General Chat

Although very interesting to read I am inclined to agree with others views about the American test. It is also why I posted a small sample of a UK test in the 1950s as the questions then were also relevant at that time. Surely education is much wider than simple rote style information....

I know people who failed their 11 plus and yet went on to have remarkable lives and very interesting occupations and hobbies, similarly I know some who passed the 11 plus and went to some of the then best schools in the UK who completely flunked a few years later.

Education is a life time occupation,, at least it is in my mind.

Dizzi beat me to it -- didn't anybody look?

http://www.snopes.com/language/document/1895exam.asp

We can't answer the questions because

- we don't remember great gobs of what we studied in school ... how long ago?

- it's useless info about the USofA where none of us lives ("eighth grade" makes my ears hurt; in Canada it's "grade eight" except for people infected by yankee-lingo-itis) so we never learned it in the first place for excellent reasons

Kids today may not be able to answer the questions, even if they live in the USofA, because there's been a whole lot of history since "Morse, Whitney, Fulton , Bell , Lincoln , Penn, and Howe", for instance (who the heck is Whitney?). What would the children of 1895 in the US have said about Kennedy, Roosevelt and Obama, just for starters?


As Snopes says --

Consider:

To pass this test, no knowledge of the arts is necessary (not even a nodding familiarity with a few of the greatest works of English literature), no demonstration of mathematical learning other than plain arithmetic is required (forget algebra, geometry, or trigonometry), nothing beyond a familiarity with the highlights of American history is needed (never mind the fundamentals of world history, as this exam scarcely acknowledges that any country other than the USA even exists), no questions about the history, structure, or function of the United States government are asked (not even the standard "Name the three branches of our federal government"), science is given a pass except for a few questions about geography and the rudiments of human anatomy, and no competence in any foreign language (living or dead) is necessary.

An exam for today's high school graduates that omitted even one of these subjects would be loudly condemned by parents and educators alike, subjects about which the Salina, Kansas, students of 1895 needed know nothing at all.

Would it be fair to say that the average Salina student was woefully undereducated because he failed to learn many of the things that we consider important today, but which were of little importance in his time and place?

If not, then why do people keep asserting that the reverse is true?

Why do journalists continue to base their gleeful articles about how much more was expected of the students of yesteryear on flawed assumptions?

Perhaps some people are too intent upon making a point to bother considering the proper questions.

Phew!!! I passed that one wiv flying colours!!
*Gives myself a gold star!*

Some 11 plus exam questions in the early 1950s England

1. Make adjectives from these nouns:
beauty, slope, glass, friend, doubt, expense, delight, sleep, danger, sport.

2. Write these lines of poetry in the usual way, putting in capital letters and the correct punctuation:
the evening is coming the sun sinks to rest the rooks are all flying straight home to the nest caw says the rook, as he flies overhead it's time little people were going to bed.

3. Choose the correct word from those in brackets:

a) She gave the (fare, fair) to the conductor.

b) I am (confidant, confident) of success.

c) Why does she (die, dye) her hair?

d) His sister has (wrote, written) him a letter.

e) The screw fell off because it was (lose, loose).

4. Fill in the relative pronoun in the following sentences:

a) That is the coat .......... my brother took away.

b) The man to .......... I spoke was very disagreeable.

c) The boy .......... ball I kicked was offended.

d) The man .......... does his duty is always brave.

e) He asked me .......... I intended to do.

5. Each of the following sentences contains one error. Re-write the sentences correctly:

a) This is not an Infant's School.

b) I am told that Tom Jones's brother have won a scholarship.

c) The bishop and another fellow then entered the hall.

d) When the dog recognised me it wagged it's tail.

e) The matter does not concern


just a sample of the actual exam

I am still struggling with nine rules for the use of capital letters.

Education should be more than just being able to answer the questions with the 'right answer' :)

If you learn the answers by rote , yes you will remember them, and that comes in handy for times tables and tv quizzes, but it doesn't enable you to think outside the box, to use that education to 'learn more' in effect.

Interesting for me to look at the grammar section , lol in fear! I wasn't taught grammar in that way , mine is reasonable I think because it comes from reading so much, it's one of the things I can 'do' but couldn't 'explain'.

I did like this one " Name all the republics of Europe and give the capital of each." now can I? can you? ( and of course the number of Republics was different then !)

