[Editors] Fwd: What it took to get an 8th grade education in 1895

[Catherine Avril]

>What it took to get an 8th grade education in 1895
>
>
>
>No hand held calculaters, no internet, no TV, no cell phones, no i 
>pods, no electricity, no cars; so is all the new technology really 
>helping????
>
>
>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, 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, 65 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 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 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 
>of which is 640 rods? & lt; BR>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, and 1865.
>
>Orthography (Time, one hour)   (Do we even know what this is???)
>
>1. What is meant by the following:  alphabet, phonetic, orthography, 
>etymology, and syllabication.
>2. What are elementary sounds? How classified?
>3. What are the following, and give examples of each: trigraph, sub 
>vocal, diphthong, cognate letters, and lingual.
>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-, and 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? 
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