100 Civics Questions and Answers for the 2008 Test with MP3 Audio (English version)

100 Civics Questions and Answers for the 2008 Test with MP3 Audio (English version)
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The 100 civics (history and government) questions and answers for the 2008 version of the civics portion of the naturalization test are listed below. The civics test is an oral test and the USCIS officer will ask the applicant up to 10 of the 100 civics questions. An applicant must answer 6 out of 10 questions correctly to pass the civics portion of the naturalization test.

On the naturalization test, some answers may change because of elections or appointments. As you study for the test, make sure that you know the most current answers to these questions. Answer these questions with the name of the official who is serving at the time of your eligibility interview with USCIS.

Although USCIS is aware that there may be additional correct answers to the 100 civics questions, applicants are encouraged to respond to the civics questions using the answers provided below.

* If you are 65 years old or older and have been a lawful permanent resident of the United States for 20 or more years, you may study just the questions that have been marked with an asterisk.

  • Listen to the MP3 audio of all 100 civics questions and answers (MP3, 42.09 MB)

AMERICAN GOVERNMENT

A: Principles of American Democracy

1. What is the supreme law of the land? Question 1 Audio (MP3, 156.91 KB)

2. What does the Constitution do? Question 2 Audio (MP3, 244.46 KB)

3. The idea of self-government is in the first three words of the Constitution. What are these words? Question 3 Audio (MP3, 236.72 KB)

4. What is an amendment? Question 4 Audio (MP3, 235.91 KB)

5. What do we call the first ten amendments to the Constitution? Question 5 Audio (MP3, 181.75 KB)

6. What is one right or freedom from the First Amendment?* Question 6 Audio (MP3, 313.28 KB)

7. How many amendments does the Constitution have? Question 7 Audio (MP3, 147.13 KB)

8. What did the Declaration of Independence do? Question 8 Audio (MP3, 362.56 KB)

9. What are two rights in the Declaration of Independence? Question 9 Audio (MP3, 231.02 KB)

10. What is freedom of religion? Question 10 Audio (MP3, 174.83 KB)

11. What is the economic system in the United States?* Question 11 Audio (MP3, 214.33 KB)

12. What is the “rule of law”? Question 12 Audio (MP3, 329.98 KB)

B: System of Government

13. Name one branch or part of the government.* Question 13 Audio (MP3, 357.26 KB)

14. What stops one branch of government from becoming too powerful? Question 14 Audio (MP3, 238.35 KB)

15. Who is in charge of the executive branch? Question 15 Audio (MP3, 157.31 KB)

16. Who makes federal laws? Question 16 Audio (MP3, 283.15 KB)

17. What are the two parts of the U.S. Congress?* Question 17 Audio (MP3, 187.86 KB)

18. How many U.S. Senators are there? Question 18 Audio (MP3, 150.39 KB)

19. We elect a U.S. Senator for how many years? Question 19 Audio (MP3, 161.79 KB)

20. Who is one of your state’s U.S. Senators now?* Question 20 Audio (MP3, 360.11 KB)

21. The House of Representatives has how many voting members? Question 21 Audio (MP3, 180.53 KB)

22. We elect a U.S. Representative for how many years? Question 22 Audio (MP3, 165.05 KB)

23. Name your U.S. Representative. Question 23 Audio (MP3, 422.83 KB)

24. Who does a U.S. Senator represent? Question 24 Audio (MP3, 157.31 KB)

25. Why do some states have more Representatives than other states? Question 25 Audio (MP3, 324.28 KB)

26. We elect a President for how many years? Question 26 Audio (MP3, 152.02 KB)

27. In what month do we vote for President?* Question 27 Audio (MP3, 157.31 KB)

28. What is the name of the President of the United States now?* Question 28 Audio (MP3, 373.61 KB)

  • Visit uscis.gov/citizenship/testupdates for the name of the President of the United States.

29. What is the name of the Vice President of the United States now? Question 29 Audio (MP3, 415.19 KB)

30. If the President can no longer serve, who becomes President? Question 30 Audio (MP3, 203.74 KB)

31. If both the President and the Vice President can no longer serve, who becomes President? Question 31 Audio (MP3, 232.65 KB)

32. Who is the Commander in Chief of the military? Question 32 Audio (MP3, 157.31 KB)

33. Who signs bills to become laws? Question 33 Audio (MP3, 158.94 KB)

34. Who vetoes bills? Question 34 Audio (MP3, 141.43 KB)

35. What does the President’s Cabinet do? Question 35 Audio (MP3, 164.24 KB)

36. What are two Cabinet-level positions? Question 36 Audio (MP3, 1.02 MB)

37. What does the judicial branch do? Question 37 Audio (MP3, 349.12 KB)

38. What is the highest court in the United States? Question 38 Audio (MP3, 159.35 KB)

39. How many justices are on the Supreme Court? Question 39 Audio (MP3, 402.35 KB)

40. Who is the Chief Justice of the United States now? Question 40 Audio (MP3, 429.86 KB)

41. Under our Constitution, some powers belong to the federal government. What is one power of the federal government? Question 41 Audio (MP3, 408.57 KB)

42. Under our Constitution, some powers belong to the states. What is one power of the states? Question 42 Audio (MP3, 485.13 KB)

43. Who is the Governor of your state now? Question 43 Audio (MP3, 240.39 KB)

44. What is the capital of your state?* Question 44 Audio (MP3, 375.18 KB)

45. What are the two major political parties in the United States?* Question 45 Audio (MP3, 190.3 KB)

46. What is the political party of the President now? Question 46 Audio (MP3, 374.84 KB)

47. What is the name of the Speaker of the House of Representatives now? Question 47 Audio (MP3, 410.91 KB)

C: Rights and Responsibilities

48. There are four amendments to the Constitution about who can vote. Describe one of them. Question 48 Audio (MP3, 468.03 KB)

