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#148247 09/24/05 02:00 PM
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I do not usually post here but this email I received is an worth sharing.


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, 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 p! ! er 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)




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, 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 ear! ! th. 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?!
No,I don't have the answers, and this college educated person pretty much failed this 8th grade test!




#148248 09/24/05 02:15 PM
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Of course, in 1895, they didn't have Snopes:

http://www.snopes.com/language/document/1895exam.htm

Bingley


Bingley
#148249 09/24/05 02:41 PM
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Tell what you can of the history of Kansas.

I like the way this question is phrased. One assumes that I would get full credit for responding "They used to have cowboys there and they still have some cows."



#148250 09/26/05 03:50 PM
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U.S. History (Time, 45 minutes)

1. Give the epochs into which U.S. History is divided
Yesterday, Yesteryear-kosytimes, Forgotten
2. Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus.
Mistake.
3. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War.
Money and, respectively, money.
4. Show the territorial growth of the United States.
Gimme a globe. NOW.
5. Tell what you can of the history of Kansas.
We ain’t there jess now Dorothy.
6. Describe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion.
Beer, Gin and Whiskey. Oh sorry, I thought you said bottles.
7. Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton, Bell, Lincoln, Penn, and Howe?
Runners in the first Kentucky Derby.
8. Name events connected with the following dates: 1607, 1620, 1800, 1849, 1865.
January.

Huh. Don’t see the problem, only took me 2 minutes… :]



#148251 09/27/05 10:22 AM
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old hand
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From the Snopes site:

Claim: An 1895 graduation examination for public school students demonstrates a shocking decline in educational standards.

Status: False.


Nah, but Snopes are doing their bit by thinking for people in this case think though. Their categories ('True', 'False', 'Undetermined', and what not) are great. Those great purveyors of truth;-)


#148252 09/27/05 10:43 AM
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Claim: Mister Ed, the talking equine of television fame, was a horse.

Status: False.

http://snopes.com/lost/mistered.asp


#148253 09/27/05 11:23 AM
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I don't know if I believe that. Look at the ears and mane.


#148254 09/27/05 11:35 AM
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ooh, irony!



formerly known as etaoin...
#148255 09/27/05 12:21 PM
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>>Nah, but Snopes are doing their bit by thinking for people in this case think though.

Huh? Please translate.


#148256 09/27/05 12:31 PM
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>>translation?<<

"Tschja, but in this case, I think Snopes is doing its bit by thinking for people, though." That is, I think: they are providing the true or false answer required by all those fill-in-the-oval-you-neanderthal tests any of us with any sense refused to take in the seventh grade. Rather than thinking.


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