When immigrants are seeking American citizenship, one of the requirements is to pass a test that primarily focuses on American cultural knowledge. Take our version of this test and find out what you know!
http://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/story.php?title=naturalization-quiz_1
When I (Becky) took the test, I knew most of the answers and made a couple educated guesses, both of which turned out correct. This made me reflect on not only the importance of cultural literacy but also the importance of analytical skills that a well-educated person learns in the classroom.
According to the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services website, the naturalization test includes civics (American government, geography, and history) and English (reading and writing vocabulary). The test overview is found at: http://www.uscis.gov/USCIS/Office%20of%20Citizenship/Citizenship%20Resource%20Center%20Site/Publications/PDFs/test_components.pdf.
Understanding how the United States government works and how to communicate effectively in English are all important elements of cultural literacy. This is a real-world context for not only immigrants seeking U.S. citizenship, but also for all citizens of the United States.
SECOND TEST
Identify the story these cute guys originate from. What are their names?
What are the names of the current nine Supreme Court Justices?
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The picture of Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs comes from the film by Walt Disney. The names of the dwarfs are Grumpy, Happy, Sneezy, Dopey, Bashful, Sleepy, and Doc.
The incumbent Supreme Court Justices are John G. Roberts, Antonin Scalia, Anthony M. Kennedy, Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen G. Breyer, Samuel Anthony Alito, Jr., Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan.
Most likely, you named more seven dwarfs than justices. Both are considered in the realm of cultural knowledge, yet because the Snow White story is told to children from childhood, while Supreme Court justices aren't often discussed outside of political conversations, most people will only be able to identify the dwarfs.
THIRD TEST
Idiom means "linguistic usage that is grammatical and natural to native speakers of a language" (Cultural Dictionary).
What do the following American idioms mean?:
- You are the apple of my eye.
- At each other's throats.
- Fly the coop.
- All the rage.
- Sock it to.
- Sign of the times.
- A drop in the ocean.
- Change of pace.
- To each his own.
Perusing lists of idioms shows how much of our language consists of them. When I started paying close attention to how often idioms show up in daily conversations, I quickly realized the importance of knowing them so conversations make sense! Idioms are learned by conversing with others and reading books. Basically anywhere communication occurs a person can learn idioms, a component of cultural literacy.
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