Hillary's New Job Better Known than Dow Jones Average

A new Pew News IQ survey yields some predictable results about the public's knowledge of facts about politics and world affairs, but also a few surprises. Hillary Clinton's nomination to be secretary of state is known by just about everyone -- not too surprisingly. However, even at a time of great focus on Wall Street's troubles, fewer than half were generally aware of where the Dow Jones Industrial Average is trading these days.

A total of 1,000 adults were interviewed Dec. 4-7 by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press and were asked to answer a series of 10 multiple choice questions about events and people in the news. Respondents answered an average of six correctly.

Following an election that generated great public interest, nearly nine-in-ten (87%) could correctly identify secretary of state as the job that President-elect Barack Obama has nominated Clinton to take on in his cabinet. More than eight-in-ten (82%) knew that the Democratic Party controls a majority of seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Test your own knowledge of current affairs against that of the broader public.

Then read the full report on the Pew Research Center's Web site.

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