The Questions from The Naturalisation Test

Filip Miletic September 9, 2008

Abstract A description of the questions from the Short Naturalisation Waiver Test (korte vrijstellingstoets)1 .

1. Note
I described own experiences. Do not draw conclusions about your exam based on these. Your test is your own responsibility. If you want to know what the answers to the questions are, you have to do your own homework. All I could share about the exam was put into this text.

2. Test Description
It consists of about 30 questions. When I did the test, there were 28 of them. At the beginning of the test, 2 test questions are oered in the same format as they are in the test, for trying out. Each question has exactly 3 answers oered, of which exactly one is correct. No instructions are given. No info about how many correct answers mean a passed test are given. They dont tell you whether incorrect answers mean negative points. The test is done on the computer. The computer is equipped with headphones. A question is answered by clicking the mouse button while the arrow is pointing to the selected answer, and then by clicking a button that signies going to the next question. You can skip any question you wish. You can then come back to the skipped question at any time, by going through the question list. Everyone must mark the end of the testing explicitly, by pressing a button with the label eind toets at the last question. The test lasts for 45 minutes. Fifteen minutes prior to the deadline, a pop-up window comes up saying that 15 minutes are left. You will receive the results by mail after 4 weeks, to the mail address that you provided when applying for the test. The questions in the test are roughly divided into several topics. The topics treated in my test were: starting a company, looking for work, life in a house, life in a condominium, buying and renting a house or at, school, children, European Union. Every topic starts with a short video that explains the scenario for which the questions will be asked. Then the questions follow, where each has either a text, or a video relating to the specic question. Most of the time, the text or video contain the answer to the question that is asked. The text is sometimes followed by a voice, sometimes it is not. Almost all the recordings follow an immigrant family and their friends, be they immigrants or domestic. Every recording and every video can be re-played at any time and as many times as required. At some questions,
1 Translated

from the Serbian original

the computer does not play the recording by itself, and the person undergoing test must click the loudspeaker icon that is shown on the screen. The language level used in the test is rather high. Excerpts from newspaper articles are used (somewhat complicated), excerpts from legal documents (rather hairy), but also the job ads (relatively simple). I took the test on November 29, 2007. The results came in somewhere around New Years Day. I passed the test. The outcome was expresed by: passed (geslaagd) and a certicate.

3. Questions
The questions that were on the test are described below. I remembered 26 of a total of 28. I dont recall how they exactly went, and how the answers are exactly formulated, so I can only describe them. In most of the cases teh answers are not as short as I give them, but rather contain the answer together with a reasoning leading to this answer. Of course, the explanation makes sense only for one of the three.

3.1. Starting a Company

A man (named Mo) is starting a company. 1) The Chamber of Commerce asks him to submit a few items. One of them is a description of the target group of the customers. What should he write about the target group? Three answers are oered, of which one is along the lines of I dont know what my target group is, the second is approximately what do you care what my target group is, and the third is approximately The target group are people using computers at home. The third possibility seemed the most logical to me, so I chose that one. 2) Who does he talk to in order to start a company? Just as it is with us, to the Chamber of Commerce (kamer van koophandel, KvK). 3) The man must oer his house as a guarantee in order to get a loan from the bank for the new company. What happens if the loan is not paid on time? Oered answers: the bank becomes the owner of the house, the bank insists that the house be sold, and some third option I forgot.

3.2. Looking for Work

Mos friend Jan is without a job. 1) Where does he look for job ads? The newspapers, in the job ads section. 2) Jan is reading an ad. You can see the ad on the screen. Where does it say that the position is goal-oriented? The answer can be found in the text. 3) Where does it say that the job involves working with clients? The answer can be found in the text. 4) The ad reads that they are looking for someone who can speak English. Jan does not speak English, and was advised to contact the company via email. What should he write in this email? Three example mails are given. Two of them show really extreme standpoints and I do not believe that they are the right answers (e.g: I refuse to speak 2

English). In the third option, which I chose, Jan writes an email in which he is asking whether it is sensible that he applies to the job, despite his lack of English skills.

