This is a test

[Tom-D]

Think you can pass?
Remember no computers, calculators, just a pencil and paper.

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.

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,

and.......... NO, I don't have the answers!

 

[dmccormack]

Got one wrong.

 

[ScottM]

Also shows you how poor our education system has become and,

No it doesn't. It shows what level of retention the test taker has.

http://www.snopes.com/language/document/1895exam.asp

 

[ClimbnSink]

Take one of those 1895 8th graders put them in a time machine bring them here and I'll whip their but on the Xbox.

 

[dmccormack]

Take one of those 1895 8th graders (missing comma) put them (singular or plural?) in a time machine (missing comma) bring them here and I'll whip their (his or her) but (sp) on the Xbox.

Clearly, you did not attend school in 1895. Or pay attention in 1995, for that matter.

 

[ClimbnSink]

I RITE 4 INTERWEB

 

[Tom-D]

No it doesn't. It shows what level of retention the test taker has.

http://www.snopes.com/language/document/1895exam.asp

You always drop to the liberal view right ? but we know Snopes is a far left couple who are not always right

Read

[Thomasson, 2001]

The object of this exercise was only to reveal what many of us have known for some time. The dumbing down of American public education over the past 100 years has been substantial, particularly in the last 50 years. When Great-grandma says she only had an eighth-grade education, don't smirk.

I think he got it right.

 

[Tom-D]

Take one of those 1895 8th graders put them in a time machine bring them here and I'll whip their but on the Xbox.

You have a very valid point,

Think about this, what would you be required to teach George Washigton to allow him to act as a average citizen today.

But I'll bet he could read and write better than the airheads that are graduation todays ghetto schools.

 

[ScottM]

You always drop to the liberal view right ?

You make me laugh with your irreverence. This has nothing to do with left or right. If you intended this to be a right wing viewing of an issue then you should have posted it in SZ

but we know Snopes is a far left couple who are not always right

Huh?

Read

[Thomasson, 2001]

The object of this exercise was only to reveal what many of us have known for some time. The dumbing down of American public education over the past 100 years has been substantial, particularly in the last 50 years. When Great-grandma says she only had an eighth-grade education, don't smirk.

I think he got it right.

If I gave you a test on freshman electrical engineering circuits and you could not pass it, is the conclusion that you are uneducated? Of course not! The conclusion would be that you either did not ever know that material, had been taught the material and forgot it, or never were taught it.

It is the same principal here. You most likely do not recall anything specific you were taught in 8th grade. That one may not be able to answer the questions in the posted exam speaks only to the knowledge of the person taking the exam. It does not speak to the educational system now or in the past.

For Thomasson to apply his idea he should be testing multitudes of 8th graders. Then looking at those results to similiar results form when this exam was administered. That is not a right or left issue. That is just good methodology of testing one's theorem. A method that was taught in schools then and still is now.

 

[KSCessnaDriver]

I know I could get 2 questions right, both of which reference the state of Kansas. Beyond that, I'm clueless.

 

[dmccormack]

But I'll bet he could read and write better than the airheads that are graduation todays ghetto schools.

Washington's prose is often stilted and pretentious.

Unless he's in a hurry -- then his education and inner convictions shine (See his Dispatch to Gov Dinwiddie in 1754, his address at Valley Forge, and his Farewell address).

Eisenhower had a similar bent towards wordiness, verging on incoherent.

Facility with words is often the hiss of the serpent.