Fer Yall Edjicated folks

[indian]

Can any of you College grads pass this test.


8th Grade Education

Here is your 8th Grade Graduation Test...You have five hours to answer all the questions in this 5 part exam

Here is a hint...as you all know...we are smarter today then our grandparents were way back then...

Good Luck



Remember when our grandparents, great-grandparents, and such 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 Salina, KS, 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 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 ft. 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. a 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 feet long at  
   $20 per meter?
8. Find the 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 are  
   they 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 earth. Give inclination of the earth.

*****Gives the saying of an early 20th century person that "she/he
only had an 8th grade education" a whole new meaning!

[Creamo]

Grammar- Microsoft WORD

Arithmetic – $1 Wal-Mart Calculator

U.S. History – Only WWII is important anyway, and we all know a P-51 has a B model, ( so AH says, never knew) which is green and turns better than the D model that has a shiny icon at distance.

Orthography – What in the hell is that? Have one “orthography” expert in 1895 who craps in a bowl and throws it out a window, or in a dirt hole covered with a wooden shack sporting a door with a moon cutout (they were so smart AND artists!) impress me with calculating the cost of coal. DSL runs off of electricity, which even if coal produces in some cases, they send me a prompt and nicely typed out bill.

Geography – The Packers are from Wisconsin, Reno is 24 hours of great fun, Cancun is warm, the Philippines have the best little brown women. Other than that, the airlines and travel agencies fill in the details for travel wants, or CNN is readily available if you care what area of the world the Jews are fighting the Palestinian rock throwers with U.S. tanks and F-16’s.

Were not smarter, we just drive nice cars, drink imported purified high octane liquor cheaply, sleep with women that don’t resemble they have bear skin throw rugs tacked to their legs, live in warm houses with running water, and can discuss it all without saddling up a dirty mangy horse to a town center.

I don’t feel dum neether posting a On-est ree-ply.

[Cobra]

Hehe...I actually grew up in Salina, KS!  

And yes, we are very smart town, we just never get past the 8th grade  

Cobra

[GWH]

It's interesting to note how many of the questions are curriculum-/teacher-specific or time- and place-specific.  There also seems to be a emphasis on memorization-regurgitation (not that this has lessened much over 100+ years).    I'm also wondering how may kids actually made it all the way to the 8th grade in Salinas, KS in 1895 as opposed to now (I wonder if that's changed much over 100+ years    ).

It's also interesting to note the subjects which aren't included but are parts of most contemporary 8th-grade educations in the US.  Where's the sciences section (although the KS BoE has had issues with teaching science in the classroom    )?  Where's world history?  How about a foreign language?  Introductory algebra or trigonometry?  And so on.  I wonder how many of the 8th graders from 1895 could make the cut in a modern 8th grade exam?

It just goes to show how times and educational emphases have changed.  It's all very interesting and insightful.

GWH

[mrfish]

yeah those do seem memorization oriented or place specific. it's a lot more likely that some dude from kansas will know the dimensions of a bushel of wheat than a guy that lives on long island.

i mean i could ask a doctor: what is the binding energy of the ground state of muonic hydrogen?

i'd probably get a blank stare but i'm sure he could tell me all about an apendectomy or something to which i would then respond with a blank stare.

there's too much knowledge out there to be a generalist these days - even in your chosen field sometimes.

[john9001]

i don't know the answers so it's a dumb test, and i didn't see anything about social sensitivity on that ethno centric test.