Perhaps this explains why people need a college education so much more today than they did a century ago.

This is the eighth-grade final exam from 1895 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.

8th Grade Final Examination

Grammar (Time, I 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 VerseStanzaParagraph.
   
4. What are the Principal Parts of a verb? Give Principal Parts of dolielayrun.
   
5. Define Case. Illustrate each Case.
   
6. What is Punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of Punctuation.
   
7. through 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 ft long, and 3 ft wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold?
   
3. If a load of wheat weighs 3,942 pounds, what is it worth at 50¢ per bu, deducting 1,050 pounds for tare?
   
4. District No 33 has a valuation of $35,000. What is the necessary levy to carry on a school 7 months at $50 per month, and have $104 for incidentals?
   
5. Find cost of 6,720 pounds of coal at $6.00 per ton.
   
6. Find the interest on $512.60 for 8 months 18 days at 7%.
   
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%.
   
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.

US History (Time, 45 minutes)

1. Give the epochs into which US 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: MorseWhitneyFultonBellLincolnPennHowe?
   
8. Name events connected with the following dates: 16071620180018491865?

Orthography (Time, one hour)

1. What is meant by the following: alphabetphonetic orthographyetymologysyllabication?
   
2. What are elementary sounds? How classified?
   
3. What are the following, and give examples of each: trigraphsubvocalsdiphthongcognate letterslinguals?
   
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: bidismispresemipostnonintermonosuper.
   
8. Mark diacritically and divide into syllables the following, and name the sign that indicates the sound: cardballmercysiroddcellrisebloodfarelast.
   
9. Use the following correctly in sentences: cite, site, sightfane, fain, feignvane, vain, veinraze, 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: MonroviaOdessaDenverManitobaHeclaYukonSt HelenaJuan FernandezAspinwallOrinoco.
   
6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the US.
   
7. 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 inclination of the earth.

Source: Anderson Valley Advertiser 3 May 2000

I looked at the test without really reading your opening paragraph. I was shocked at the test being so hard. After re-reading the intro, I realized that many of the questions are no longer applicable to this century or the second half of the last either.

Wow. Things sure have changed...

Today, people have to know the USA Standard measurement system and the Metric system. Thank you Ronald, for keeping us in the dark ages.

I looked at the test without really reading your opening paragraph. I was shocked at the test being so hard. After re-reading the intro, I realized that many of the questions are no longer applicable to this century or the second half of the last either.

Which questions do you feel are "no longer applicable to this century"?

I can remember in school when we were required to do the math, not just use the calculator.

In my state, kids need to show 2 ways they got thier math answer, not just the correct answer to the problem. If they dont, their answers are wrong, even if the calculation they used produces the correct answer. Now many children are so frustrated they just shut down and dont even try much after 5th grade. Way too much repetition for what point? To what end is math taught? Bill Gates even cant hire many people from our state as they cant qualify for his needs. Blaa

I have a math text book from Ontario,1920,Hi School,

Try this on for size,

The surface of a sphere is 1386 sq. in and that of a cube is 1536 sq.in. Find which has the greater volumn and how much.

Duh wa? The answer the book gives is the former, 755 cubic inches.

Im not even gonna try, my circuts would fry.