Practice for the U.S. naturalization civics test

Grade 8 Social Studies Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   How the naturalization civics test works (cards A to D). Card A, from the booklet "128 Civics Questions and Answers (2025 version)" published by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS): "The civics test is an oral test and the USCIS officer will ask you to answer up to 20 out of the 128 civics test questions. You must answer at least 12 questions correctly to pass the 2025 version of the civics test." It adds: "On the civics test, some answers may change because of elections or appointments." Card B, from the USCIS page for the 2008 test: "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." Card C, from the USCIS Policy Manual (Volume 12, Part E, Chapter 2), guidance for USCIS officers: "The percentage of questions required to pass either version of the civics test remains at 60 percent." "Aliens who filed a naturalization application before October 20, 2025, must take the 2008 Naturalization Civics Test." Applicants who file on or after that date take the 2025 test. For the 2025 test, "The officer stops the test once the alien correctly answers the minimum of 12 questions required to pass the test, or answers nine questions incorrectly." For the 2008 test, "The officer stops the test once the alien correctly answers the minimum number of six questions required to pass the test, or answers five questions incorrectly." The Manual also says USCIS "updates responses to certain questions on a rolling basis for accuracy". Card D, from the 2025 booklet and the Policy Manual: an applicant who is 65 or older and has been a lawful permanent resident for 20 or more years "may study just the 20 questions" marked with an asterisk, is asked "10 out of the 20", and "must answer at least 6 out of 10 questions (or 60%) correctly".

2. 1.

   Card C comes from the USCIS Policy Manual, which guides officers. What is it best evidence for, Ari asks?

   • How USCIS tells its own officers to give and score the test
   • How applicants feel when they are asked civics questions aloud
   • Which exact questions any one applicant will be asked in an interview
   • Why Congress first chose a pass mark of 60 percent
3. 2.

   Card A: 12 of the 20 questions must be answered correctly. What share is that, Bo asks?

   • 40 percent, the share of the questions that may be missed
   • 12 percent, because the number 12 is written in the rule
   • 30 percent, found by dividing 6 by 20, the pass number from the 2008 test
   • 60 percent, since 12 out of 20 questions is 12 divided by 20
4. 3.

   Card C: the 2025 test stops once an applicant has 12 correct answers. What is the fewest questions an applicant could be asked and pass, Jun asks?

   • 12 questions, if each answer is correct
   • 6 questions, because the 2008 test needs 6
   • 20 questions, since the whole test is asked each time
   • 9 questions, the number of wrong answers that ends the test
5. 4.

   Card C: the 2008 test stops after five incorrect answers. Why does that end the test, Kira asks?

   • The pass mark of 6 cannot be reached, because at most 5 questions can be right
   • The pass mark of 12 cannot be reached, because five is less than twelve
   • The test continues to the last question, since the officer has not asked ten
   • The pass mark of 6 can still be reached, because 5 questions are still unasked
6. 5.

   A student claims: "Everyone who takes the civics test is asked 20 questions." How strong is that claim given cards A, C and D, Luz asks?

   • Strong: the 2025 test has 20 questions, so each applicant answers the full 20
   • Weak: card A says up to 20, card C allows early stops, and card D asks 10
   • Strong: card A says the officer asks 20 of the 128 questions in the 2025 test
   • Weak: card A is about a booklet and so cannot describe how the test works
7. 6.

   Card A says the officer asks "up to 20" questions. Card C says the test stops at 12 correct answers. Do they conflict, Milo asks?

   • No: card C says the officer asks exactly 12 questions and no more than that
   • Yes: card C is newer than card A, so card A should simply be ignored
   • No: "up to 20" allows fewer, and stopping at 12 correct is one way to ask fewer
   • Yes: card A says 20 and card C says 12, so one of the two cards must be wrong
8. 7.

   Comparing card B with cards A and C, what changed from the 2008 test to the 2025 test, Pia asks?

   • Nothing changed, since both tests are oral and both need 60 percent to pass
   • The pass share doubled from 6 to 12, so the test became twice as hard to pass
   • The bank shrank from 128 to 100 questions, with the pass share unchanged
   • The bank and the questions asked grew, but the pass share stayed at 60 percent
9. 8.

   Card D: an applicant who qualifies studies just 20 questions instead of 128. How many fewer questions is that, Ren asks?

   • 148 fewer questions, found by adding 20 to 128
   • 118 fewer questions, found by subtracting the 10 asked
   • 20 fewer questions, the size of the short list
   • 108 fewer questions, since 128 minus 20 is 108
10. 9.

    Card A says some answers "may change because of elections or appointments", and card C says USCIS updates responses on a rolling basis. What does that mean for a booklet, Tala asks?

    • The booklet replaces the Policy Manual whenever the two differ on a point
    • A booklet is not useful for study, because some answers can change over time
    • A printed booklet is a snapshot, so some answers need checking against newer versions
    • The booklet's answers were fixed in 2025 and USCIS does not update them afterward
11. 10.

    Using cards A and C, which link best explains why nine wrong answers end a 2025 test, Zee asks?

    • The officer stops whenever nine questions have been asked
    • With 20 questions, nine wrong leaves at most 11 right, below the 12 needed
    • Nine wrong answers equal 60 percent, which is the passing share
    • Eight wrong answers already end the test, since 12 is the number needed