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

The Department of Defense, the National Security Council, and the Central Intelligence Agency arose as a result of conclusions drawn by policy makers in the aftermath of:

• World War II
• the Korean War
• Stalin’s death
• the East Berlin uprising of 1953

Question 2 

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

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

Question 3

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

• President
• Member of the Chief of Staff’s office
• 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?

• Establishing in New York City the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
• Blocking the President’s initiative to exclude Haiti from the North American Free Trade Agreement
• Pressuring the President to use force to restore the elected president of Haiti
• Increasing the priority assigned by the U.S. military to missions other than war

Question 5

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

• Organisation of American States
• North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
• 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 defer to the President on foreign policy because it:

• has too great a diversity of views
• is too isolationist
• acts too slowly
• is too committed to domestic issues

Question 7

The U.S. Constitution forbids national and state governments from enacting which of the following criminal statutes because it is retroactive and would work to the disadvantage of an individual?

• Bills of attainder
• Ex post facto laws
• Habeas corpus
• Exclusionary 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:

• monkeywrenchers
• muckrakers
• bosses
• boodlers

Question 9

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

• Commerce
• Homeland Security
• the Interior
• Agriculture

Question 10

10. The War Powers Resolution places which of the following time limits on the U.S. President’s commitment of troops to hostilities without congressional authorisation?

• Fourteen days
• Sixty days
• Six months
• One year

Question 11

The U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve was established in 1975 for the purpose of:

• stabilising oil prices for U.S. consumers
• providing emergency supplies in the event of disruption
• providing storage in the event of domestic overproduction
• creating an energy self-sufficient nation

Question 12

The decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Roe v Wade was celebrated as a victory mostly 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 signers omitted this grievance in the final draft of the Declaration?

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

Question 14

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

• ended unemployment and pulled the United States out of a depression
• strengthened private organisations that provide relief to those in need
• expanded the role of the federal government through the creation of new government agencies
• advanced the cause of civil rights by ending segregation in the U.S. armed forces

Question 15

Which U.S. President made a surprise visit to Communist China in 1972, which prepared the way for establishing formal diplomatic relations?

• Gerald 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 Jonas Salk
• Dr Benjamin Spock
• Dr Carl Sagan

 Question 17

Known for such novels 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 world’s largest illegal drug marketplace in terms of revenue?

• Holland
• The United States
• China
• The United Kingdom

Question 19

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

• Eastern European Treaty Organisation
• Council for Mutual Assistance
• Warsaw Pact
• Comintern

Question 20 

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

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

Question 21

The lesson most U.S. policy makers took from Neville Chamberlain’s meeting with Hitler at Munich was that:

• Great Britain was an unreliable ally
• Vichy France was an unreliable ally
• appeasement of an aggressor leads to more aggression
• international institutions like the United Nations were essential to preserve the peace

Question 22

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

Question 23

The largest numbers of Palestinian refugees reside in which of the following countries?

Question 24

The 1994 genocide of Tutsis by Hutus occurred in what country?

Question 25 

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

• an increase in demand, resulting in a higher price for bread
• a decrease in demand, resulting in a lower price for bread
• an increase in supply, resulting in a lower price for bread
• a decrease in supply, resulting in a higher price for bread

Source: The US Department of State 

Note: This is only the first 25 questions in the test, which also has other sections, including an essay section which is not available to practise on due to the high cost of marking them.