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 feet

deep, 10 feet long, and 3 feet wide. How many bushels of

wheat will it hold? 3. If a load of wheat weighs 3942

pounds, what is it worth at 50 cents per bushel,

deducting 1050 pounds 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 pounds

of coal at $6 per ton. 6. Find the interest of $512.60

for eight months and 18 days at 7 percent. 7. What is the

cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 feet 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

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 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."

Imagine a college student

trying to pass this test, even if the few outdated

questions were modernized. Imagine their professors even

being able to pass the eighth grade. Can Americans,

student and professor alike, return to the eighth grade

level of 1895?

Chuck James

Fayetteville