1895 Eighth Grade Final Exam

ollowing is a century-old 8th grade exam that was passed along to us and we thought that what it showed about our current
ational system was important and needed to be shared.

ou read this, try to see how many of these questions you can answer. Some references, such as tare weight and bushel, have more
ance today than you think. Some are obsolete. Some questions reflect obsolete teaching methods, such as the methods used (or n
today to teach sentence structure.

nitial reaction was that the reprint illustrated the reliance on force-fed rote memorization of yesteryear. On further reflection, mo
uestions are still appropriate. They stress a broadness of education, which seems largely lacking today. Enjoy testing yourself; th
ions are tough for 8th graders or adults!

*****************

85 the 8th grade was considered upper level education. Many children quit school as soon as they could master the basic
amentals of the 3 R's (reading, writing and arithmetic). Most never went past the 3rd or 4th grade. That's all you needed for the fa
most city jobs. Child labor laws were not in existence. Additionally today's education has much more focus on technology and
logy than the grammar and geography of old. It's a different world with different requirements and capabilities needed to succee

d You Have Passed the 8th Grade in 1895?

is the eighth-grade final exam from 1895 from Salina, KS. It was taken from the original document on file at the Smoky Valley
alogical Society and Library in Salina, KS and reprinted by the Salina Journal.
8th Grade Final Exam: Salina, KS 1895

mmar (Time, one hour)

ve nine rules for the use of Capital Letters.

me the Parts of Speech and define those that have no modifications.

fine Verse, Stanza and Paragraph.

hat are the Principal Parts of a verb? Give Principal Parts of do, lie, lay and run.

fine Case, Illustrate each Case.

hat is Punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of Punctuation.

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

metic (Time, 1.25 hours)

me and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.

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

a load of wheat weighs 3942 lbs., what is it worth at 50 cts. per bu., deducting 1050 lbs. for tare?

strict 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 hav
for incidentals?

nd cost of 6720 lbs. coal at $6.00 per ton.

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

hat is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft. long at $20 per m?

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

hat is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance around which is 640 rods?

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

History (Time, 45 minutes)

ve the epochs into which U.S. History is divided.

ve an account of the discovery of America by Columbus.

late the causes and results of the Revolutionary War.

ow the territorial growth of the United States.

ll what you can of the history of Kansas.

scribe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion.

ho were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton, Bell, Lincoln, Penn, and Howe?

me events connected with the following dates: 1607, 1620, 1800, 1849, and 1865?

ography (Time, one hour)

hat is meant by the following: Alphabet, phonetic orthography, etymology, syllabication?

hat are elementary sounds? How classified?

hat are the following, and give examples of each: Trigraph, subvocals, diphthong, cognate letters, linguals?

ve four substitutes for caret 'u'.

ve two rules for spelling words with final 'e'. Name two exceptions under each rule.

ve two uses of silent letters in spelling. Illustrate each.

fine the following prefixes and use in connection with a word: Bi, dis, mis, pre, semi, post, non, inter, mono, super.

ark diacritically and divide into syllables the following, and name the sign that indicates the sound: Card, ball, mercy, sir, odd, ce
blood, fare, last.

e the following correctly in sentences, Cite, site, sight, fane, fain, feign, vane, vain, vein, raze, raise, rays.

Write 10 words frequently mispronounced and indicate pronunciation by use of diacritical marks and by syllabication.

raphy (Time, one hour)

hat is climate? Upon what does climate depend?

w do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas?

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

scribe the mountains of N.A.

me and describe the following: Monrovia, Odessa, Denver, Manitoba, Hecla, Yukon, St. Helena, Juan Fermandez, spinwall and
oco.

me and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S.

me all the republics of Europe and give capital of each.

hy is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same latitude?

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

escribe the movements of the earth. Give inclination of the earth.

u are a product [read: victim] of the public school system in the past 40~50 years then consider this, The Department of Education gets what it pays for.]

k here for the Answers

ennis L. Cuddy, Ph.D. "SUCKERNOMICS"

lotte Thomson Iserbyt, a former Senior Policy Advisor in the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OER

Department of Education. The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America

Deliberate Dumbing Down of America

DEVIL'S SEVEN-PRONG FORK

ereign Solutions Interviews: Charlotte Thomson Iserbyt (1:12:10, Broadband Version, 800kbps)

bing Down of America

NOTICE: Unknown Author, Dennis L. Cuddy, Ph.D. and Charlotte Thomson Iserbyt are not affiliated with Freedom School.

(This page was last modified on: 01/04/2010 12:14:16)

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