PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum - View Single Post - Could you pass this 8th Grade test from 1895?

sfloriII · #1 02-13-2004, 08:38 PM

I received this via email today. Looks like public education actually was worth something.... long ago.

Remember when grandparents and great-grandparents
stated that they only had an 8th grade education? Well,
check this out. Could any of us have passed the 8th
grade in 1895? (LOOK CLOSELY... THAT'S EIGHTEEN NINETY
FIVE!)

This is the eighth-grade final exam from 1895 in
Salina, Kansas, USA. It was taken from the original
document on file at the Smokey Valley Genealogical
Society and Library in Salina, KS, and reprinted by the
Salina Journal.

8th Grade Final Exam: Salina, KS -1895
********************************
Grammar (Time, one hour)
1. Give nine rules for the use of capital letters.
2. Name the parts of speech and define those that have
no modifications.
3. Define verse, stanza and paragraph.
4. What are the principal parts of a verb? Give
principal parts of "lie," "play,"' and "run."
5. Define case; Illustrate each case.
6. What is punctuation? Give rules for principal marks
of punctuation.7 - 10. Write a composition of about 150 words and show
therein that you understand the practical use of the
rules of grammar.

*****************************************
Arithmetic (Time, 1.25 hours)
1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.
2. A wagon box is 2 ft. deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft.
wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold?
3. If a load of wheat weighs 3942 lbs., what is it
worth at 50cts/bushel, deducting 1050 lbs. for tare?
4. District No. 33 has a valuation of $35,000. What is
the necessary levy to carry on a school seven months at
$50 per month, and have $104 for incidentals?
5. Find the cost of 6720 lbs. coal at $6.00 per ton.
6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18
days at 7 percent.
7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16
ft. long at $20 per metre?
8. Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at

10 percent.
9. What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre,
the distance of which is 640 rods?
10. Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a
Receipt.

********************************************
US. History (Time, 45 minutes)
1. Give the epochs into which U.S. History is divided.
2. Give an account of the discovery of America by
Columbus.
3 Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary
War.
4. Show the territorial growth of the United States.
5. Tell what you can of the history of Kansas.
6. Describe three of the most prominent battles of the
Rebellion.
7. Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton,
Bell, Lincoln, Penn, and Howe?
8. Name events connected with the following dates:
1607, 1620, 1800, 1849, 1865.

*******************************************
Orthography (Time, one hour) (WHAT IS THIS ANYHOW?)
1. What is meant by the following: Alphabet, phonetic,
orthography, etymology, syllabication
2. What are elementary sounds? How classified?
3. What are the following, and give examples of each:
Trigraph, subvocals, diphthong, cognate letters,
linguals
4. Give four substitutes for caret 'u.' (HUH?)

5. Give two rules for spelling words with final 'e.'
Name two exceptions under each rule.
6 Give two uses of silent letters in spelling.
Illustrate each.
7. Define the following prefixes and use in connection
with a word: bi, dis, mis, pre, semi, post, non, inter,
mono, sup.
8. Mark diacritically and divide into syllables the
following, and name the sign that indicates the sound:
card, ball, mercy, sir, odd, cell, rise, blood, fare,
last.
9. Use the following correctly in sentences: cite,
site, sight, fane, fain, feign, vane, vain, vein, raze,
raise, rays.
10. Write 10 words frequently mispronounced and
indicate pronunciation by use of diacritical marks and
by syllabication.

*********************************************
Geography (Time, one hour)
1. What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?
2. How do you account for the extremes of climate in
Kansas?
3. Of what use are rivers? Of wha! t use is the ocean?
4. Describe the mountains of North America.
5. Name and describe the following: Monrovia, Odessa,
Denver, Manitoba, Hecla, Yukon, St. Helena, Juan
Fernandez, Aspinwall and Orinoco.

6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the
U.S.

7. Name all the republics of Europe and give the
capital of each.

8. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in
the same latitude?

9. Describe the process by which the water of the ocean
returns to the sources of rivers.

10. Describe the movements of the earth. Give the
inclination of the earth.

**********************************************

Notice that the exam took SIX HOURS to complete. Gives
the saying "he only had an 8th grade education" a whole
new meaning, doesn't it?!