Friday April 21 2017  CAN YOU PASS THIS TEST?

The following test is copied from a forward that was sent to me recently. 

Currently we have a plethora of information at our fingertips.  But, do we have it in our personal knowledge bank?   Is it necessary to have it relegated to memory since we can look it up any time we may need it?  Is the information even necessary to teach anymore?  In my opinion it seems perhaps the young people of today are not taught some of the basic fundamentals that we were taught years ago.  I know I wasn’t taught a lot of what was in this test.  And I remember when my kids were growing up there were gaps in what they were being taught from that which I was taught.  I read some of their curriculum in late middle school and high school and so much of the American history I was taught was no longer in our children’s school books.  I wonder what is being left out in today’s classrooms.  For one, I know that some schools are no longer teaching cursive penmanship.

I found this test to be quite interesting due to the versatility of questions asked and wondered how 8^th graders could pass such a test.  I don’t think an 8^th grader in today’s school system could do it.  Come to think of it I don’t think many college age students could pass it today.  I know I couldn’t.  I even had to look up some of the terminology used in the questions.  Many of the words were not available in Microsoft Word’s synonym finder so I resorted to a PAPER DICTIONARY!

One hundred years ago it was not unusual to stop attending school after the 8^th grade.  Lifestyles were different, farming was different, and many of the children were needed to work in order to help provide for their families or work on the farm.  If this was the 8^th grade test then I would be interested in reading the test that was given when one graduated from High School!

I cheated and looked up some of the questions online.  Read through the following questions and see how many you can answer.  Don’t cheat like I did!  I’d just like to know if it is actually possible for the average adult to know all the answers.

Go ahead, give it a try!

 

Following is the copied text:

“This is the eighth-grade final exam from 1895 in Salina, Kansas, USA. These questions were taken from the original examination on file at the Smokey Valley Genealogical Society and Library in Salina, Kansas. Take the test and see if you would have graduated with the eighth grade class in 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, one 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 per annum.
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 you even know what this is?
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: digraph, sub vocals, 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, 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.

How did you do? This test is an eye opening example of how education has evolved over the years.  Sounds to me like it could be going backwards.  I’m sure glad I didn’t have to take that test.

 

I’M VERY CONTENT

Kathleen Martens

April 21, 2017

http://www.visionsofpoetry.com

 

If I could but hold

All I have learned.

Surely many diplomas

I would have earned.

 

My brain has acquired

Such a great deal

Over the course of my life

With such great zeal.

 

I have my thoughts

But I truly think

That now my brain

Possibly leaks.

 

And when I search

Thoughts play hide and seek,

And when I least expect it

Memory suddenly peaks.

 

Though thoughts may roam

Free in my head.

I’m very content!

Because I am not dead!

 

Thank You God that I can still recover information in my brain when I need it!

Thank You God that I can think.

Thank You God that I still have enough sense to be thankful for all You do for me and for all You provide for me.

GOOD NIGHT!

GOD BLESS YOU!