I wish I had an 8th grade education!
Take this exam. You only have 5 hours and no
open books allowed. I wonder how many people today could ever pass this
test.
Can you believe
this?
1895 FINAL EXAM
What it took to get an 8th grade education in
1895...
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?
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 , 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 pri ncipal 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 hour 15 minutes)
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 3,942 lbs., what is it worth at 50cts/bushel, deducting
1,050 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 6,720 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
U.S. 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) [Do we
even know what this is??]
1. What is meant by the following: alphabet,
phonetic, orthograp hy, 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 what 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 FIVE HOURS to
complete.
Gives the saying, 'He only had an 8th grade
education', a whole new meaning, doesn't it ? !
What does this say about our current public
educational system?
I don't know about you.. but I personally think we have
'dummied down' over the last 113 years.
A Good Credit Score is 700 or Above.
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