The exam that put ‘straight A student’ Meghan Markle in her place: After an internship in Argentina she thought she was destined for a career in the US diplomatic service… but failed the exam – so could YOU pass it?

Question 1

tThe Department of Defense, the National Security Council and the Central Intelligence Agency emerged as a result of the conclusions drawn by policymakers after:

• Second World War
• the korean war
• the death of stalin
• the East Berlin uprising of 1953

Question 2

In the United States, there are primarily two levels of law: 1) the United States Constitution and 2):

• laws enacted by elected legislators
• presidential recess decrees
• Supreme Court rulings
• local initiatives approved by majority vote

Question 3

The West Point and Annapolis military academies require candidates to obtain a nomination for admission from which U.S. government official?

• President
• Member of the Office of the Chief of Staff
• Federal district court or circuit court judge
• congressional representative

Question 4

During the Clinton administration, the Congressional Black Caucus received credit for which of the following foreign policy actions?

• Establishment of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in New York City
• Blocking the President’s initiative to exclude Haiti from the North American Free Trade Agreement
• Pressure the president to use force to restore Haiti’s president-elect
• Increase the priority assigned by the US military to missions other than war

Question 5

To justify military action without congressional approval, Presidents Harry S. Truman, George HW Bush, and Bill Clinton relied on a resolution from which of the following organizations?

• Organization of American States
• North Atlantic Treaty Organization
• United Nations Security Council
• European Union

Question 6

The aphorism that the United States cannot have 535 secretaries of state refers to the idea that Congress should hand over responsibility for foreign policy to the President because:

• has too great a diversity of opinions
• It’s too isolationist.
• acts too slow
• is too committed to internal affairs

Question 7

The United States Constitution prohibits national and state governments from enacting which of the following criminal statutes because it is retroactive and would harm an individual?

• Guilty bills
• Ex post facto laws
• Habeas corpus
• Exclusion Rule Laws

Question 8

8. In the early 20th century, reformers committed to using journalism to expose corporate and urban corruption were commonly known as:

• wrenches
• garbage dealers
• bosses
• ambushers

Question 9

The Cabinet-level agency with primary responsibility for managing federal resources of the United States, including national parks and American Indian lands, is the Department of:

• Trade
• National security
• the interior
• Agriculture

Question 10

10. The War Powers Resolution imposes which of the following time limits on the commitment of troops by the President of the United States to hostilities without authorization from Congress?

• fourteen days
• sixty days
• six months
• one year

Question 11

The US Strategic Petroleum Reserve was established in 1975 for the purpose of:

• stabilize oil prices for American consumers
• Provide emergency supplies in case of disruption.
• Provide storage in case of domestic overproduction.
• create an energy self-sufficient nation

Question 12

The United States Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v Wade was celebrated as a victory primarily for:

• the women’s movement
• single parents
• the catholic church
• the civil rights movement

Question 13

In an early draft of the Declaration of Independence, one of the grievances against the king of England was his responsibility for the horrors of the slave trade. Which of the following reasons best explains why the authors and signatories omitted this grievance from the final draft of the Declaration?

• Slavery was not important enough to the colonies’ economy to emphasize the slave trade.
• Slavery was not a primary grievance because it was already gradually ending.
• Opposing the slave trade would prevent France from coming to the aid of the colonies in a war.
• Not all colonies could agree to sign if the slavery phrase remained in the document.

Question 14

The most lasting legacy of President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal is that the policies:

• ended unemployment and lifted the United States out of a depression
• Strengthened private organizations that provide help to those in need.
• expanded the role of the federal government by creating new government agencies
• advanced the cause of civil rights by ending segregation in the U.S. military.

Question 15

Which American president made a surprise visit to communist China in 1972, paving the way for establishing formal diplomatic relations?

• Gerardo Ford
• Jimmy Carter
• Richard Nixon
• ronald reagan

Question 16

Which doctor’s influential book changed child-rearing practices after World War II?

• Dr. Alfred Kinsey
• Dr. Jonah Salk
• Dr. Benjamin Spock
• Dr. Carl Sagan

Question 17

Known for novels such as This Side of Paradise and The Great Gatsby, which American author coined the phrase “the Jazz Age” to describe the 1920s?

• Willa Cather
• Robert Penn Warren
• William Saroyan
• F. Scott Fitzgerald

Question 18

Which country is the largest illegal drug market in the world in terms of revenue?

• Holland
• USA
• Porcelain
• the united kingdom

Question 19

In response to the founding of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Eastern European states organized a formal military alliance known as:

• Eastern European Treaty Organization
• Mutual Assistance Council
• Warsaw Pact
• Communist International

Question 20

‘Workers of the world, unite. You have nothing to lose but your chains’ is a passage from:

• Common Sense by Thomas Paine
• Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence
• The Communist Manifesto of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
• Declaration of the Rights of Women and the Citizen of Olympe de Gouges

Question 21

The lesson that most American policymakers learned from Neville Chamberlain’s meeting with Hitler in Munich was this:

• Britain was an unreliable ally
• Vichy France was an unreliable ally
• Appeasing an aggressor leads to more aggression.
• International institutions such as the United Nations were essential to preserve peace

Question 22

In 1998, a peace agreement resolved a long-running border dispute between Ecuador and which of the following countries?

Question 23

In which of the following countries reside the largest number of Palestinian refugees?

Question 24

In which country did the genocide of Tutsis by Hutus occur in 1994?

Question 25

If consumers believe that the supply of bread will decrease in the coming months, the most likely effect will be:

• An increase in demand, resulting in a higher price of bread.
• a decrease in demand, resulting in a lower price of bread
• an increase in supply, resulting in a lower price of bread
• a decrease in supply, resulting in a higher price of bread

Fountain: The US State Department

Note: These are only the first 25 questions of the exam, which also has other sections, including an essay section that is not available for practice due to the high cost of marking them.