News Knowledge in Words and Pictures % who know Afghanistan/Palistan border Greece as indebted Euro country Unemployment rate at 9%
Large majorities of the public know that Afghanistan and Pakistan share a border and can identify Hillary Clinton in a photograph as the nation’s secretary of state, according to the Pew Research Center’s latest News IQ survey, which for the first time includes visual questions.
While majorities answer most of the 19 questions correctly, some prove more difficult. About four-in-ten, for example, know that Republicans now hold a majority only in the House of Representatives or can identify the crescent and star from four visual choices as the symbol associated with Islam.
Seven of the 10 items with the most correct answers are visual questions. In addition to the large majority (82%) that correctly pick a photo of Hillary Clinton from four when asked which showed the current secretary of State, 79% select the name “Moammar Gadhafi” from a list of four when shown a photo of the former Libyan leader. On a map of South America with four nations numbered and highlighted, 77% correctly identify Brazil.
News Knowledge in Words and Pictures  | Verbal questions  | % who know  | Afghanistan/Palistan border  | 78  | Greece as indebted Euro country  | 61  | Unemployment rate at 9%  | 58  | Boehner is speaker of the house  | 56  | Dow Average around 11,000  | 52  | 1,800 U.S. fatalities in Afghan.  | 50  | 47  | Justice Roberts is conservative  | U.S. poverty rate at 15%  | 46  | Reps have majority in House  | 43  | Cameron is British Prime Minister  | 38  | Visual questions  | % who can identify  | Secretary of state from picture  | 82  | Gadhafi from picture  | 79  | 74 77  | Brazil from South American map  | Elephant as Republican symbol  | Jobs as co-founder of Apple  | 73  | Bernanke 's position (Fed chair)  | 70  | Sotomayor from picture  | 65  | Israel on Mideast map  | 57  | Crescent & star as Islamic symbol  | 42  | PEW RESEARCH CENTER, Sept. 30-Oct, 11, 2011, 