: This is the 1895 eighth-grade final exam from Salina, Kansas. It was taken from the original document on file at the Smoky Valley Genealogical Society and Library in Salina, Kansas and reprinted by the Salina Journal. We took the test . . . and we got a ZERO!!!
EXAMINATION GRADUATION QUESTIONS OF SALINE COUNTY, KANSAS April 13, 1895 J.W. Armstrong, County Superintendent.
Examinations at Salina, New Cambria, Gypsum City, Assaria, Falun, Bavaria, and District No. 74 (in Glendale Twp.)
Reading and Penmanship. - The Examination will be oral, and the Penmanship of Applicants will be graded from the manuscripts
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 inch? 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, and 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 N.A. 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 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.
Health (Time, 45 minutes)
1. Where are the saliva, gastric juice, and bile secreted? What is the use of each in digestion? 2. How does nutrition reach the circulation? 3. What is the function of the liver? Of the kidneys? 4. How would you stop the flow of blood from an artery in the case of laceration? 5. Give some general directions that you think would be beneficial to preserve the human body in a state of health.
The success of American has not been in our "spirit" (as we have been brainwashed to believe), but in the strength of our education system. Americans (black, white, yellow and brown) have been systematically dumbed down to make us easier to control. That's why those who can afford it almost NEVER send their children to public schools.
you got a zero because you're all ignorant idiots mto... you have zero sense of even the most elementary grammar as evidenced by your terrible misspelling and ghetto-speak; case in point: ratchet. a ratchet is a tool/device, but you imbeciles think it means the same as wretched... pathetic... moreover, you fools are worse than grade schoolers with your overblown exaggerations about how this one or that is "nekkid" and "showing everything" when there's ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to be seen. you're all worthless morons and feed the ideology that being ignorant is "cool."
MTO yall should be the last people asking anything about education. Not with the horrible grammar and misspelled words yall have on a daily basis (Example: the word "eigth" in the title is supposed to be spelled "eighth".) Maybe yall should take some *** classes or at least get someone with at least a GED to proofread you stuff before uploading it. Just sayin. Stone Out!!!
People are so quick to attack public schools when the problem is the kids. If you go to public school with the intention of goofing off and socializing you won't get much of an education. If you go there with the intention to learn, there is a wealth of information available to you. Parents should be involved with their children's development, not just leaving it up to the schools and then blame the schools when their children fall behind.
With that being said, we should go back to these standards. Just reading the comments of people who plainly admit they could not pass this is a testament to the weakness of our current system and a reflection of our society in general.
“You've got to work twice as hard to get half as far as a Black person in white America.â€
For us, we NEED to be better educated just to get by. Asian Americans know this and education is paramount in their culture. They are no different than us, they just work harder and reap the benefits from it.
This is actually about right for 8th/9th grade, problem is the writers on this site were worrying about gossip,clothes and music more than actually getting an education, hence the zero. Well at least now it seems plausible that MTOs further dumbing down of black america is actually unintentional, from the various writers points of view at least. Gossip, clothes and music in, gossip. clothes and music out. Fred on the other hand knows darn well what he's doing though..
@LatoyaRacquel you wrote,"I see y'all couldn't pass cuz u can't spell eighth correctly.with that being said, education is not what it used to be. Yeah we are getting higher degrees but the quality is worse.we are not messing with other developed countries as far as education.its amazing we still on top...for now at least."
LOL....We are not able to advance further especially when you use the word we, instead we're. "WE STILL ON TOP" LOL use better grammar. Also, the basic comprehension of general knowledge is taught. Did our educational system deem it pertinent to teach extra portions of subjects when not needed? Look at the European system, they have to learn another language by age 8. Especially for our medicine department, we are tied down because of the FDA.
Go figure, read the Bible you will become highly intelligible. Just remember, the OLD Testament are narratives of the narrator God. Start there and you will be enlightened to the realism of LIFE...
PHIL 1:21 "For to me, to LIVE is CHRIST and to DIE is GAIN"
williestreets flag as inappropriate/spam
1895..in the south..and black..does it really matter?? WE CANT READ ***** Not true. We were free in 1895. Some of our ancestors died for the right to read and write. I believe Tuskegee was open then and the students slept in tents. We WERE making strides even if they were slow and setbacks in our way. We did teach (our kids), we did write (many newspapers were ran by people of color in Philadelphia, New Orleans etc.) and we DID own businesses. So yes, it did matter.
@soldier4 Christ: Wow I'm.glad u caught that! How about you address the fact I used y'all several times. Obviously this its very informal..but maybe since you are such a great proof reader you should start with your own post. Medicine department??? You are trying to do too much. Using †big†words trying to sound smart.I'm not impressed. If you such a soldier for Christ then you would think you would be less judgmental. WWJD?? Not joking total strangers on MTO on the Lords day. kick rocks.
This type of work is getting questioned as 8th grade work? This all at least seems like stuff I was supposed to know before junior high school. Has the public school system gone that bad... Any grown *** person on here say they couldn't do this then, need to look at where america is at now and your kids, especially if they're a minority.
the school was designed to produce the people needed to run the society. there's no tv or radio so the ability to read and write is necessary to be able to be informed communicate with government. kansas is a border state and its' history questions are guarded. those of us who are older know that newsprint was set to the 6th grade level. if you look at job classifications in the 60's and 70's the requirement was 8th grade education. high school diplomas did not become a standard till the civil rights movement and affiraitive action and intragration. race is what drive chaos in u.s. education. if black people pass the test the test is too easy. if white people fail the test the teat has to be changed.
MTO we dont even know how you guys pass as a Urban News Site....... Well just cause your grandma didnt pass 5th grade what does that mean? thats not universal for all African Americans at the time. Kids were already in Biology and Trig at my school in Eighth grade... Maybe blacks should make standard or basic education a priority instead of trying to be cute or tough all the time cause nobody will give a *** about you or your education if you dont.
What exactly was supposed to be so "hard" about this test? These are things that you are supposed to know! These things were taught when I was in the eighth grade so I don't know what you guys are smoking! This is really sad. What a waste. I really need to break myself of this website! MTO and it's dumb azz commenters literally make my stomach turn, yet I keep coming back everyday!! I just want to scream! I know i'm not alone. There has to be more people that HATE this site and the people on it, yet come everyday to see the stories, knowing that 99.9% of them are ***, lies, racist, sexist, defamatory, and just plain stupid!! I'm praying it gets *** down soon, that way some of these idiots might still have a chance at getting some sense.
OK so first off this was NOT a 8 grade test rather a teaching exam that was made to be rather difficult. Second if you couldn't pass it don't be to down on yourself. Only 1 out of 6 passed at the time and most were College Grads. Our education system hasn't fallen into so ditch but our ability to critically think has as evident in this being debunked almost 4 years ago and everyone here posting is busy bashing schools and teachers rather than researching a rather crazy claim.