I think we should give ourselves a break...they were obviously taught about these subjects, the children may not have known some of the things we were taught :)

That's my theory and I'm sticking to it lol

Just googled the first question.

http://www.snopes.com/language/document/1895exam.asp

Also the answers

http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/quizzes/8thgrade_answers.cfm

Prickly Holly,,,,,LOL,,,,

I have to admit that i failed miserably..........not because i didn't know the answers........... it's cos i didn't understand the bleddy questions!! :>))

Between 13 and 14 ,,,

Naughty Carol..,,,,lol,,,

4. Describe the mountains of North America .

answer...Big ! lol

( and purple ) :)

what age would an 8th grader have been?

do/did they have pass the exam to move up a grade?

Bob

Ps
Please,Miss..............Carol is cheating!!

Only found out by google!

1607 - Establishment of Jamestown colony, May 1607, in what is now Virginia. Captain John Smith had but one rule, "He that will not work shall not eat."

1620 - On December 21, 1620, the landing of the Pilgrims in Plymouth harbor began the settlement of New England under William Bradford, loved and respected as a man of courage and gentleness from the time of his first election as governor in 1621 until his death in 1657. Myles Standish was the captain of the little army protecting the colony, a wise, courageous and helpful soldier, kind to the sick and needy.

1800 - In the election of 1800, Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr received an equal number of votes. As the Constitution provided that the person having the greatest number should be president, it became the duty of the House of Representatives, voting by states, to decide between the two. After thirty-five ballots the choice fell upon Thomas Jefferson, our third and greatest president, author of the Declaration of Independence, and the mentor of James Madison, "Father of the Constitution". It was on Jefferson's insistence that Madison championed the first 10 articles of amendment to the Constitution, "The Bill of Rights."

1849 - The Gold Rush to California began after discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill on the "American Fork" of the Sacramento river February, 1848. The great discovery was made just as California became American territory. In the first year more than 80,000 men flocked to the "diggings", risking all to the dangers from Indians, starvation, accident, mountains, deserts and plains, tropical fevers and of the sea in the voyage around Cape Horn. The rapid growth of California in people and business greatly affected the nation as a whole. At that time 300,000 people every year were streaming in from Europe to escape the tyranny and wars there.

1865 - The end of the War Between The States signified with the raising of the flag again at Fort Sumpter, April 14, 1865, the assassination of President Lincoln at Ford's Theater that day, and his death April 15, 1865. The war was over, a million troops of the Union armies marched through Washington in a last review, were mustered out, and returned to their homes to resume their work as citizens of a reunited nation.

William Penn - The founder of the colony of Pennsylvania in 1682,

Didn't manage to answer many,loike Bob I didn't understand half of them..lol,

there are only a few questions there that I understand, let alone answering........

I suppose that to re-cite doesn't hold verse,
neither does the site of an accident,
the victim was feigning his injuries to be much worse than reality,
and calling out in vain while his blood coursed through his veins,
raising his hand to protect the sight of his eyes from the rays of the sun,
but while the crop was razed to the ground,
the believers were about to build a fane(temple) to their God
with a vane to the wind indicator on the roof

Hi Sue,

Did you manage any of the questions?

I did not

GinaS (Georgina)

Just been sent this...wow this is good..


1895 8th grade final exam
Take this test and pass it on to your more literate friends.

What it took to get an 8th grade education in 1895...

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..
8th Grade Final Exam:
Salina , KS - 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 'lie,' 'play,' 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 hour 15 minutes)
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 3,942 lbs, what is it worth at 50 cts/bushel, deducting 1,050 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 the cost of 6,720 lbs. Coal at $6.00 per ton.
6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent per annum.
7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft long at $20 per metre?
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 of 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)
[Do we even know what this is??]
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, pre, semi, post, non, inter, mono, sup.
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 Fernandez, Aspinwall and Orinoco .
6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S. Name all the republics of Europe and give the 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 the inclination of the earth.
HUH??? Are they kidding??? This is hard to believe....
Notice that the exam took FIVE HOURS to complete.
Gives the saying 'he only had an 8th grade education' a whole new meaning, doesn't it?!
Also shows you how poor our education system has become and . . .
NO, I don't have the answers!