Americans in the UK....
Test to see how British you've become by taking the BBC quiz on the government's Life in the United Kingdom, a booklet to be handed out to immigrants to the UK. Sample question:
Life in the UK explains what to do if you spill someone's pint in the pub (we're not making this up). What, according to the book, usually happens next?(I got 10 out of 15)
A: You would offer to buy the person another pint
B: You would offer to dry their wet shirt with your own
C: You may need to prepare for a fight in the car park
6 Comments:
Amazing! Well, I got 12 right which I suspect may be a number that most will fail to achieve.
However, it is not at all obvious to me how on earth this quiz represents a test that validates someone's readiness to be part of Britain.
This is a typical example of a generally sensible idea (be part of a process that aims to have immigrants blend into society rather than become a society within a society) that is taken over by the civil service, made politically correct and ultimately fail in its intended purpose.
I only scored 9 out of 15 so it is official - Scott is more British than I am and I am (officially at least) British. What would the "Are you fit to be American" test look like - I might score better!
Is there an "Are you stupid enough to not emigrate" test?
Mamapajamas - so you know the date sequence for the national saints days...... wow.
10 out of 15 is 67%. I got a 5, just at the top of the "a seat at Heathrow" crowd. :)
I think they should ask how many litres it takes to fill up a gas tank, and how much it costs, and what are the words used to describe the different parts of a car. Maybe that's too basic, but the basic things count. :) I thought some of the things were good. What's the emergency number to dial, for instance. What's the most important thing to ask a solicitor (I assume that's an attorney?).
I didn't like the first question though. The correct answer was "Respect laws, the elected political structures, traditional values of mutual tolerance and respect for rights and mutual concern." I can understand the part about respect for laws and mutual tolerance and respect for rights. The parts about respecting the political structures, and mutual concerns would take a while to get used to. We have defined political structures here, but we don't emphasize respect for them. In fact we've had a long history of the opposite. The part about "mutual concerns" sounds like the "socialism pill". We do have common concerns here, but it's more extemporaneous. Such concerns are not set by a central authority, though there are authority figures that people look up to, but this changes over time. We don't always look up to the people in the same positions until the end of time. If people have common concerns it's because they just so happen to have them. There's a saying here that the easiest way to lead is to figure out which way the crowd is going and get in front of it.
Scott I only got 8. I suggest I swop my UK passport for your US one.
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