The Public Takes a News Quiz ... and Doesn't Do So Well

How much do you know about the news? Take the quiz HERE

One question that always comes to mind when reading a poll: How much does the public know about the issues and current events it is being asked about, particularly complex ones like health care?

The Pew Research Center looked for some answers by giving 1,002 adults a news quiz, conducted Oct. 1-4. (You can take the quiz yourself here, but no cheating by looking first at the results which are below.)

The quiz included 12 multiple-choice questions and those who took it answered an average of 5.3 questions correctly.

Here are some of the results:

Seventy-five percent answered correctly when asked which party controlled the House, (the Democrats).

Sixty-five percent knew that Sonia Sotomayor was the new Supreme Court justice.

Sixty-one percent knew that health spending in the U.S. was higher than most of Europe.

When asked in what legislative context the "public option" was being discussed, 56 percent correctly answered "health care."

Fifty-three percent knew the unemployment rate was close to 10 percent.

Forty-two percent knew that Israel and Iran do not share a border.

Forty percent knew that Glenn Beck was a radio and TV talk show host.

Thirty-three percent knew that Ben Bernanke is the Federal Reserve Chairman.

Thirty-three percent knew that the Dow was back close to 10,000 points.

Twenty-eight percent knew the correct size of the U.S. military force in Afghanistan (about 70,000).

Twenty-three percent knew that "cap & trade" had to do with energy and climate legislation.

And for all the frequency with which his face has been on TV lately and the front pages of the newspapers, only 18 percent knew Max Baucus was chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.

VIA
Take the quiz HERE What's your score?