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You have failed the practice citizenship test. Questions answered correctly: 13 out of 24 (54%)
It's fine, I left a couple of years ago .
Oh, I’m sorry….I seem to be lost. I was looking for the sane side of town. I’d ask you for directions, but I have a feeling you’ve never been there and I’d be wasting my time.
It used to be known as Her Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO).
Or are we taling about a different thing?
If you follow the link, you'll see what I meant:
TSO was privatised from HMSO in 1996.
...where TSO === The Stationery Office, and HMSO === Her Majesty's Stationery Office. I deliberately used the present tense ("The Stationery Office is now...") to distinguish it from its former incarnation as part of HMSO.
This would never have happened under the Tories... oh, hang on, 1996 - it did
It's interesting that the United States, widely regarded as the home of free market economic principles and the bedrock of Capitalism, nonetheless recognises the principle that if the State has paid for something (such as NASA's research or the findings of the US Geological Survey) then the fruits thereof should be made freely available.
Meanwhile the Johnny-come-latelys who run the UK instead think that even something created by the Government purely for its own purposes should nonetheless still be sold at whatever price can be determined - not by a free market (who, for example, is in direct competition with the Ordnance Survey?) but by some imaginary market that might possibly exist if there was, in fact, a market beyond the state-sponsored monopoly.
So Learn Direct is in fact a Government agency (in all but legal status) that has to pretend not to be such, so that it can pretend to be publishing its materials in a market where the price is determined by demand, even though the Government is the only one that can approve such materials for the intended purpose, and it only approves the one supplier because only one supplier wants to do it, and anyway, if there was more than one supplier, it would cost the Government too much to ensure that all suppliers were compliant with the legal requirements.
This is why even the U.S. Federal Government has always had the sense to realise that, sometimes, the free market sucks and is not fit for certain purposes. If only New Labour hadn't followed Tory (more specifically, Thatcherite) policies so closely in these matters...
The question on the number of school days is, I believe, incorrect. Schools have to do a number of sessions per year. Most state schools do two per day. The private school I attended did three per day, ( school hours were 8:45 to 4:15 ), + 2 on Saturday morning ( 8:45 until 12:30 ). This allowed for ten weeks holiday in the summer, three weeks over Christmas etc.
And why are there two questions about the EU? It's billed as Life in the UK.
The question on the number of school days is, I believe, incorrect. Schools have to do a number of sessions per year. Most state schools do two per day. The private school I attended did three per day, ( school hours were 8:45 to 4:15 ), + 2 on Saturday morning ( 8:45 until 12:30 ). This allowed for ten weeks holiday in the summer, three weeks over Christmas etc.
The same hours here, except we had 2 afternoons a week off for sport/other in-school pursuits or doing your homework. While state schools got a week for each half term, we only got a day or two. Long holidays at Easter too.
It's interesting that the United States, widely regarded as the home of free market economic principles and the bedrock of Capitalism, nonetheless recognises the principle that if the State has paid for something (such as NASA's research or the findings of the US Geological Survey) then the fruits thereof should be made freely available.
We need tests, designed by psychologists to catch liars, that check if people believe in democracy, rational laws, separation of religion and state, equality for women, and individual freedom consistent with special responsibility.
Actually, this is the best idea I have read this morning!
Pyschometric tests to get into the UK. Bring it on!
How about some questions like this too:
In the UK, a mortgage is:
1. A financial obligation payed for by the state.
2. A service available free to families with more than 14 children.
3. A financial obligation payed for by employment.
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