1895 Eighth Grade Final Exam (Think you're smart?)

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[pa_dweller]

Can you pass this exam?

Many people scoff when told that there appears to be a deliberate agenda in our modern schools causing the "dumbing down" of America. We suspect that a majority of college students today could not pass this primary school level examination.

Good luck!

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1895 Eighth Grade Final Exam

Salina, Kansas, USA 1895
Can you pass this exam?

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This is the eighth-grade Final Exam for 1895 from 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.

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 do, 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 50 cts. per bu., 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 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 m?
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, subvocals, 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, super.
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 Fermandez, Aspinwall and Orinoco.
6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S.
7. Name all the republics of Europe and give 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 inclination of the earth.

[pa_dweller]

I might have known this stuff at one time but, I don't think I could pass this test today. At least not in the times alloted!

[Concerto in D]

Ugh--Three college degrees, and I didn't know what orthography was. Boy, do I feel dumb! OK--I'll give the test the old college try.

[snippy_about_it]

This is a good example of why so many letters of our early Americans are so eloquent.

[pa_dweller]

Fer shur duud! It's like, you know, really bit**in' writin' and stuff!  :^)

[demlosers]

...what is it worth at 50 cts. per bu.,....

What is the weight of 1 bushel in pounds? Any farmers out there?

[demlosers]

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

Off the top of my head,
7. Samuel Morse(code), Eli Whitney(cotton-gin), Robert Fulton(steamboat), Graham Bell(phone), Abe(Pres.), Penn(head Quaker), and Howe(British General).
8. 1607(est. Jamestown), 1620(est. Plymouth), 1800(TJ elected?), 1849(SF 49ers ;) ), 1865(civil war ends, Abe assassinated).

Two questions answered. :)

[altair]

The answer is in the question. There are 40 bushels in a load. So the weight of one bushel of wheat is 3942/40 or 98.55 lbs.

[altair]

Oops, forgot the tare. I meant (3942-1050)/40 lbs.

[IMRight]

Ping.

Thought you would be interested.

[End Times Sentinel]

Yeah, but how much did they know about black history?

Owl _ Eagle
“Guns before butter.”

[EggsAckley]

bump

[phasma proeliator]

ping da ping...

if a train leaves NewYork at 8:05AM EST and Santa Clause leaves the north pole at 8:06 EST:
assuming a prevalant North eastern wind of 10 knots at the north pole and a temperature of -5C and temperature of 0C in New York, the train accellerating to a constant 74.3mph in 20 minutes, a constant flying speed of 362 MPH for Santa (reached after a two minute acceleration):
which would reach San Diego first, by how much? Round you time to nearest 100th of a second.

[Ted]

Yeah, but did they have good self-esteem?...

The Arithmetic section asked about the amount of interest at a rate of 7 percent, but does not say simple, compound, or what. I suppose one could answer it both ways. Good grief, is this real?

[da_toolman]

Taking into consideration the recent measurments of the North Pole's movement somewhat to the west - northwest, and assuming that the mass of both vehicles is the same, I'd have to say neither. There's going to be a headon collision somewhere over Colorado and it's going to rain reindeer meat for days.

Interesting side note, maybe BS mathematically, -BUT- I just gave one hell of a good example as to the origination of the name "Reindeer".

[phasma proeliator]

Origin of "REINDEER"....

Good one

[pa_dweller]

Yeah, but how much did they know about black history?

Five minute timeout for OWL for being a smart aleck!  8-)

Seriously though, I think what this really shows is that the school board, or whatever they had in those days, had a much more practical outlook. They were obviously interested in people who were equipped to be productive citizens, who could handle their own affairs and who could communicate their thoughts intelligently. Those who passed this test would fit the bill, I think.

[pa_dweller]

Yeah, but did they have good self-esteem?

They didn't have psychology class back then so my guess is that they didn't know they had any esteem at all!  :)

Good grief, is this real?

This is the eighth-grade Final Exam for 1895 from 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.

Seems legit to me.

[Atlas Sneezed]

Is anyone else skeptical about whether this is for real?

[Atlas Sneezed]

Yup. It's an urban legend.