49. What is one responsibility that is only for United States citizens?* Question 49 Audio (MP3, 264.82 KB)

50. Name one right only for United States citizens. Question 50 Audio (MP3, 242.42 KB)

51. What are two rights of everyone living in the United States? Question 51 Audio (MP3, 426.66 KB)

52. What do we show loyalty to when we say the Pledge of Allegiance? Question 52 Audio (MP3, 237.95 KB)

53. What is one promise you make when you become a United States citizen? Question 53 Audio (MP3, 578.79 KB)

54. How old do citizens have to be to vote for President?* Question 54 Audio (MP3, 179.3 KB)

55. What are two ways that Americans can participate in their democracy? Question 55 Audio (MP3, 681.01 KB)

56. When is the last day you can send in federal income tax forms?* Question 56 Audio (MP3, 183.78 KB)

57. When must all men register for the Selective Service? Question 57 Audio (MP3, 260.34 KB)

AMERICAN HISTORY

A: Colonial Period and Independence

58. What is one reason colonists came to America? Question 58 Audio (MP3, 391.47 KB)

59. Who lived in America before the Europeans arrived? Question 59 Audio (MP3, 192.74 KB)

60. What group of people was taken to America and sold as slaves? Question 60 Audio (MP3, 220.03 KB)

61. Why did the colonists fight the British? Question 61 Audio (MP3, 356.45 KB)

62. Who wrote the Declaration of Independence? Question 62 Audio (MP3, 149.58 KB)

63. When was the Declaration of Independence adopted? Question 63 Audio (MP3, 187.86 KB)

64. There were 13 original states. Name three. Question 64 Audio (MP3, 659.02 KB)

65. What happened at the Constitutional Convention? Question 65 Audio (MP3, 244.46 KB)

66. When was the Constitution written? Question 66 Audio (MP3, 158.13 KB)

67. The Federalist Papers supported the passage of the U.S. Constitution. Name one of the writers. Question 67 Audio (MP3, 358.48 KB)

68. What is one thing Benjamin Franklin is famous for? Question 68 Audio (MP3, 440.34 KB)

69. Who is the “Father of Our Country”? Question 69 Audio (MP3, 138.99 KB)

70. Who was the first President?* Question 70 Audio (MP3, 141.03 KB)

B: 1800s

71. What territory did the United States buy from France in 1803? Question 71 Audio (MP3, 252.61 KB)

72. Name one war fought by the United States in the 1800s. Question 72 Audio (MP3, 360.93 KB)

73. Name the U.S. war between the North and the South. Question 73 Audio (MP3, 240.8 KB)

74. Name one problem that led to the Civil War. Question 74 Audio (MP3, 273.37 KB)

75. What was one important thing that Abraham Lincoln did?* Question 75 Audio (MP3, 359.71 KB)

76. What did the Emancipation Proclamation do? Question 76 Audio (MP3, 386.99 KB)

77. What did Susan B. Anthony do? Question 77 Audio (MP3, 235.09 KB)

C: Recent American History and Other Important Historical Information

78. Name one war fought by the United States in the 1900s.* Question 78 Audio (MP3, 382.92 KB)

79. Who was President during World War I? Question 79 Audio (MP3, 160.57 KB)

80. Who was President during the Great Depression and World War II? Question 80 Audio (MP3, 199.67 KB)

81. Who did the United States fight in World War II? Question 81 Audio (MP3, 203.74 KB)

82. Before he was President, Eisenhower was a general. What war was he in? Question 82 Audio (MP3, 220.84 KB)

83. During the Cold War, what was the main concern of the United States? Question 83 Audio (MP3, 203.33 KB)

84. What movement tried to end racial discrimination? Question 84 Audio (MP3, 172.79 KB)

85. What did Martin Luther King, Jr. do?* Question 85 Audio (MP3, 240.8 KB)

86. What major event happened on September 11, 2001, in the United States? Question 86 Audio (MP3, 230.21 KB)

87. Name one American Indian tribe in the United States. Question 87 Audio (MP3, 1.13 MB)

[USCIS Officers will be supplied with a list of federally recognized American Indian tribes.]

INTEGRATED CIVICS

A: Geography

88. Name one of the two longest rivers in the United States. Question 88 Audio (MP3, 230.21 KB)

89. What ocean is on the West Coast of the United States? Question 89 Audio (MP3, 183.78 KB)

90. What ocean is on the East Coast of the United States? Question 90 Audio (MP3, 182.16 KB)

91. Name one U.S. territory. Question 91 Audio (MP3, 348.71 KB)

92. Name one state that borders Canada. Question 92 Audio (MP3, 624.4 KB)

93. Name one state that borders Mexico. Question 93 Audio (MP3, 287.63 KB)

94. What is the capital of the United States?* Question 94 Audio (MP3, 169.94 KB)

95. Where is the Statue of Liberty?* Question 95 Audio (MP3, 316.54 KB)

[Also acceptable are New Jersey, near New York City, and on the Hudson (River).]

B: Symbols

96. Why does the flag have 13 stripes? Question 96 Audio (MP3, 281.52 KB)

97. Why does the flag have 50 stars?* Question 97 Audio (MP3, 308.8 KB)

98. What is the name of the national anthem? Question 98 Audio (MP3, 169.94 KB)

C: Holidays

99. When do we celebrate Independence Day?* Question 99 Audio (MP3, 220.25 KB)

100. Name two national U.S. holidays. Question 100 Audio (MP3, 977.39 KB)