Can you pass the 8th Grade Test from 1895?

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1895 8th grade exam

 

Could any of us pass this today?

 

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 per 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) Do we even know what this

is??

 

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.' (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, 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 f= or 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?! Also shows you how

poor our education system has become... and, NO! I

don't

have the answers.

 

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