Notable Quotable:

Notable Quotable:

Remember, folks: whenever a woman says "die for me because you are a man," just look her in the eye and say "my body, my choice."
TCM

Thursday, July 26, 2012

The Decline of Education

My secret boyfriend Coffeypot posted questions from an 8th grade final exam, Kansas, 1895.

Here's the link:

http://johnjudyc.blogspot.com/2012/07/final-exam-1895-kansas-school.html

And here is a teaser:


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.
                                     ******
Arithmetic (Time: 1 Hour 15 Minutes)
1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.
7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 15ft long at $20 per meter?
8. Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent.
                                     *******
U.S. History (Time,: 45 Minutes)
3. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War.
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)
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)
6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S.
8. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same latitude?
10. Describe the movements of the earth. Give the inclination of the earth.





Suddenly I feel stupid.

12 comments:

  1. Where are your answers? Like I said in my post, if we had been attending their classes we would have been introduced to those questions. And in some cases, some of those questions (like the math stuff) might still be taught in the farming areas. But I can honestly say I have never seen some of those question before, much less been taught them in class.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Please, Coffeypot. It would take me a week at the library to answer those questions!

      Delete
  2. Ok.So I totally failed this citizenship test. You may deport me to my country of origin. OPPS! I am an American! Well, you should probably send me somewhere so I could learn a thing or two.
    p.s. Coffey is cheating on you with me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kindly keep your mitts off my man! We wouldn't want a cat-fight here, now would we?

      Delete
  3. Sorry, but this is bogus

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

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aww. Dang! Now I'm going to have to find out what the real standards were! Thanks for the heads up.

      Delete
  4. If I sat around and thought about it for an hour or two, I think I could answer most of the questions, but I learned about those topics in high school and college. I certainly didn't know about them in 8th grade. Schools systems used to have higher expectations for kids, but of course, a lot of kids never got to go to school during that time so the kids who had the privilege of going to school probably took it more seriously and so did their parents. And what is this your boyfriend Coffey B.S.? That man is mine.

    Love,
    Janie Coffeypot

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I see the competition for Coffeypot's affection is getting intense...

      I'd hazard a bet Judy could kick all our asses. Maybe.

      Delete
    2. What if we get together and kick Judy's ass and then we take turns with our boyfriend?

      Delete

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