1895
Eighth Grade Final Exam
| Remember when our grandparents, great-grandparents, |
| and such stated that they only had an 8th grade education? |
| Well, check this out. - - - |
| This
is the eighth-grade final exam from 1895 in
Salina, KS, 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.
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|
8th GRADE FINAL EXAM |
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Grammar (Time, one hour) |
| 1.
Give nine rules for the use of Capital
Letters.
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|
2. Name the Parts of Speech and define those
that have no Modifications.
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| 3.
Define Verse, Stanza and Paragraph.
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| 4.
What are the Principal Parts of a verb? Give
Principal Parts of lie, lay and run.
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| 5.
Define Case, Illustrate each Case.
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| 6.
What is Punctuation? Give rules for principal
marks of Punctuation.
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| 7.
Write a composition of about 150 words and
show therein that you understand the practical
use of the rules of grammar.
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|
Arithmetic (Time, 1.25 hours) |
| 1.
Name and define the Fundamental Rules of
Arithmetic.
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| 2.
A wagon box is 2 ft deep, 10 feet long, and 3
ft. wide. How many bushels of wheat will it
hold?
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| 3.
If a load of wheat weighs 3942 lbs ., what is
it worth at 50cts/bushel, deducting 1050lbs. for tare?
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| 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?
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| 5.
Find cost of 6720 lbs. coal at $6.00 per ton.
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| 6.
Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and
18 days at 7 percent.
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| 7.
What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide
and 16 ft. long at $! 20 per meter?
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| 8
Find bank discount on $300 for! 90 days (no
grace) at 10 percent.
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| 9.
What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per
acre, the distance around which is 640 rods?
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| 10.
Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a
Receipt.
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|
U. S. History (Time, 45 minutes) |
| 1.
Give the epochs into which U. S. History is
divided.
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| 2.
Give an account of the discovery of America by
Columbus.
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| 3.
Relate the causes and results of the
Revolutionary War.
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| 4.
Show the territorial growth of the United
States.
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| 5.
Tell what you ! can of the history of Kansas.
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| 6.
Describe three of the most prominent battles
of the Rebellion.
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| 7.
Who were the following: Morse, Whitney,
Fulton, Bell, Lincoln, Penn, and Howe?
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| 8.
Name events connected with the following
dates: 1607, 1620, 1800, 1849, and 1865.
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|
Orthography (Time, one hour) |
| 1.
What is meant by the following: Alphabet,
phonetic, orthography, etymology, and
syllabication?
|
| 2.
What are elementary sounds? How classified?
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| 3.
What are the following, and give examples of
each: Trigraph, sub vocals, diph! thong,
cognate letters, and linguals?
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| 4.
Give four substitutes for caret 'u'.
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| 5.
Give two rules for spelling words with final
'e.' Name two exceptions under each rule.
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| 6.
Give two uses of silent letters in spelling.
Illustrate each.
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| 7.
Define the following prefixes and use in
connection with a word: bi, dis, mis,
pre, semi, post, non, inter, mono, sup
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| 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.
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| 9.
Use the following correctly in sentences:
cite, site, sight, fane, fain, feign, vane,
vain, vein, raze, raise, rays.
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| 10.
Write 10 words frequently mispronounced and
indicate pronunciation by use of diacritical
marks and by syllabication.
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|
Geography (Time, one hour) |
| 1.
What is climate? Upon what does climate
depend?
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| 2.
How do you account for the extremes of climate
in Kansas?
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| 3.
Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the
ocean?
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| 4.
Describe the mountains of North America.
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| 5.
Name and describe the following: Monrovia,
Odessa, Denver, Manitoba, Hecla, Yukon, St.
Helena, Juan Fernandez, Aspinwall &
Orinoco.
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| 6.
Name and locate the principal trade centers of
the U.S.
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| 7.
Name all the republics of Europe and give the
capital of each.
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| 8.
Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the
Pacific in the same latitude?
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| 9.
Describe the process by which the water of the
ocean returns to the sources of rivers.
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| 10.
Describe the movements of the earth. Give the
inclination of the earth.
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 |
| Also
notice that the exam took five hours to
complete. Gives the saying "she/he only had an 8th grade education" a whole new meaning, doesn't it? |
|
What happened to us? It is kind of humbling, isn't it? |