1895 Kansas 8th grade final test

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.
7-10. 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. 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 inch?
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, and 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 N.A.
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.

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Ishmael said:

Can you pass this test? Why not? Never made it to the 8th grade?



Ishmael

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MisterEdMe said:

Based upon several conversations I've had w/you in the past, Do you even know what the 8th grade is in the U.S.?

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Plenty of critics maintain that most of today's teaching candidates couldn't pass this test. Well, even if that were true, it wouldn't make today's candidates all that different than their 19th century counterparts. As Joseph Crosby, the man who created the English Grammar and Orthography sections of this exam, wrote to a friend in 1876:


I gave them a pretty severe test in Grammar, and some of them did make terrible work of it. One young lady said the singular of "Swine" was "pigs", another "a hog". One being asked to give me the past tense of "I lie down" said "I lied", which she certainly did. Out of some 30 or 35 words I gave them to spell, not over 10 were spelled correctly by any one, several missed on all but 5 or 6 -- Yet they blushed & tried so hard to do well -- and many were graduates of the High School -- that I was sorry for them. I had no idea that graduates could be so ignorant.

And after all, do we really care these days whether our educators know the "feminines of the words hero, bachelor, and ox"?

Although this exam may indicate, as Velz wrote, that "[o]ur notion of nineteenth-century education as primitive and backward may need modification," perhaps what it demonstrates most is the truth of the aphorism that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

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breakwall said:

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

While Snopes agrees that the test is authentic, it disputes the fact that it constitutes the "dumbing down" of the education system.

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breakwall said:

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

While Snopes agrees that the test is authentic, it disputes the fact that it constitutes the "dumbing down" of the education system.

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Ishmael said:

It's authentic but no 'dumbing down?' *chuckle*

Ishmael

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Ishmael said:

Today or then? Obviously there's a difference.

Ishmael

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MisterEdMe said:

The only obvious thing to me is that you suffer from multiple personalities. Last time I talked to you, you didn't even know how to wash a car. Your servants did it for you. And the word "obvious" is enhanced ONLY in your mind.

If I am wrong, then correct me. I could do a little search thread history. Limited my talents may be on computers, but I assure you I have a pretty decent memory and my abilities are greatly enhanced since last we spoke.

BTW....every single question (save the arithmitic) would require FAR MORE than a single line answer.

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breakwall said:

My neighbour's kid is in Grade 8 and he's already doing computer programming. And yet he somehow does NOT know how many bushels of wheat a 2 foot by 3 foot by 10 foot wagon will hold.

The poor boy is an idiot, I'm afraid.

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Ishmael said:

Search away. You and I have had little or no interaction on the boards. Maybe you were talking to 1shmael. *chuckle*

Ishmael

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breakwall said:

My neighbour's kid is in Grade 8 and he's already doing computer programming. And yet he somehow does NOT know how many bushels of wheat a 2 foot by 3 foot by 10 foot wagon will hold.

The poor boy is an idiot, I'm afraid.

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MisterEdMe said:

You are right. Laugh's on me. I started a search before you responded. Sorry if I insulted you. ONE little letter/# fucked me up! Often, I call people on their bullshit. But I also admit my own bullshit or faults as well. Sorry.

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sweet soft kiss said:

It was practical knowledge for the time and place.

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Ishmael said:

Perhaps. I'm sure that part could be updated. And there at least two kansas specific questions there as well. But the English portion? Tell you what break, I have to dig deep to come close. I only know one current poster that could max that and only one past poster. Both English majors.

I do know that a bushell is 4 pecks. LOL

Ishmael

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breakwall said:

absolutely. And the message being conveyed is, because our grade 8 students can't accurately describe Monrovia, Odessa, Denver, Manitoba, Hecla, Yukon, St. Helena, Juan Fermandez, Aspinwall and Orinoco, they are somehow less educated than their 1850s counterparts.

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breakwall said:

How long is a rod?
I mean, I know how long MINE is, but I doubt thats relevant.

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DizzyHarrison said:

Sure, given time to study the material, as which an 8th grader in Kansas would have done.

Could I pass it now? Probably not, because they didn't teach us that.

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Ham Murabi said:

That's the point of the thread.

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Ishmael said:

Can you pass this test? Why not? Never made it to the 8th grade?



Ishmael

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Ishmael said:

Not a problem. That poster is LT (Loving Tongue). He's made a career of pretending to be me.

Ishmael

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garbage can said:

Hey Ish, that's Grad school stuff............

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MisterEdMe said:

Ooohhh. So you've had your own fair share of alts? WE might have some talking to talk about.

I will put it like this:

Two persons in, around, a part of, and simply knowing the same persons may never meet. However, ONCE they do meet, against all odds, they may scare the shit out of some folks SIMPLY because these two can bring "it all together". Otherwise, no one knows nothin'. Get my drift?

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