Friday, March 21, 2008

Flu-ish

Sorry for the absence from this page. I think I've had the flu. Or something very much like the flu. Flu-ish. Victor, in particular, has been watching closely, asking for my definition of "tomorrow" and hoping for the rest of the post on City Council attendance. I'm still checking some numbers and trying to decide the most fair way to report the data. Every member of Council is assigned to committees. Some of the members are assigned to committees that meet more often than other committees, and some of the members go out of their way to attend all the meetings-whether or not they are actually members of those committees. One thing is for sure-if you are elected to City Council, and make half an effort to be informed about City business, you are going to attend a whole lot of meetings. And, if you choose not to attend the committee meetings, you risk being uninformed and probably should avoid commenting on what happened at the meeting you failed to attend. More, I hope, tomorrow.

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2 comments:

Vic said...

Get well soon. Thanks for defining tomorrow and thanks for whacking the spammer.

Here is an alleged 1895, 8th Grade, Final Exam that i got from one of my favorite spammers, hope it helps with the modern day, city council arithmetic. Two days later, I'm stuck on the grammar parts...

"8th Grade Final Exam: Salina, KS - 1895"

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 "lie,""play," 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 hour 15 minutes)
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 weighs 3,942 lbs., what is it worth at 50cts/bushel, deducting 1,050 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 the cost of 6,720 lbs. coal at $6.00 per ton.
6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent.
7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft. long at $20 per metre?
8. Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent.
9. What is th e co st of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance of 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, Whitney, Fulton, Bell, Lincoln, Penn, and Howe?
8. Name events connected with the following dates: 1607, 1620, 1800, 1849, 1865.



Orthography (Time, one hour)
[Do we even know what this is??]
1. What is meant by the following: alphabet, phonetic, orthography, 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 'u.' (HUH?)
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 con nection with a wo rd: bi, dis, mis, pre, semi, post, non, inter, mono, sup.
8. Mark diacriticall y 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 North America.
5. Name and describe the following: Monrovia, Odessa, Denver, Manitoba,
Hecla, Yukon, St. Helena, Juan Fernandez, Aspinw all and Orinoco.
6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S.
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 the inclination of the earth.

Notice that the exam took FIVE HOURS to complete.

Tina said...

I don't think grammar is included in the test that Georgia's English teachers have to take. No kidding. I took it and cannot recall any of the specifics of grammar being included. Too bad, really. Not only does a knowledge of grammar make one a better writer but knowing the terminology of grammar is so helpful when learning a foreign language. People who don't understand the concept of grammatical case are doomed to utter abominations like "between he and I." :-)