Stephan:   About 15 years ago, while doing research on something else I came across the graduation exam given to 8th graders at a rural one-room schoolhouse in Saline County, Kansas in 1895. It has since become quite famous and several academic papers have been written about it because most college graduates today can't pass it. Here’s the test, see how well you do. April 13, 1895 J.W. Armstrong, County Superintendent. Examinations at Salina, New Cambria, Gypsum City, Assaria, Falun, Bavaria, and District No. 74 (in Glendale Twp.) Reading and Penmanship. – The Examination will be oral, and the Penmanship of Applicants will be graded from the manuscripts. ************************ 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 ¼ hour) 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 weights 3942 lbs., what is it worth at 50 cts. Per bu., deducting 1050 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 cost of 6720 lbs. coal at $6.00 per ton. 6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 per cent. 7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft. long at $20 per m? 8. Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 per cent. 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, Whtney, 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 orthogaphy, 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 ãuä. 5. Give two rules for spelling words with final ãeä. 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 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 N.A. 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. ***************************************** PHYSIOLOGY (Time, 45 minutes) 1. Where are the saliva, gastric juice, and bile secreted? What is the use of each in digestion? 2. How does nutrition reach the circulation? 3. What is the function of the liver? Of the kidneys? 4. How would you stop the flow of blood from an artery in the case of laceration? 5. Give some general directions that you think would be beneficial to preserve the human body in a state of health. I go into this to make the point that in rural Kansas 126 years ago, in a school that today would barely qualify as a garage because education was valued by the government students could pass the test, and were expected to. Today, in contrast in rural Republican states, because the government does not want an educated populace, since educated people tend to vote Democratic, things are rather different. This is a lengthy report but worth your attention because it is describing a trend that few people who live in Democratic controlled cities are even aware of. This is how MAGAts are created.