I failed the eighth-grade final exam !

[FuzzyDiceRide]

I remember reading of many successful business people from
days of old ,only having an 8th grade education . Look at the
difference from 8th graders then and 8th graders now. Of
course the people from that era would probably not do too
well with XBox , Guitar Hero or text messaging. Mike




Eighth-grade final exam from 1895 in Salina, Kansas.
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. 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?

Grammar (Time, one hour)

Give nine rules for the use of capital letters.
Name the parts of speech and define those that have no modifications.
Define verse, s tanza and paragraph
What are the principal parts of a verb? Give principal parts of "lie", "play", and "run."
Define case; illustrate each case.
What is punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of punctuation.
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)

Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.
A wagon box is 2 ft. deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold?
If a load of wheat weighs 3942 lbs., what is it worth at 50cts/bushel, deducting 1050 lbs. for tare?
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?
Find the cost of 6720 lbs. coal at $6.00 per ton.
Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent.
What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft. long at $20 per meter?
Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent.
What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance of which is 640 rods?
Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt
U.S. History (Time, 45 minutes)

Give the epochs into which U.S. History is divided
Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus .
Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War.
Show the territorial growth of the United States .
Tell what you can of the h istory of Kansas .
Describe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion.
Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton , Bell , L incoln , Penn, and Howe?
Name events connected with the following dates: 1607, 1620, 1800, 1849, a! nd 1865.
Orthography (Time, one hour) (Do we even know what this is???)

What is meant by the following: alphabet, phonetic, orthography, etymology, and syllabication.
What are elementary sounds? How classified?
What are the following, and give examples of each: trigraph, sub vocal, diphthong, cognate letters, and lingual.
Give four substitutes for caret 'u.' (HUH?)
Give two rules for spelling words with final 'e.' Name two exceptions under each rule.
Give two uses of silent letters in spelling. Illustrate each.
Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word: bi-, dis-, mis-, pre-, semi-, post-, non-, i nter-, mono-, and sup-.
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.
Use the following correctly in sentences: cite, site, sight, fane, fain, feign, vane, vain, vein, raze, raise, rays.
Write 10 words frequently mispronounced and indicate pronunciation by use of diacritical marks and by syllabication.
Geography (Time, one hour)

What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?
How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas ?
Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the ocean?
Describe the mountains of North America
Name and describe the following: Monrovia , Odessa , Denver , Manitoba , Hecla , Yukon , St. Helena, Juan Fernandez, Aspinwall and Orinoco.
Name and locate! the principal trade centers of the U.S.
Name all the republics of: Europe and give the capital of each.
Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same latitude?
Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers.
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? This also shows you how poor our education system has become... and, NO! I don't have the answers, and I failed the 8th grade test!

[stuartb]

anyone got a calculator and a conversion table?

I would fail that test.

[imagine2frolic]

Maybe that's why they spoke, and wrote so eloquently then?

[Jay Little]

I will need to study for a long while to pass that test!

[Seagull81]

Where are the true-false & a,b,c,d answers. I knew I couldn't pass this one 'cuse I'm not smarter than a 5th grader.
Steve

[Bill Bess]

Maybe back when I was an 8th. grader I could have made a good atempt at completing the test. Now I said completing the test....but passing it..no way. I was a dumb ass then and I'm still a dumb ass at 66 years old.

DA Bill

[Ron61]

Now that was a test that required a lot of study and learning. At least we can read to know that we couldn't pass it. I doubt if a fourth of the high school grads around here could even read it, let alone have any idea of what it is asking. I am just happy that I don't have to take it. I would have a minus score.

Ron

[Fred Douglass]

...couldn't pour piss out of a boot if the instructions were on the bottom of the heel! (To paraphrase LBJ)...

ar-ar-ar-ar-ar!

That was a great post. Now I know why my parents and grandparents were so wise. Today's teachers (including recently retired ones [ahem!]) wouldn't have a chance to pass that thing!

[trularin]

Some of the questions will need help should you take this exam today.

"The rebellion"

Ron, O sage of time, give us a clue.