Christian Reflection and Prayer

(This was sent to me by my buddy
Bob. It says a lot about our current
Educational System)


What it took to get an 8th grade education in 1895...
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 8th 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 , 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,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,

NO, I don't have the answers!