U.S. Citizenship QuestionsThe questions people miss
Most of the 128 are easy. These fifteen are where interviews go wrong, usually because the question has a long list of answers or a number with no story. Each one comes with a way to remember it.
Thirteen states, and you need five. Most people freeze after New York and Massachusetts.
Remember it: Picture the East Coast from top to bottom: New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia. Practice saying the same five every time: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Georgia.
Nobody outside a history class knows who wrote the Federalist Papers.
Remember it: Three names and a pen name: Madison, Hamilton, Jay, and Publius. Say "Hamilton" and stop; one is all the question asks for.
Twenty-two cabinet positions, and the question wants two.
Remember it: Don't learn the list. Learn two: Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense. Give those two, every time.
A bare number with no story attached.
Remember it: Twenty-seven. The Bill of Rights is the first ten; seventeen more came later.
Three amendments from the Civil War era, one question.
Remember it: 13 ended slavery, 14 made citizens, 15 gave the vote. This question is the middle one: the 14th.
Memorial Day and Veterans Day sound the same.
Remember it: Memorial Day honors those who died in service (May). Veterans Day honors everyone who served (November).
Three different term lengths in three different questions.
Remember it: Senators 6, House 2, President 4. Say it as a chant until it's automatic.
Two numbers for the Supreme Court and they're easy to swap.
Remember it: Nine seats, five to decide. Nine on the bench, five for a majority.
A history-class answer to a question that sounds simple.
Remember it: Each state has two senators for equal representation for small states; that deal was the Great Compromise. Either phrase works.
Two wars, and the answer is the same for both.
Remember it: Korea and Vietnam: "to stop the spread of communism." One answer, two questions.
Federal versus state powers get mixed up under pressure.
Remember it: Money, war, and other countries are federal (print money, declare war, create an army, make treaties). Schools, police, fire, driver's licenses are state.
Eight possible answers, most of them unfamiliar.
Remember it: Pick the one you already know: the Declaration of Independence. It counts.
Latin.
Remember it: E Pluribus Unum: "out of many, one." It's on every coin in your pocket.
A date question where the date isn't the best answer.
Remember it: When did all men get the vote? Say "with the 15th Amendment" or "after the Civil War." You don't need the year (1870).
Not hard to learn, easy to have wrong.
Remember it: The Speaker of the House changes more often than any other name on the test. Check it the week of your interview.
The pattern
Almost every hard question is hard for one of two reasons: the answer is a bare number, or the question has a long list of acceptable answers and you try to learn the list. The fix is the same both times. Attach a story to the number, and pick one answer from the list and never think about the others again.
Drill just these: in the trainer, "Review what you've missed" will naturally fill with them after your first pass through the deck.