People aspiring to become citizens of America need to brush up their general knowledge on the country. Under the revised citizenship test, aspirants would be asked questions that may stump the person. Sample these: What does ?we the people? mean in the constitution, what is the last date for sending federal tax returns, and what did Susan A. Anthony do? The government recently released 144 sample questions. These have been worked out over the past five years to make the citizenship test more comprehensive. It is another matter that an average American may not know the answer to most of these. Applicants have to answer six of the 10 questions right to pass. Each year 600,000 become naturalized citizens of America. Some groups have criticised the new set of questions saying that they are tough and would add psychological pressure on the people.
China exports fake goods
China is not only the producer of huge quantities of industrial goods in the world, it is fast becoming the largest producer of spurious things, including drugs and medicines. According to EU sources, half the fakes found in Europe originate in China. A factory operated by a
Chinese in Anhui province had sold Viagra variants in various names worth 2.7 million dollars by the time he was arrested in October 2005. Fifty-one shipments of Chinese-made fake Tamiflu, the most popular drug for bird flu, was seized by the US authorities last year. From counterfeit branded garments to watches to DVDs, the Chinese products are available. Most local governments do not control these as they give employment and also grease the palms of the officials. According to the US Centre for Medicines in the Public Interest, the trade of fake
medicines is expected to go up to 75 billion dollars by 2010. There have been several rounds of death from fake medicines in China from spurious medicines. The poor people, out of the government medical system, are the worst affected as they buy these medicines across the counter, cheap.