3.3. Life in a House

Mo is sitting at home and reads the papers. He hears noise coming from outside. 1) Two neighbours got into a ght. What should Mo do? Three answers are oered: contact the Police; run out and try separating the neighbours; nd two other large neighbours and try separating the neighbours together. 2) A newspaper article is presented, which describes family violence and reporting of such cases. Who reports the most cases of family violence? The answer can be found in the oered text.

3.4. Buying and Renting a House

A boyfriend and girlfriend are looking for a new appartment. 1) How do they go about looking for a new appartment? They read the ads in the papers. Other possibilitis oered: asking the neighbours; wandering the city and looking. 2) A girl wants to ll an online form for either renting or buying a house. The web site has several user categories, and the girl must choose which one of the categories applies. The answer is shown in the text about the website that is shown on the screen. 3) A girl lls an online form. The data in the form have to be entered in the right format. Among other things, the phone number has to be entered without dashes, and the birth date is requested in the DD-MM-YYYY format. Three examples of lled-in forms are given, and you are requested to point to the one lled out correctly. Look closely at the lled in forms, two of them contain the data in an incorrect format with respect to what is asked for.

3.5. Living in a Condominium

A boyfriend and a girlfriend live in a condominium. 1) They agreed to visit the neighbors for dinner, but the girls falls ill on that day. What should they do? The oered answers are: not to go, without saying anything; to go, regardless of the illness; to call in and explain that the girls is ill, to oer their excuses and pass on the visit. 2) A neighbour invites someone on April 29 to come with her the next day into town for a party. Which holiday does she mean? Three oered possibilities: Queens Day, Easter, Christmas. 3) A neighbour died. What should they do? Three possibilities: to keep away; to send a condolence card; to visit the widow and oer her the help with the funeral arrangements. 4) Your child is celebrating its 12th birthday and is throwing a party. What should be done? Three possibilities: nothing; send a letter to all the neighbors requesting written permission to organize the party; or to put up a note saying that a party will be organized, that it will last until this-or-that hour, and that the neighbors are asked to be patient during the time. 3

3.6. School
Sundry questions about getting into various schools. 1) A mother enlists the child for HAVO. The forms require us to ll in which education level HAVO belongs to (basic, middle, higher, special) HAVO is a middle school. 2) A mother is looking for nancial aid for the childs tuition. A web site shows instructions how to ll a form. How should she send the lled-in form? The answer is contained in the excerpt from the web site. 3) How much do the university / higher school studies cost? We are only asked to name the more expensive school, or to determine that there is no dierence. 4) The parents are asking for a subsidy for the childs tuition. Are they required to repay the subsidy? Three possible answers: yes; no; partially.

3.7. Children
Questions about children. 1) A text is shown about schools in The Hague. At what age is school compulsory? The answer is given in the text. 2) Husband and wife are talking about a new appartment for themselves, and for the daughter. Which appartment do they need? Three oered answers: two room; three room; many bedroom Note: in the Netherlands, all rooms are counted, and not only the bedrooms, as opposed to some other countries. I suppose that the correct answer is a three-room appartment, because it provides a room for the daughter, a room for the parents, and a common room.

3.8. European Union

Friends are sitting in front of the TV set and are watching the news. The camera shows them sitting on the couch in front of the TV, so that we see the TVs back panel and them on the couch. Various news pieces are heard. 1) There is a piece about the introduction of the Euro in the Europian Union. Since what year can you use the Euro to pay for the goods in a supermarket? The answer is contained in the news piece. Incidentally, I was present in the Netherlands when the Euro was introduced. This was on January 1, 2002. 2) There is a piece about the fate of the Jews during the 2nd World War. Were the Jews persecuted in the Netherlands during that time? The answer can be heard in the piece. 3) There is a piece about the European Union. Why was the European Union founded? The answer can be heard in the piece. 4) There is a piece about the USA-Dutch relationship. What is the relationship between USA and the Netherlands? The answer can be heard in the piece.