Are you smarter than a US diplomat: quiz

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Originally Posted by RandomGuy

My accounting professors would not approve. "sign integrity" and "unit integrity" they would say.

-320unitsA/8unitsA/$ = -$40 = how much you spent.

66unitsB/12unitsB/$= $5.50 = how much you were given.

-$40+$5.5= -$34.50

You end up with $34.50 less than when you started, or -$34.50

:toast

(well meant in good humor)

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ah yeah, it was $5.50-$40

luckily I'm only going for my diplomat diploma here and not an accounting one.

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Originally Posted by jack sommerset

I gurantee you every politician knew what it meant.

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Maybe so, it was one of the questions I missed.

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Originally Posted by jack sommerset

I missed 8 and guessed right on two of them I had no clue about. Thanks for posting RG.

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You're welcome. It seemed to be an intresting insight into what it takes to work at the State Department.

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Originally Posted by baseline bum

I take issue with this question and answer:

12. Which of the following elements is NOT likely to increase the effectiveness of persuasive speech?

ANS: strongly stated opinions and logical fallacy

Can anyone really believe that in our political climate?

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A diplomat's audience isn't really the same as a politician's though. Different tactics are neccessary. A politician's audience is large mass of people and the goal is to persuade 50%+1 of them. A diplomat's audience is a much smaller crowd and the goal is to persuade 100% of them.

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Originally Posted by sickdsm

I never understood exactly what they were getting at with the currency question. Pretty proud that I knew that Jackson Pollock question though.

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Yeah, that currency question was poorly worded.

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10. You spend 320.00 in a foreign currency while traveling. The exchange rate is 8.00 = $1.00. The next country you visit has an exchange rate of 12.00 = $1.00. You receive 66.00 of the next country's currency from a friend. How much has your original amount of money changed?

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Is the first "320" the amount of dollars you have? Or the amount of foreign currency? And when they ask how much the "original" amount changed, are they also including the money you "spent" or not?

Edit: I'm retarded! It says so in the question. I kept reading "currency" as "country". :lol

Also, I got 12 of 20. Good quiz.

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Originally Posted by coyotes_geek

A diplomat's audience isn't really the same as a politician's though. Different tactics are neccessary. A politician's audience is large mass of people and the goal is to persuade 50%+1 of them. A diplomat's audience is a much smaller crowd and the goal is to persuade 100% of them.

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good point.

not to mention, a politician's audience is usually fellow countrymen.

strongly stated opinions probably would just piss off foreign dignitaries

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Originally Posted by coyotes_geek

A diplomat's audience isn't really the same as a politician's though. Different tactics are neccessary. A politician's audience is large mass of people and the goal is to persuade 50%+1 of them. A diplomat's audience is a much smaller crowd and the goal is to persuade 100% of them.

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In that context it makes a lot more sense. They should probably have added it to the question though. :lol

Ouch...

I missed six. Some of my history isn't so hot.

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Originally Posted by LnGrrrR

Yeah, that currency question was poorly worded.


Is the first "320" the amount of dollars you have? Or the amount of foreign currency? And when they ask how much the "original" amount changed, are they also including the money you "spent" or not?

Edit: I'm retarded! It says so in the question. I kept reading "currency" as "country". :lol

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LOL...

There were a few questions that you had to watch the wording on. Easy once you think about "exactly" what they are saying. Not assuming.

I missed the artist question, guessed the river. Didn't have a clue about the artist. The correct answer for the river would have been my second guess. Two questions with defined wording screwed me up because I didn't cheat, to look them up.

I think that the State dep't. exam is one of the most difficult in the government. The wording on some of these was puposely obtuse, I think, simply to see if the respondent could think through the issue.


The currency question was purposely awkward, I think.

The 'persuasive speech' question would have been familiar to anyone familiar with debate judging in high school or college.

I missed the one on the river from Germany to the Black Sea. Had no idea.
Guessed the volga but I was wrong.

Got the other 19 right mostly because I'm so old I lived through most of the events.

I've heard of a lot of folks a lot smarter than me who couldn't get through the State Department test. I think the CSM version is a "State Department Lite".

14 of 20. Couple of boneheaded misses, couple of lucky guesses. I was tripped up by some of the wording.

15 of 20. Missed some of the history ones and of course the art one.

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Originally Posted by EVAY

I think that the State dep't. exam is one of the most difficult in the government. The wording on some of these was puposely obtuse, I think, simply to see if the respondent could think through the issue.


The currency question was purposely awkward, I think.

The 'persuasive speech' question would have been familiar to anyone familiar with debate judging in high school or college.

I missed the one on the river from Germany to the Black Sea. Had no idea.
Guessed the volga but I was wrong.

Got the other 19 right mostly because I'm so old I lived through most of the events.

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You got 19 right? :wow

As for the river, one just needs a familiarity with Stauss. :)

"An der Schoene Blaue Donau"

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Originally Posted by EVAY

I've heard of a lot of folks a lot smarter than me who couldn't get through the State Department test. I think the CSM version is a "State Department Lite".

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Yup. Only 60 questions though. Not too onerous. I would guess the other steps in the process would also weed out a few.

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Originally Posted by RandomGuy

You got 19 right? :wow

As for the river, one just needs a familiarity with Stauss. :)

"An der Schoene Blaue Donau"

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:lolWell, yeah, but like I said, I lived through most of this stuff.

You know, I know about Strauss and the Blue Danube, but I didn't know it went to the black sea. So what I was thinking was "what river do I know is in Russia (black sea) so I came up with Volga. Totally wrong.

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Originally Posted by RandomGuy

Yup. Only 60 questions though. Not too onerous. I would guess the other steps in the process would also weed out a few.

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You may be right, but I would expect that whereas the CSM version asked about the House Ways and Means Committee as a test of an applicant's knowledge of the structure of the legislative process, the real test would ask something about some really obscure committee or sub-committee that funds state department issues.

I got 3 wrong...

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Originally Posted by RandomGuy

Yup. Only 60 questions though. Not too onerous. I would guess the other steps in the process would also weed out a few.

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I wonder what a passing score for this test is? A typical government job requires only 70%...

16 out of 20, but I missed that Fox and the Grapes question when I had no business getting it wrong. :(

So I really got 17 right, tbh :p

That currency question was worded oddly too.

EDIT: 60 questions in 40 minutes is the challenge, not the questions themselves. I think most people could get half of the questions right if they had a lot of time, but working through it on a time limit is all about how fast you decipher the information.

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Originally Posted by Stringer_Bell

That currency question was worded oddly too.

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I think that's intentional, since a diplomat would likely encounter translation and cultural differences.

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Originally Posted by Wild Cobra

I think that's intentional, since a diplomat would likely encounter translation and cultural differences.

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Seriously, that might be it. It was written like a bad translation haha

13/20

Why is the answer to this

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Which of the following is an example of extrinsic motivation?

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this

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An actor gives a great performance in the hopes of winning an Academy Award.

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and not this

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An activist gives a speech decrying an unfair act by his government.

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?

What's the difference between the two?