Thread: Here`s a test for all you genius types!

Tweet

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 SmokeyValley 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) a t 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 territor ial 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, and 1865..

Orthography (Time, one hour) (Do we 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: trigraph, sub vocal, diphthong, cognate letters, and lingual.
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-, 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 c enters of the U.S.
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? This also shows you how poor our education system has become...

For those of you that remember this test from grade school, do not give the answers, he he.

I hate to pee in the cornflakes, but this is an urban legend that has been wandering around the internet for the last seven or eight years.

Summary of eRumor


The email lists questions from what it says is an exam required for eighth grade graduation in 1895 in Salina, Kansas. It is described as an example of how much more educated an eighth grader was a hundred years ago than today.

The Truth

TruthOrFiction.com has listed this eRumor as unproven, even though there is a source for it and we have obtained an actual copy of the exam. There has not been sufficient proof given, in our view, that the exam is what is claimed. Rather than being for eighth graders, there are several aspects of the exam that raise the question as to whether it was intended for adults, perhaps newly graduated teachers or teacher applicants.

The eRumor says the exam is from the Smokey Valley Genealogical Society in Salina, Kansas, and was published in the Salina Journal newspaper. That is true. Shirley Tower, the volunteer librarian for the Smokey Valley Genealogical Society, found the exam and posted it on their website in 1996 and the Salina Journal's article appeared the same year. The exam started circulating on the Internet and became the subject of numerous newspaper articles including in the Washington Post and the Boston Globe.

There is no reason to doubt the authenticity of the exam, but there are questions about for whom it was intended.

my head hurts just reading that
maybe I should have paid more attention in class instead of drawing covered wagons with flames

It can be summed up today as "don't pass, don't tell."

What????????? You mean you guys didn't know the answers to all of those?? Of course, I have 20 years of education.............I did the 10th grade twice.

Don

I MIGHT get a 65 on this exam. Some of the questions today are totally irrelevant even at my 'advanced age' - never learned the history of Kansas or know where Helca is in the world. And as far as board feet, in 1895, no one in the US even heard of a meter or the metric system.

And yes, Denny, that trans super needs to go home and wash his wife's mouth out. The kid - well unfortunately, he is a product of today's current society and most school systems. With that said, I think his parents need to have an in-depth look at what they have brought into the world and how they have prepared him for real life, that is, right after they give him a good swift kick in the butt to get his attention. I visited my single mom daughter in VA over Xmas. Her som, my grandchild is a BRAT. What he is doing is emulating what he sees on TV. Unfortunately, I was subjected to TV, Nickelodean, mainly. Sponge Bob is NOT a kids show. Another show, a movie on Xmas eve day, was 2 kids riding somewhere with daddy in his new Lincoln Navigator. Their mouth off and pranks are what kids see on the kids channel boob tube shows. Then kids watching this drivel do it to their friends and parents. So, can I totally blame the kids - no - this TV fare is put together by adults - and the more outrageous story line the better. This was also about the time that Britney's 16 year old sister announced she was in the family way - and the show continues on - with her still in a starring role.

Sorry guys, I'll put my soapbox away before I really get going

If you really wonder about the authenticity of the test, just ask Uncle Bob....He was in Junior High then, maybe he'll remember?????

This looks like a college exam or certification exam, probably intended to certify a teacher of the 8th grade and not taken by 8th graders. Back then it was common for teachers to teach a variety of subjects, so, they had to know a great deal across the board.

Given the time limits I believe the test was open book in nature. But one would still have to know one's stuff to execute it well.

And still very impressive to me at that level as well. A little different than coach teaching physics today.

Kitz

Many people in that time may have only had an 8th grade education, but more importantly, they had a lot of COMMON SENSE. This seems to be a rarity in this day and age.