grade level of knowledge and ability anyway. If you applied the current test to some 40-year old Americans....they'd likely fail.
My humble view is that a fair number of the 'test-change' folks came in...reviewed the material....feeling it was way over their heads, and reported back to their bosses in DC....the whole test is too complicated (even for them).
