8th Grade Education

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 , 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 hour 15 minutes)
>
>
> 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 3,942 lbs., what is it worth at
>50cts/bushel, deducting 1,050 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 6,720 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 b attles of the
Rebellion.
> 7. Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton , Bell ,
Lincoln ,
>Penn, and Howe?
> 8. Name event s 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 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 the incl ination
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!

Maybe someone out there may know some of the answers!!
>
>