Can you pass 8th grade?

(Copied this from Sherdog.com)
1895 Eighth Grade Final Exam - Can You Pass?
"To those of us who believe that educational standards have deteriorated over the years, how does this exam compare to today's exams? Could you pass this exam? I couldn't.

This is the eighth-grade Final Exam for 1895 from 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, Kansas - 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 do, lie, lay 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: 1.25 hours)

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 50 cts. per bu., 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 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 m?

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 around 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)

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'.

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, super.

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 Fermandez, Aspinwall and Orinoco.

6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S.

7. Name all the republics of Europe and give 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 inclination of the earth."

I would of failed, but, of course this is an American test so it dosn't matter for anywhere else, your grammer rules are different aswell.

Wow. My 8th grade final exam was way easier than that. That's scary.

There is a simple reason why this exam seems harder and that reason is that the curriculum in 1895 was much different than the curriculum in 2005.For example when I was in grade 8 math we focused mostly on functions but this test doesn't even speak of it.So the reason that the test seems harder back then than now isn't because educational standards have deteriorated.The real reason is because the educational standards have changed.

It is undeniably true that back in ye olde days they were far more rigorous with English grammar, spelling and usage.

The history seems far more rigorous too, although I am disdainful of caring about the names of the various history 'epochs' of the US. Perhaps because I can't remember all the names. I know I got the gilded age, though. Of course, the passing of a century makes some of the history come in and out of focus. Now it would be a crime to ignore twentieth century history, which accordingly we remember more of, and less of ninteenth century history.

Wow, that is one easy test. O-o I could definatly pass that without henderance. To be honest with you. I could've passed that test now, but so early out of the summer (meaning I have not been in school long to get my brain warmed up and such) I could not pass it at my current state, but about the time finals were in eighth grade, you bet I could pass that!

I would have bombed it. Bad.

Well, I may have netted some of the questions on History and Geography. But I would've been clueless for the Math section. Just kind of depresses me how the standards are lower. Now, I'm not really one for intelligence but just to show you how ...eh.

Man that is a hard test. But I will do my duty as being ZU's smartass and I will try to find the answers to all of those questions. I'll post them later. If I don't answer them then ***** it, it's not worth it.

I will not sleep well tonight, knowing that thing was around.

If they really used that stuff in my school I would still be back in 8th grade and its been 6 years.

No, I can't pass eighth grade.

Oh my. I would have failed most spectacularly had this been the exam in 8th grade. But luckily for me it wasn't. <3 And I now find myself in the 12th grade. How lovely. xD

Surprisingly, after you translate the questions into today's terms... those are the same questions required to know before passing high school. Except that the high school test has more questions... including one that asks whether or not you can do laundry by yourself.
Neways... its the wording that makes this difficult, not the actual questions.

And here's the teacher's test:
Consider the following, a certification examination for prospective teachers, prepared by the Examiners of Teachers for the Public Schools in Zanesville, Ohio, in the late 1870s:


English Grammar


1. Analyze the following and parse words in italics

I cannot tell if to depart in silence,

Or bitterly to speak in your reproof,

Best fitteth my degree or your condition.


2. Write the following in prose, and parse the verb awaits:

The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power,

* * And all that beauthy, all that wealth e'er gave,

Awaits alike th' inevitable hour:

* * The paths of glory lead but to the grave.

3. Give a brief example of a compound and a complex sentence. Give the rule for the use of the subjunctive mood.

4. Define and give the etymology of verb, prounoun, conjunction and adverb. Give example of a defective, an auxillary, an impersonal and a redudant verb. How many kinds of prounous are there? Give examples of each.


5. Prior has the following sentence. State it if be good grammar. If not, why? It it be, parse the word than:

Thou art a girl as much brighter than her,

As he is a poet sublimer than me.


6. Give rule for forming plural of nouns ending in "y," with examples. Give plurals of staff, radius, miasma, Miss White, rendezvous, talisman, loaf, grief, seraph, Mussulman, forceps, spoonful, who, beef, s, x, 6, and madam. Also give the singulars of kine, ashes, banditi [sic], swine, animalcula.

7. Compare chief, much, former, far, forth, next, round, up, ill, full.

8. Give the feminines of abbot, earl, duke, lad, marquis, hero, tiger, nephew, testator, bachelor, wizard, and ox.

9. Write the past tense and past participle of these verbs:

Lay,
Seek,
Sit,
Get,
Dare,
Thrive,
Lie,
Set,
Light,
Loose,
Fly,
Flee,
Chide,
Overflow,
Catch,
Lose,
Swim,
Climb,
Drink,
Stay,
Leap,
Quit,
Swell,
Burst,
Eat.

10. Define metonymy, catachresis, and hyberbole; and state the difference between a metaphor and a simile.


11. Punctuate the following lines:

But when I ask the trembling question

* * Will you be mine my dearest Miss

Then may there be no hesitation

* * But say distinctly Yes Sir yes.



