when an 8th Grade Education Meant Something

This has been debunked before. This was an awkward exercise by the educators at the time to give them a graduating test or some sort or another. It was then deemed too difficult for eighth graders and scrapped.

That makes sense. They probably had to go all the way through twelfth grade to learn all that stuff. Let's give it to today's highschool grads and see how they make out.

Don said:

That makes sense. They probably had to go all the way through twelfth grade to learn all that stuff. Let's give it to today's highschool grads and see how they make out.

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If I was in the mood for horror, I'd go to the Horror SYW section. Thanks Don.

I would need a refresher on my grammar jargon and some basic historical places and dates, but for the most part, I don't think that test is so out there. My elementary school covered most of those questions in regular class work. I'm not really seeing how that test would be too hard for 8th graders, provided they had sufficient exposure prior to that. At the very least, 10th graders should be able to handle it, no problem.

But even more, it horrifies me that there are Americans, high school age and older, who would not be able to pass that test.

Can some of those things in number 1 even be pluralized?
How does one pluralize "die," or "me," or "Mr. Brown"?

dies, us, Messrs. Brown

I had no idea that die could actually be used as a noun.

According to Dictionary.com

1. The cubical part of a pedestal between the base and the cornice; a dado or plinth
   
2. A device for cutting or molding metal into a particular shape
   
3. An engraved device for stamping a design on coins or medals

My answer would have been "deaths." I can say I've learned something today.

Don said:

dies, us, Messrs. Brown

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Or dice.

robeiae said:

Or dice.

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I have to say, I thought this was kinda the obvious answer . . . Not to be snarky, but don't most people know that "die" is singular and "dice" is plural?

Well in 1910, dies as used in manufacturing was standard fare. So, I think there's a fair chance that people would have said "dies" before "dice." And since Don was born in 1832...

absitinvidia said:

I have to say, I thought this was kinda the obvious answer . . . Not to be snarky, but don't most people know that "die" is singular and "dice" is plural?

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Someone who works as a craftsman in a tap & die shop would beg to differ.

robeiae said:

Well in 1910, dies as used in manufacturing was standard fare. So, I think there's a fair chance that people would have said "dies" before "dice." And since Don was born in 1832...

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Plot Device said:

Someone who works as a craftsman in a tap & die shop would beg to differ.

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Dice was the giveaway answer, but dad was a machinist, so I went for the more obscure. And I was born in 1852.

Argh! I stalled at the plural of me!

How can there be more than one me? Or are we counting alternate universes?

Find the square root of 95.6484

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I hope they were allowed to use their slide rules for this one.

Well, it was 1910. They had 100 years less shit to learn, thus more time to learn the little they did have to.

clintl said:

I hope they were allowed to use their slide rules for this one.

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Eyeballing it, it looks like 9.78 or 9.68.

Good job! My calculator says 9.78.

Well, it was 1910. They had 100 years less shit to learn, thus more time to learn the little they did have to.

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Right. In 1910, scientists didn't even know yet that an atom has a nucleus.

I remember knowing most of those things at one time or other. I'm still good on the grammar and arithmetic, but history and geography never much interested me.

Some of the stuff is dated, though. I don't think the folks of 1910 would appreciate a Ginsberg quote for "America." I don't even know what poem they mean.

absitinvidia said:

I have to say, I thought this was kinda the obvious answer . . . Not to be snarky, but don't most people know that "die" is singular and "dice" is plural?

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I thought that may meant "die" as in deceased.
And how do you pluralize an individual?

To be serious for just a moment. I've noticed that most older folk. say those in their sixties, who have only a high school education, are the equivalent of today's college grads.

Not all of today's grads -- I know some very smart and extremely well educated young people, but as an average, the high school educated oldsters know more history, write better, can do basic math, etc.

Admittedly, many of them are not so good with computers.

I think the final exam for school, whatever school that be, should be open-internet. Learning how to research and to learn is more important than spewing facts. Anybody here could pass that test in short order with a keyboard at their command. Anybody who graduates grade school should be able to do the same. And that includes the critical thinking skills necessary to tell the correct answer from the first one that shows up in the search engine.

Don said:

I think the final exam for school, whatever school that be, should be open-internet.

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My high school physics final was open book.

If you didn't understand how to apply the basics to solve the problem, the book wasn't much help

rugcat said:

My high school physics final was open book.

If you didn't understand how to apply the basics to solve the problem, the book wasn't much help

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The best teachers I had were the ones who gave open-book finals. Aviation law, by a former CAB judge, was open-book, and one of the toughest classes I ever took. He taught thinking, with a side helping of aviation law. The former subject has been more important to me in the long term than the latter.

Don said:

I think the final exam for school, whatever school that be, should be open-internet. Learning how to research and to learn is more important than spewing facts. Anybody here could pass that test in short order with a keyboard at their command. Anybody who graduates grade school should be able to do the same. And that includes the critical thinking skills necessary to tell the correct answer from the first one that shows up in the search engine.

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