With a couple of exam questions doing the rounds, I thought I'd dig this up

[wellinghall]

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."

Comments

[ladyofastolat.livejournal.com]

I certainly hope the history one was a case of "select one question from the following list." "Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War" as one of 8 questions to be done in 45 minutes? Eeek!

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

Creatrix's answer to that one is, "George Washington was a traitor to the British Crown".

[kargicq.livejournal.com]

I hope so too! Our school newspaper recently did a comparison between the entrance exam from 70 years ago (I think) and from last year, and, surprise surprise, the older one seemed insanely hard. But it went on to say what many of these comparisons don't -- the score needed to gain a place on the older one was something like 30%, as opposed to 95% in the recent ones.

Of what use are rivers? I've often wondered. What an odd question.

[philmophlegm.livejournal.com]

Some answers:

US History
2. He didn't.
3. Damn colonials.
4. Draw map of North America and an arrow pointing westwards.
5. Has anything ever happened in Kansas?
6. There's lots of shooting, lots of people die.
7. Oxford detective, soul diva, guy that played the chief warder in Porridge, invented the telephone, US president - the one in the video for 'Gay Bar', quaker guy - more porridge, like being savaged by a dead sheep.

[sinneahtes.livejournal.com]

5. Well, I was born in Kansas. But not much else besides tornados and Civil War stuff has ever happened there, no... ;)

[philmophlegm.livejournal.com]

I'm sure it's a lovely place!

[chainmailmaiden]

I'd come up with exactly the same answers as you to 7. before scrolling down and reading yours - apart from Penn, who I had as an actor who used to be married to Madonna.

[romancinger.livejournal.com]

Wow!

[beam-engine.livejournal.com]

Urrrr....I can't do any of those to the extent that I would actually get any marks. Do you get points for writing your name on the top? I might get one mark then...if I'm lucky!

[ajat.livejournal.com]

Whah ... ???!!!??!

O_O

:D

Great stuff ! Thanks !

[ajat.livejournal.com]

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

Shouldn't this be posted as a test to be ans-d correctly at any fic-archive for authors before they're allowed to post ?

:D

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

Hah, good idea! ;-)

[bouncy-elf.livejournal.com]

the section on grammar is just like a Latin test, but in English, so it's easier. It's still funnier declining odd verbs, like when we had to do the Greek for 'to shoe' like you do for horses. I mean 'I shoe, you shoe, he,she,it shoes.....' that make's me giggle. It funnier in the past perfect though.. Sorry I did too many languages.
What is a 'caret'????

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

The little "pointy hat" mark you sometimes get above letters.

Good to hear from you again, BTW ... what have you been up to lately?

[bouncy-elf.livejournal.com]

excuse the apostrophe, it is in fact a catastrophe. oops.

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

I like it ;-)

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

Grief, it's 27 years since I've done Latin ...

*feels old*

[bouncy-elf.livejournal.com]

Also, 'inclination' of the Earth. I don't think it's particularly inclined to anything haha!

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

It's rather inclined to going round the Sun every 365-and-a-bit days, I'd have said. In fact, if you tried to stop it doing so, it would object rather strongly ...