Are you smarter than ....

[1894]

Your Grand parents , or great - grandparents that said they had an 8th grade education ?


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 8t h 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, 65 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 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 meter?

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



US History (Time, 45 minutes)



1. Give the epochs into which US 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, 1 800, 1849, and 1865.



Orthography (Time, one hour)



1. What is meant by the following: alphabet, phonetic, orthography, etymology, and syllabication.

2. What are elementary sounds? How classified?

3. What are the following, and give examples of each: trigraph, sub vocal, diphthong, cognate letters, and lingual.

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-, and 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 US

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?

[Judgeh]

But would they know how to burn a Metallica disc?

'Nuff said.

[Chef]

I love it. I don't think many U.S. Americans nowadays could pass that.

[ellsaf]

That was very interesting, I know if I took that test right now I would not do very well and I definately would not have passed it when I was in 8th grade.

[redhawk]

No sweat, ony took me twenty minutes

Grammar (Time, one hour)



1. Give nine rules for the use of capital letters.

1. to write to the President
2. To write to the governor
3. to write to a Senator
4. to write to a Congressman
5. to complain about gasoline prices.
6. To complain about taxes
7. To complain about health care
8. to complain about Social Security
9. To complain about prescription drug cost

2. Name the parts of speech and define those that have no modifications.

Nouns, verbs and 'the others". The words that didn't come from Latin haven't been modified.

3. Define verse, stanza and paragraph

Rap music has versa, the national Anthem has Stanzas and this isn't a paragraph.

4. What are the principal parts of a verb? Give principal parts of "lie" , "play", and "run."

The Principal parts of a verb are morally better then the unprincipled parts of a verb. Lie...laid, Play: Get laid, run: what to do if you get caught getting laid.

5. Define case; illustrate each case.

Nut case - A little crazy
suit case - luggage
Just in case. Packed luggage in case I run into a nut case and have to leave in a hurry.

6. What is punctuation?
Give rules for principal marks of punctuation.

Punctuation is a type of music, the predecessor of Hip Hop.
You have to be able to dance to it for it be principal.

7 - 10. Write a composition of about 150 words and show therein that you understand the practical use of the rules of grammar.

I can't write a composition. I didn't learn music.

Arithmetic (Time, 65 minutes)



1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.

The sum has to add up to the total.

2. A wagon box is 2 ft. Deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. Wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold?

Whole wheat, half wheat or quarter wheat?

3. If a load of wheat weighs 3942 lbs., what is it worth at 50cts/bushel, deducting 1050 lbs. for tare?

You can't fool me. It's no good if it's torn
.
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?

Depends on the incidentals.

5. Find the cost of 6720 lbs. coal at $6.00 per ton.

Is that Anthracite or Bituminous? Anthracite is heavier


6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent.

Not enough to be interested in.

7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft. long at $20 per meter?

depends how long you park at the meter.

8. Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent.

Banks have discounts?

9. What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance of which is 640 rods?

A little less then a round farm.

10. Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt

Put it on my Visa.



US History (Time, 45 minutes)



1. Give the epochs into which US History is divided

Before, after and during.

2. Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus.

When he left he didn't know where he was going, when he got here he didn't know where he was. When he got back, he didn't know where he had been.


3. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War.

The two sides didn't like each other. after the war was over they still didn't like each other.

4. Show the territorial growth of the United States

All the land that got stolen from the indians and mexico became a part of the Unitted States.

5. Tell what you can of the history of Kansas.

It used to be big and had a lot of wheat. It's still big but it has less wheat today.

6. Describe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion.

The Battle of Sitting Bull, The battle of bull run, the Battle of Bullsh*t (took place in Washington)

7. Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton, Bell, Lincoln, Penn, and Howe?

A Law firm

8. Name events connected with the following dates: 1607, 1620, 1 800, 1849, and 1865.

Ancient History


Geography (Time, one hour)

1 What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?

Climate is what's going to kill us all someday.
It depends on Al Gore

2. How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas ?

Because it's in the winter when it's cold and the summer when it's hot.

3. Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the ocean?

Rivers are useful to dam and see how much we can screw up nature.
the ocean keeps people apart so it takes them longer to kill each other.

4. Describe the mountains of North America

Tall

5. Name and describe the following: Monrovia, Odessa, Denver, Manitoba, Hecla , Yukon , St. Helena, Juan Fernandez, Aspinwall and Orinoco .

Bunch of places on the map.

6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the US

Amazon.com and Ebay
they can be found on the internet.

7. Name all the republics of: Europe and give the capital of each.

Most of them have changed from Republics to Democrats

8. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same latitude?

Easterners.

9. Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers.

Global Warming

10. Describe the movements of the earth. Give the inclination of the earth.

The earth moves in mysterious ways.
It's inclined to keep the reasons secret.

[Swamp Booger]

Congratulations, Hawk!!! You scored a 99.9999999999999 on the exam!!! Welcome to 9th grade!! (That is...if you can find it!) He He He He!!!

[ellsaf]

Show Off!

[sky]

/me places a gold star on Redhawk's paper.

That was classic...

[Skyclimber]

Well Hawk, your alot smarter than I gave you credit for!
Looks like you get an A+ for Effort here.

