Salina, KS. The year is 1895. This is part of the admissions test to get into high school.
Arithmetic (Time, 1.25 hours)
Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.
A wagon box is 2 ft. deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold?
If a load of wheat weighs 3942 lbs., what is it worth at 50cts. per bu, deducting 1050 lbs. for tare?
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?
Find cost of 6720 lbs. coal at $6.00 per ton.
Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent.
What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft. long at $.20 per inch?
Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent.
What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance around which is 640 rods?
Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt.
I don’t know what a ‘tare’ is, and have forgotten how long a rod is (except for mine).
ENJOY!! Oh, an NO calculators. Only an abacus, pencil, and paper.
Anyways, half of these are definitions that nobody should know regularly. I don’t know how much a bushel is. When would I ever need to know that?
What is cts per bu? I am guessing bu=bushell? You ‘tare’ something on a scale to deduct something not part of the measurement that was included in the weight. For instance, if you weigh a bag of weed, you would tare the bag to find out how much weed was in it.
Though Snopes rates it as “false,” I found nothing in the article except “WAAAAaaaaHHH! WAAAAAH! WAAAAAAHH!! That doesn’t apply!!! That gives a false impression! WAAAAaaaaaHHHH!”
And not a single trace of evidence that this is not what it says it is.
Instead, it’s “Do we really care if our educators of today know the feminine of the word ‘hero’?”
(paraphrase: for some reason I can’t cut and paste the text.)
Though Snopes rates it as “false,” I found nothing in the article except “WAAAAaaaaHHH! WAAAAAH! WAAAAAAHH!! That doesn’t apply!!! That gives a false impression! WAAAAaaaaaHHHH!”
And not a single trace of evidence that this is not what it says it is.
Instead, it’s “Do we really care if our educators of today know the feminine of the word ‘hero’?”
(paraphrase: for some reason I can’t cut and paste the text.)[/quote]
What is debunked is the claim: “Claim: An 1895 graduation examination for public school students demonstrates a shocking decline in educational standards.” Basically, the article asserts that even if the test were authentic, it certainly does not demonstrate a “shocking decline in educational standards.” And I’m sure that was Headhunter’s intention: “Ha ha, look how dumb you are.”
Though Snopes rates it as “false,” I found nothing in the article except “WAAAAaaaaHHH! WAAAAAH! WAAAAAAHH!! That doesn’t apply!!! That gives a false impression! WAAAAaaaaaHHHH!”
And not a single trace of evidence that this is not what it says it is.
Instead, it’s “Do we really care if our educators of today know the feminine of the word ‘hero’?”
(paraphrase: for some reason I can’t cut and paste the text.)[/quote]
What is debunked is the claim: “Claim: An 1895 graduation examination for public school students demonstrates a shocking decline in educational standards.” Basically, the article asserts that even if the test were authentic, it certainly does not demonstrate a “shocking decline in educational standards.” And I’m sure that was Headhunter’s intention: “Ha ha, look how dumb you are.” [/quote]
If you want, let’s convert the test to modern terms:
Name and define four common arithmetical operations.
A wagon box is 2 ft. deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. wide. How many liters of wheat will it hold?
If a load of wheat weighs 1.567 tons., what is it worth at 50cts. per pound, deducting 1050 lbs. for tare?
District No. 33 has a valuation of $35,000,000. What is the necessary tax millage to carry on a school seven months at $50,000 per month, and have $104,000 for incidentals?
Find cost of 6720 lbs. coal at $6.00 per ton.
Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent non-compounded.
What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft. long at $.20 per inch?
If a credit card balance is reduced by $1535 and the interest rate is 17.5% APR, what is the yearly savings due to that reduction?
(omit, can’t think of a close parallel at the moment)
Write a Promissory Note, and a Receipt.
Not a single thing in here that isn’t modern and relevant.
How would our 8th graders do today on this? How about most high school graduates?
WAAAAAH!!! It’s not relevant!!! Why would want anyone want to do those things when what they need to know is things about global warming and polar bears!!!
[quote]Bill Roberts wrote:
If you want, let’s convert the test to modern terms:
Name and define four common arithmetical operations.
A wagon box is 2 ft. deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. wide. How many liters of wheat will it hold?
If a load of wheat weighs 1.567 tons., what is it worth at 50cts. per pound, deducting 1050 lbs. for tare?
District No. 33 has a valuation of $35,000,000. What is the necessary tax millage to carry on a school seven months at $50,000 per month, and have $104,000 for incidentals?
