zegar4
24.06.03, 03:39
Questions: What percentage of this year's seniors and
last year's high school graduates could pass the
following 8th grade test required in 1895, even if the
few outdated questions were modernized? How many
college students could pass it? For that matter, what
percentage of high school teachers could pass it? And -
- what percentage of today's schools have standards for
promotion from 8th grade equal to or tougher than those
required in 1895?
8th Grade Final Exam: Salina, Kansas - 1895
This is the eighth-grade final exam from 1895 from
Salina, Kansas. It was taken from the original document
on file at the Smoky Valley Genealogical Society
and Library in Salina, Kansas and reprinted by the
Salina Journal.
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 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. per bu, 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 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 inch?
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 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, and 1865?
Orthography (Time, one hour)
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'.
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, super.
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 N.A.
5. Name and describe the following: Monrovia, Odessa,
Denver, Manitoba, Hecla, Yukon, St. Helena, Juan
Fermandez, Aspinwall and Orinoco.
6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S.
7. Name all the republics of Europe and give 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.
Repeating our opening Questions: What percentage of
this year's seniors and last year's high school
graduates could pass the above 8th grade test required
in 1895, even if the few outdated questions were
modernized? How many college students could pass it?
For that matter, what percentage of high school
teachers could pass it? And - - what percentage of
today's schools have standards for promotion from 8th
grade equal to or tougher than those required in 1895?