In all seriousness, no wonder the old timers didn't get a High School Diploma. There wasn't one question I could answer on there, those questions are hard and very stupid. In school, I was great in Math, English and Business Courses but usually failed Science and Social Studies. I wasn't interested in those subjects, as I always said, "there was nothing I could learn that I was going to need for a Job Application." Amazing the question, "When did Columbus Discover America?" never came up.

[redhawk]

We've had a little fun with the answers but please don't let it distract from the fact that the educational system in this country is disfunctional. The United states comes in dead last in student performance compared with the students of all the other industrialized nations.

That's an indictment of the system and many of the teaches who are more interested in gaining tenure and powerful unions which is only interested in keeping teachers employed, without performance being a factor.

My stepson taught english in China a couple of years ago, and is teaching it in South Korea now. According to him, 6th graders in both of those countires are taught a curriculm that is more challanging then a 12th grader here.
high shoolers there take the equivelant of college course here.

And 85% of them carry an A- average.

He said that most of the children he teaches already know better english then most American students.

Shameful, eh?

[WinterWarlock]

Shameful, eh?

No Child Left Behind....yeah right.

It is shameful...and it's not just education and the kids. I travel a lot for my job, and I can tell you that the rest of the world is lot more up on current events - even our own presidential election - than are way too many adult Americans. Too many people just don't care enough to bother to pay attention...of course, the frustration with the politcal system doens't help, but my favorite new bumper sticker says "If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention".

Glorifing Britney Spears, Lindsey Lohan, etc...that's what kids see as important because that's the media says is important. Is it any wonder they're not learning the same way as our forefathers did?


BTW - that test is pretty dang hard...

[Roland]

Lack of curiosity, comfort at home, overprotection etc, Kids today have it made, for now.... as time passes they will have to get off the couch somehow, even if it is to get another hand out from some GOV agency to help them cope with being 30 something.... Please shoot me!!! I am so glad to be at the end of my working career!!! Hawk, you will never see the likes of 1968 again, lot of reform came after the worldwide Student revolts, we where mad as hell and would not take it anymore... ( and stupid also), today is super bowl day, lets keep the masses busy with entertainement, worked for the Roman Empire!!! Tomorow, its a Britney sighting, next day ? some other sensational news from ET... Thank god I drink!!!

[chairrock]

I blame the parents who allow their children to become so empowered that they all know their rights but not their responsibilities. I blame the parents that let their kids watch all of that media, who ignore invitations to open school nights.When I was a kid if I came home and told my parents that a teacher went off on me they would have beat he dickens out of me before even thinking of asking me why.They assumed that I upset the teacher.Now teachers are afraid to do anything that might have a parent calling the principal complaining about a "child abuser".(BTW, that's one reason they have tenure, to allow for due process to protect teachers from "crazy parent" charges.) Another reason they have tenure is to protect teachers from the political whims of a administration or school board.

[Outsider]

I blame the parents ... I blame the parents .......(BTW, that's one reason they have tenure, to allow for due process to protect teachers from "crazy parent" charges.) Another reason they have tenure is to protect teachers from the political whims of a administration or school board.

If they have tenure, then why are they still afraid? If this fear of 'crazy parent charges' is so widespread, looks like that reason for tenure is not really working. I doubt that such a fear is genuinely justified in "most" ordinary school districts on a daily basis. Is every parent complaint unjustifiable?

Does that make sense, that protection from the very people, whose elected or appointed job is to maintain standards in the schools, is another reason for tenure? Does that not assume that teachers should be a protected species? Why should they be? I would be less likely to ask this question if they were doing outstanding work, and our country was at the top of most school academic leagues.

You mentioned two, what are the other reasons for tenure in public school systems (not universities and colleges)?

I believe the excessive job security only increases the arrogance and impunity that many in the public school system now show towards its 'customers' - the by and large innocent kids, and hopeful, committed but confused and disempowered parents.

Just ask yourselves if the reasons given for opposing choice for parents in where their children can study is reasonable? Paradox: you can have choice over your reproductive system before birth, but not after. Then the government decides, and you pay.

I am all for a good public school system. It has to be run efficiently, the first priority has to be a truly high quality education. The benchmark should be international comparison, not how much better students in New York do compared to Arkansas and Hawaii. Then, it has to be accountable for sequential failures and poor quality. The ultimate accountability is the real threat of losing your job and closing those schools that continue to underperform. The international comparison studies are easily available on the net, but never from school administrations!

Parents who opt to send their children outside the publicly funded system, should get a substantial tax break - local state and federal. [If their children still under-perform, then you may be closer to a legitimate right to "blame" them;...... but NOT when they are forced to send their kids to an industry that has no real interest in the outcomes for the students, yet are great at siphoning off billions of dollars every year. They are also very good at protecting their gravy train. Talk about lobbying. LOL]

Now such reforms would be fair. However, while we John Q. Public Taxpayer are too distracted filling the trough at which so many vested interests feed off, then there is little likelihood of any common sense creeping into the national discussion.

O

[redhawk]

One of the things I never understood was how we managed to get through school without a swimming pool, etc. hell, the schools I went to didn't even have a gym. We had PE outside.

Didn't have no bus either if you lived within a mile of the school.

But I'll tell you that I believe that when i was in sixth grade, myself and my classmates could have scored about 80% on that test.

Hawk