Exam topic 10 of 10
Science, education and sport, for the exam.
The smallest topic on the syllabus and the one people skip. It is also the one where four or five facts cover almost everything asked.
What this topic gets asked about
Institutions, prizes and firsts. Short list, high return — this is the topic where preparing costs the least.
The Secretaría de Educación Pública (SEP) was created in 1921. José Vasconcelos was its first head, and he launched the muralism programme and a national literacy campaign.
Article 3 of the Constitution makes basic education free, secular and compulsory.
The Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) is the country’s largest university. Its Ciudad Universitaria campus is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with Juan O’Gorman’s mosaic-covered Biblioteca Central.
The Instituto Politécnico Nacional (IPN) was founded in 1936 under Lázaro Cárdenas. Its motto is "La técnica al servicio de la patria".
El Colegio Nacional, the Instituto Matías Romero — which approves the content of the naturalization exams — and CONACYT and its successors are the other institutions worth recognising.
Mario Molina won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1995, shared, for work on the ozone layer and CFCs. He is Mexico’s Nobel laureate in science.
Alfonso García Robles won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1982 for the Treaty of Tlatelolco, which made Latin America a nuclear-weapon-free zone.
Octavio Paz won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1990. Those three are Mexico’s Nobel laureates.
Guillermo González Camarena invented an early colour television system and is the inventor the exam names.
Luis E. Miramontes co-invented the compound behind the contraceptive pill in Mexico City in 1951.
Mexico hosted the 1968 Olympic Games, the first in Latin America, and the FIFA World Cup in 1970 and 1986. It is a co-host of the 2026 World Cup.
The Estadio Azteca in Mexico City is the country’s largest stadium and the only one to have hosted two World Cup finals.
Charrería is the national sport. Football is the most popular, and boxing is where Mexico has the most world champions.
Soraya Jiménez was the first Mexican woman to win an Olympic gold medal, in weightlifting at Sydney 2000.
Ana Guevara in athletics, Hugo Sánchez in football, Julio César Chávez in boxing and Fernando Valenzuela in baseball are the athletes most often named.
A practice question from this topic
In Spanish, like the real exam. Open the answer to read the Contexto, or pick an option first.
Question 1 of 1 · Science, Education & Sport
¿Quién fue el primer secretario de Educación Pública de México?
Show the answer
Answer
José Vasconcelos
Contexto
Intelectual y educador; fue el primer secretario de Educación Pública en 1921 e impulsó una gran campaña educativa y cultural.
The other 626, with an explanation each.
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Questions people ask
How many Mexicans have won a Nobel Prize?
Three: Alfonso García Robles for Peace in 1982, Octavio Paz for Literature in 1990, and Mario Molina for Chemistry in 1995.
When was the SEP founded and by whom?
In 1921, with José Vasconcelos as its first head. It is one of the most reliably asked facts in this topic.
Is this topic worth studying if my time is short?
Yes, precisely because it is short. Five facts here cover most of what it can ask, which is a better return than a sixth pass over 19th-century dates.