Grade 8 Exam

[BR60103]

This was passed to me. To me, a lot of the questions need more information -- like the weight of a bushel of wheat. A few comments were in the version sent.

The 8th grade education in 1895 was worth a lot more than it is now. It shows us just how much we have dumbed down our educational system. Our children are capable of a lot more than we give them credit for but we are short changing them by keeping expectations low.




1895 8th grade final exam

Take this test and pass it on to your more literate friends..





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 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 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. 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.

[Sumpter250]

I sent this on to my Daughter, who is a Middle School Math teacher.
There was a lot of this test that I understood, but between age, and non-use, I have forgotten.
There was a lot of this test that I do not remember ever learning.
---- to quote the "bit" from Laugh-In---" Verrrry EEnteresting". :o

[ezdays]

Well, a few things we've learned since then is that if more people fail to answer more questions correctly, we must be making the questions too hard. We also make it easier to pass by lowering the bar and requiring fewer correct answers to pass, besides, we also find that it is too traumatic for these young minds to stress out at the thought of passing of failing, so we can stop using red pencils to point out the error of their ways and we can just eliminate that threshold all together. If we grade them on how fast they can send a text message, or attempting to read one while driving at 60 miles an hour, I'm sure there'd be 95% passing that test.

[ngauger]

Well... It's nice to know that I'm NOT Smarter Than an 8th Grader

My Name: José Jiménez ~~ Bill Dana

[nachoman]

Not to be a spoil sport, but:

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.snopes.com/language/document/1895exam.asp">http://www.snopes.com/language/document/1895exam.asp</a><!-- m -->

While often fun and amusing, ya gotta question anything you read in chain emails.

[Ralph]

Actually Kevin, I feel a lot better now.

[nachoman]

By the way, I think question #8 under Geography is incorrect. The Atlantic coast of the USA is influenced by the Gulf Stream, warm water moving from south to north. The west coast of the USA is influenced by cold ocean currents from the Gulf of Alaska.

[BR60103]

I had my own doubts about Arithmetic 7 (with a price per meter) and Arithmetic 9 doesn't make any sense.

The question on Snopes's teachers' test about the board in the fence also has insufficient information.

[tomustang]

Not to be a spoil sport, but:

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.snopes.com/language/document/1895exam.asp">http://www.snopes.com/language/document/1895exam.asp</a><!-- m -->

While often fun and amusing, ya gotta question anything you read in chain emails.

Bingo, I swear once a year I see this one pop up somewhere

[poliss]

U.S. History. Q2. Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus. A. How can you give an account of something that never happened?

[MountainMan]

U.S. History. Q2. Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus. A. How can you give an account of something that never happened?

Because the test was given in 1895, when students were taught that it did happen.

[Sumpter250]

Well, a few things we've learned since then is that if more people fail to answer more questions correctly, we must be making the questions too hard. We also make it easier to pass by lowering the bar and requiring fewer correct answers to pass, besides, we also find that it is too traumatic for these young minds to stress out at the thought of passing of failing, so we can stop using red pencils to point out the error of their ways and we can just eliminate that threshold all together. If we grade them on how fast they can send a text message, or attempting to read one while driving at 60 miles an hour, I'm sure there'd be 95% passing that test.

Ahhh, one more "bit of evidence" that evolution does exist, and that the species "Homo Sapiens" is going extinct, and being replaced by the species "Homo Stupidicus". While genetic testing hasn't yet been done, it's quite possible that Congressman Weiner is a member of this new species hock:
6 What is punctuation?
" Damn the torpedoes !, Full speed ahead ! " ~~Adm. David Glasgow Farragut

However , .......... Some historians believe that he was misquoted, and what he actually said was,
" Damn !! The torpedoes !!! Full speed ahead !!!!
It's all in the punctuation --- then, of course, there's Victor Borge's "punctuation" ( if you're old enough to remember that )

[MountainMan]

Well, a few things we've learned since then is that if more people fail to answer more questions correctly, we must be making the questions too hard. We also make it easier to pass by lowering the bar and requiring fewer correct answers to pass, besides, we also find that it is too traumatic for these young minds to stress out at the thought of passing of failing, so we can stop using red pencils to point out the error of their ways and we can just eliminate that threshold all together. If we grade them on how fast they can send a text message, or attempting to read one while driving at 60 miles an hour, I'm sure there'd be 95% passing that test.

Ahhh, one more "bit of evidence" that evolution does exist, and that the species "Homo Sapiens" is going extinct, and being replaced by the species "Homo Stupidicus". While genetic testing hasn't yet been done, it's quite possible that Congressman Weiner is a member of this new species hock:
6 What is punctuation?
" Damn the torpedoes !, Full speed ahead ! " ~~Adm. David Glasgow Farragut

However , .......... Some historians believe that he was misquoted, and what he actually said was,
" Damn !! The torpedoes !!! Full speed ahead !!!!
It's all in the punctuation --- then, of course, there's Victor Borge's "punctuation" ( if you're old enough to remember that )

"Thhhpppppt! Click! Gulp! Quork! Step on it!"

[poliss]

Surely, even in 1895, they had noticed the native Americans?
What were called torpedoes in Farragut's time, we would now call mines.

[Ralph]

Surely, even in 1895, they had noticed the native Americans?

Yes, of course poliss, but I suspect you're responding from today's sensibilities. In 1895 the prevailing American viewpoint was that the Native Americans were savages rightly conquered by more advanced and righteous European Americans. The massacre at Wounded Knee, for example, was only five years earlier in 1890. Despite the presence of well established tribes of indigenous peoples, America was "discovered" by Columbus because the history was written by the victors. In recent decades we've been open to examining the complex reality that recognizes the seamanship of Columbus' journey (along with his appalling treatment of Native populations) but also acknowledges and celebrates the diverse Native Cultures that were here centuries before the Santa Maria crested the horizon.

Ralph