2025 civics test — practice test 2

The second of six practice tests on the official USCIS 2025 civics bank. Twenty questions, twelve to pass — the same shape and the same pass mark as the real examination.

This test leans on the founding documents and on Congress. Four of the questions turn on telling one document from another: the Constitution is the supreme law, but the Bill of Rights is part of it rather than a rival to it; the Declaration of Independence says all people are created equal, but it did not create the three branches of government, which came eleven years later; the Federalist Papers argued for the Constitution without ever being law themselves. Answer those four confidently and a whole section of the bank stops being a memory problem.

The Congress questions work the same way. Six years for a senator, two for a representative, four for the president — three different lengths, chosen so that the whole government can never be replaced at once. One hundred senators, 435 voting representatives, and 535 as the two chambers added together, which is why 535 is the most attractive wrong answer on the paper. And the powers: Congress declares war and writes the laws, the president signs or vetoes them and commands the military, the courts decide whether a law is constitutional. Almost every wrong option in this test is a genuine power of a different branch.

One pair of questions is worth reading together even after you get both right. Voting in a federal election, running for federal office and serving on a jury belong to citizens. Freedom of speech, assembly, religion and petition belong to everyone living in the United States. That line — what changes on the day you naturalize and what was already yours — is the point of the "rights and responsibilities" section, and USCIS asks about it from both directions.

The history here runs from the colonists' reasons for crossing the Atlantic through to Vietnam, and the wars are grouped so that the reasons stay attached to the right conflict: German attacks on American ships for the First World War, containing communism for Korea and Vietnam. The explanations name the other officially accepted answers as well, because the officer will take any of them.

As with every test in this category, the eight questions whose answers depend on who currently holds office, or on which state you live in, are left out on purpose and handled separately in this track.

The questions and accepted answers come from the official USCIS bank, a work of the United States government. The practice format, the wrong options and the explanations are Zestly's own.

• Tell the founding documents apart — which one is the supreme law, which declared independence, and which was an argument rather than law
• State the term lengths and chamber sizes of Congress without confusing 100, 435 and 535
• Assign each power to the right branch: declaring war, vetoing, commanding the military, ruling on constitutionality
• Say which rights belong to citizens only and which belong to everyone living in the United States
• Attach the right reason to the right war, from the Revolution through to Vietnam
• Recall the colonists' motives and the facts of the slave trade as the official bank states them

From the official USCIS 2025 civics question bank: "What is the supreme law of the land? — (U.S.) Constitution." "What part of the federal government writes laws? — (U.S.) Congress; (U.S. or national) legislature; Legislative branch." "Name one power of the U.S. Congress. — Writes laws; Declares war; Makes the federal budget." "How long is a term for a U.S. senator? — Six (6) years." "How many voting members are in the House of Representatives? — Four hundred thirty-five (435)." "What are three rights of everyone living in the United States? — Freedom of expression; Freedom of speech; Freedom of assembly; Freedom to petition the government; Freedom of religion; The right to bear arms." The bank lists every answer the officer will accept, which is why the explanations here name the alternatives rather than only the one in the key.