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Are you smarter than an 8th grade student in the year 1895? No way! Not these 8th graders!
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This gives education, as we know it, a whole new meaning!
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What it took to get an 8th grade education in 1895...
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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.

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8th Grade Final Exam: Salina , KS - 1895
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Grammar (Time, one hour)
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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,''play,' 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 - 10. 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 hour 15 minutes)
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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 3,942 lbs., what is it worth at 50cts/bushel, deducting 1,050 lbs. 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 the cost of 6,720 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 metre?
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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 of 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)
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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, 1865.
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Orthography (Time, one hour) [Do you even know what this is??]
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1. What is meant by the following: alphabet, phonetic, orthography, etymology, syllabication
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2. What are elementary sounds? How classified?
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3. What are the following, and give examples of each: trigraph, subvocals, diphthong, cognate letters, 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)
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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 and Orinoco
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6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U..S. Name all the republics of Europe and give the capital of each.
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7. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same latitude?
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8. Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers.
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9. Describe the movements of the earth.
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10. Give the inclination of the earth.
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Notice that the exam took FIVE HOURS to complete. It gives the saying "he only had an 8th grade education" a whole new meaning, doesn't it? It also shows you how poor our education system has become.
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....And, no, I don't have the answers to the test.