12. Parse the three "thats" in the following sentence:
* * He that fears that dog thinks that he is mad.
Also parse the word "but" in each of the following:
* * There was no one but saw him;
* * We ran, but he stopped;
* * All ran but Peter;
* * If you did but know it.

13. Correct the following:
(a) Although I persuaded the old man, he refused to yield, and I expect he divided his estate between his 3 daughters. His example, though he meant well, is calculated to have a bad effect.
(b) As I laid down I seen the smoke rising over the way.
(c) Whom do you say that I am? or who do you take me to be?
(d) John and James were both there, though neither were invited.
(e) As water is froze easier than alcohol, so riches are easier acquired than a good name.
(f) Between you and I, there is some mystery about that fire last night. Did you hear where it was at? I am glad none of my friends were in the house. I should be sorry if either James or William were inculpated in setting it on fire.



Orthography

1. Give etymology of orthography. What are mutes, labials, and liquids, and why so called?

2. Give meaning of the prefixes, ante, anti, circum, quad, proto, oct, trans, sym, and con.

3. Form derivatives of prefer, begin, stop, run, defy, abridge, tie, and die, with the suffix ing or ed.

4. Write a word containing a diphthong, one containing a digraph, and one containing a trigraph.

5. Define accent, and mark the accent on the words: inverse, diverse, adverse, reverse, obverse, calcine, piquant, orthoepy, abdomen, acclimated, area, salutatory, accessary, gondola, illustrate, prolix, portent, inquiry, contemplated, expert, extant.

6. Spell the words * (given orally)



Arithmetic

Put all your work on the paper and make it explain itself.

1. Define integer, fraction, interest, discount, power, and root.

2. What effect has multiplying both terms of a fraction by the same number, and why; and why in dividing one fraction by another do you invert the divisor and multiply the terms together?

3. If A's age were increased by its 3/7 its 4/5 and 19, the sum would equal 2-1/2 times his age; required his age.

4. Multiply 7/8 by .000018 and divide the product by 27 millionths.

5. 32 men agree to construct 28 miles 4 furlongs and 32 rods of road; after completing one-half of it, one-fourth of the number of men left the company, what distance did each man construct before and after one-fourth of the men left?

6. A man drives 97 pegs on a straight line and spaces them 3 ft. 8 in. apart. What is the distance from the first peg to the last peg, lowest terms?

7. A man receives $65 interest for the use of $600 for 3 years, 7 months, and 15 days. What is rate per cent.?

8. What is due on the following note?
$1200 * * * * * * * Zanesville, O., December 10, 1871.
* * * * One year after date I promise to pay to the order of Richard Roe twelve hundred dollars, value received.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * JOHN DOE

9. Give the rule for obtaining the difference of time, having the difference of longitude, and vice versa, and give the reasons for the rule.

10. A square lot containing 54,756 square feet is surrounded by a close board fence 12 feet high. What would the boards cost at $13 per thousand?



Geography

1. Where does the earth have the greatest diameter?

2. Why do we reckon 180 degrees of longitude and only 90 of latitude?

3. What is meant by the equinoxes?

4. Locate the Crimea, Bombay, Bay of Fundy, and the Capital of Mississippi.

5. Into what three functions is the government of the United States divided? -- define each function.

6. Describe and locate the Indus and Niger rivers.

7. Through what waters would a ship pass in going from Duluth to Odessa?

8. Bound France and give five of its chief cities.

9. Name the New England states and locate their capitals.

10. Define equator, zone, latitude, and longitude.

11. Into what bodies of water do the following rivers flow: The Danube, Rhone, Volga, Tiber, Rio Grande, Jordan, and Mahoning



And don't feel too bad... most students back then didn't fare too well either: As Joseph Crosby, the man who created the English Grammar and Orthography sections of this exam, wrote to a friend in 1876:

I gave them a pretty severe test in Grammar, and some of them did make terrible work of it. One young lady said the singular of "Swine" was "pigs", another "a hog". One being asked to give me the past tense of "I lie down" said "I lied", which she certainly did. Out of some 30 or 35 words I gave them to spell, not over 10 were spelled correctly by any one, several missed on all but 5 or 6 -- Yet they blushed & tried so hard to do well -- and many were graduates of the High School -- that I was sorry for them. I had no idea that graduates could be so ignorant.
And after all, do we really care these days whether our educators know the "feminines of the words hero, bachelor, and ox"?

Well, I must say, if this was a standard today in the land of the United States educational system, the world would be a much smarter place. Unfortunately, most Americans can't point out where they live on a globe, I find that a little discouraging.

Yeah, I'm stuck in the 8th Grade. I failed miserably. Joy, life with littler people....