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Justin Style Inner circle 2010 Posts |
Final 8th grade exam from 1895!
Remember when our grandparents, great-grandparents, and such stated that they only had an 8th grade education? Well, check this out. - - - 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 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, lay and run 5. Define Case, Illustrate each Case. 6. What is Punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of Punctuation. 7. 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 1050lbs. 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 cost of 6720 lbs. coal at $6.00 per ton. 6. Fi nd 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 meter? 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 around 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) 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, sub vocals, diphthong, cognate letters, linguals? 4. Give four substitutes for caret 'u'. 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 &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 Pacif ic 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. Also notice that the exam took five hours to complete. Gives the saying "she/he only had an 8th grade education" a whole new meaning, doesn't it? What happened to us? It is kind of humbling, isn't it ? |
tparrett62 Regular user New York 171 Posts |
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Justin Style Inner circle 2010 Posts |
Yikes...thank God I was born (extremely) good looking.
My brother got the brains, I got the babes. I'm not complaining. :cheers: |
tparrett62 Regular user New York 171 Posts |
I'm really can't complain- I got a babe with brains!
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MagicSanta Inner circle Northern Nevada 5841 Posts |
I'm not surprised at all by the test. If you read some of the letters written in the 1700's by children they were far more articulate than they are today. I think the reason is very clear, we allowed people to destroy the educational system. The schools got away from the three R's because some people, typically not parents, demanded that the school teach on subjects that the parents should broach with the kids. Then there is the simple fact that schools teach to the slowest kid in the class which is the opposite to how it should be. This lowers the standards for all the kids. They also, and I hope this is limited to some districts in California, decided that it was wrong to make children read books, they should read them on their own if they want (I'm not kidding). So the end result is nothing is taught in the schools and the teachers give the material that they should be teaching to the punks to do at home and the parents complain there is too much home work. There isn't too much home work, there is too much daily work being sent home because the teachers are too busy teaching the kids that diversity is wonderful, hey, diversity is a good thing but do they need to sacrifice spelling to teach it? Lastly, and this confuses me, is when did the schools decide to 'mainstream' people in the schools that should be, because they need it, special education? I've news for you, when a kid with an IQ of 78 or something can graduate with the same criteria as the other kids then it reflects on the other kids more so than the one with the 78 IQ. Of course it is all made right again because almost always the kid with the IQ of 78 will be elected home coming king or queen, in schools that allow such titles. There are too many kids today, not all or, I hope, most, who are complete idiots. They can't spell (they call it 'creative spelling'), they cannot read (visual learners), they don't know how to do math, know nothing about science or history, they are useless. The US should be ashamed at how they destroyed the educational system and the facts are out there.
Oh, after you explain why the changes are good then explain to me how someone who speaks no English can go through an American university where all the text and lectures are in English can make it through to a degree. If you don't speak Spanish do you think you could keep up at a school in Madrid taught in Spanish? Pulleaze, the only hassle getting through school these days is showing up, even that isn't always required I think. |
Ken Northridge Inner circle Atlantic City, NJ 2392 Posts |
Quote:
On 2009-02-19 16:26, tparrett62 wrote: Now there's a smart person!
"Love is the real magic." -Doug Henning
www.KenNorthridge.com |
Doug Higley 1942 - 2022 7152 Posts |
You get a B for showing up.
Higley's Giant Flea Pocket Zibit
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Cody Comet Loyal user Louisville, KY 201 Posts |
Dang, I score higher than 90 to 95% of all of America's High School Sophomores in English on both the PLAN and the PSAT but yet I still find that first English part on this final super hard. Somethings not right about that!
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LobowolfXXX Inner circle La Famiglia 1196 Posts |
Those were the days.
"Torture doesn't work" lol
Guess they forgot to tell Bill Buckley. "...as we reason and love, we are able to hope. And hope enables us to resist those things that would enslave us." |
LobowolfXXX Inner circle La Famiglia 1196 Posts |
Quote:
On 2009-02-19 17:40, MagicSanta wrote: I don't disagree with you in general, Santa, but one thing that should be pointed out with respect to the 1700's thing is, back then, school was a luxury. Today, it's a given; kids of a certain age go to school. Back then, for working-class families, anyway, if you were needed to help on the farm, you helped on the farm. If you were needed in the family business, you worked in the family business. You didn't go to school. If the family had 5 kids and needed 4 to work, the smartest (or the one thought to be the smartest) went to school. If you didn't seem amenable to "book learning," then they didn't waste your time with it. So you had a very-much-biased sample. If they thought you were going to suck, you didn't get to go, so education was aimed to some extent at the top of the curve.
"Torture doesn't work" lol
Guess they forgot to tell Bill Buckley. "...as we reason and love, we are able to hope. And hope enables us to resist those things that would enslave us." |
Turk Inner circle Portland, OR 3546 Posts |
So, is Snopes.com suggesting that the correct answer to all these questions is (hopefully):
"(D). None of the above"?
Magic is a vanishing Art.
This must not be Kansas anymore, Toto. Eschew obfuscation. |
Destiny Inner circle 1429 Posts |
U.S. History (Time, 45 minutes)
1. Give the epochs into which U. S. History is divided. Before Obama and Anno Obama 2. Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus . Obstinate Genoese sailor wouldn't take No for an answer. 3. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War. Crazy English King p!ssed off the colonies, resulting in less revenue for said loony. 4. Show the territorial growth of the United States . McDonalds just put up a new store down the road from me. 5. Tell what you can of the history of Kansas . Dorothy isn't in Kansas anymore. 6. Describe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion. Now why would I worry about the battles of your Rebellion when here in Australia we had The Rum Rebellion of 1808 which was the only successful armed takeover of government in Australia's recorded history. A coup détat against Governor Bligh (of Mutiny on the Bounty fame) when he tried to prohibit the use of rum as payment for commodoties. Rum is nectar of the Gods. He should have been drawn and quartered. 7. Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton , Bell , Lincoln , Penn, and Howe? Sean Penn or Penn Jillette? 8. Name events connected with the following dates: 1607, 1620, 1800, 1849, 1865. 1607: Shakespeare's daughter Susanna got married.' 1620: The first merry-go-round was used at a fair in Turkey. 1800: James Black, later to create the original Bowie knife, was born. 1849: Elizabeth Blackwell became the United State's first woman doctor. 1865: The first speed limit is introduced in Britain: 2 mph in town and 4 mph in the country. |
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