Find cost of 6720 lbs. coal at $6.00 per ton.
Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent non-compounded.
What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft. long at $.20 per inch?
If a credit card balance is reduced by $1535 and the interest rate is 17.5% APR, what is the yearly savings due to that reduction?
(omit, can’t think of a close parallel at the moment)
Write a Promissory Note, and a Receipt.
Not a single thing in here that isn’t modern and relevant.
How would our 8th graders do today on this? How about most high school graduates?
WAAAAAH!!! It’s not relevant!!! Why would want anyone want to do those things when what they need to know is things about global warming and polar bears!!!
[/quote]
A liter is a unit to measure liquid, so unless you want that wagon to hold wheat grass the example was off.
[quote]Headhunter wrote:
Salina, KS. The year is 1895. This is part of the admissions test to get into high school.
Arithmetic (Time, 1.25 hours)
Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.
A wagon box is 2 ft. deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold?
If a load of wheat weighs 3942 lbs., what is it worth at 50cts. per bu, deducting 1050 lbs. for tare?
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?
Find cost of 6720 lbs. coal at $6.00 per ton.
Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent.
What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft. long at $.20 per inch?
Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent.
What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance around which is 640 rods?
Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt.
I don’t know what a ‘tare’ is, and have forgotten how long a rod is (except for mine).
ENJOY!! Oh, an NO calculators. Only an abacus, pencil, and paper.
That sounds like what we did in 8th grade… wasn’t worded the same exact way but same concepts. Although that was like 7-8 years ago… I guess my memory could be a little off.
[quote]Bill Roberts wrote:
If you want, let’s convert the test to modern terms:
Name and define four common arithmetical operations.
A wagon box is 2 ft. deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. wide. How many liters of wheat will it hold?
If a load of wheat weighs 1.567 tons., what is it worth at 50cts. per pound, deducting 1050 lbs. for tare?
District No. 33 has a valuation of $35,000,000. What is the necessary tax millage to carry on a school seven months at $50,000 per month, and have $104,000 for incidentals?
Find cost of 6720 lbs. coal at $6.00 per ton.
Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent non-compounded.
What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft. long at $.20 per inch?
If a credit card balance is reduced by $1535 and the interest rate is 17.5% APR, what is the yearly savings due to that reduction?
(omit, can’t think of a close parallel at the moment)
Write a Promissory Note, and a Receipt.
Not a single thing in here that isn’t modern and relevant.
How would our 8th graders do today on this? How about most high school graduates?
WAAAAAH!!! It’s not relevant!!! Why would want anyone want to do those things when what they need to know is things about global warming and polar bears!!!
[/quote]
Or American Idol?
Brave New World…its happening, Bill. Its happening.
[quote]Bill Roberts wrote:
If you want, let’s convert the test to modern terms:
Name and define four common arithmetical operations.
A wagon box is 2 ft. deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. wide. How many liters of wheat will it hold?
If a load of wheat weighs 1.567 tons., what is it worth at 50cts. per pound, deducting 1050 lbs. for tare?
District No. 33 has a valuation of $35,000,000. What is the necessary tax millage to carry on a school seven months at $50,000 per month, and have $104,000 for incidentals?
Find cost of 6720 lbs. coal at $6.00 per ton.
Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent non-compounded.
What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft. long at $.20 per inch?
If a credit card balance is reduced by $1535 and the interest rate is 17.5% APR, what is the yearly savings due to that reduction?
(omit, can’t think of a close parallel at the moment)
Write a Promissory Note, and a Receipt.
Not a single thing in here that isn’t modern and relevant.
How would our 8th graders do today on this? How about most high school graduates?
WAAAAAH!!! It’s not relevant!!! Why would want anyone want to do those things when what they need to know is things about global warming and polar bears!!!
[/quote]
A liter is a unit to measure liquid, so unless you want that wagon to hold wheat grass the example was off.[/quote]
[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
A liter is a unit to measure liquid, so unless you want that wagon to hold wheat grass the example was off.[/quote]
Fail.
[/quote]
A liter is a cubic measurement of a volume. If you don’t know the unit conversion from lbs to tons then 2 of the questions might trip you up, I don’t know it off the top of my head as well unless I converted 2.1 pounds = 1 kg then did 1000kg ~= 1 ton.
But it is not too much to expect an 8th grader in the 21st Century to know that there are 2.54 centimeters in an inch, and the conversion is no harder or less relevant than was conversion to bushels in the 19th Century.
