Post-Modern Education

To understand the inspiration for this post, please read the link above. It's nauseating to think that you are considered "educated" if you graduate from college with a 9th grade reading level and a 7th grade arithmetic level!

So I decided to show how far education has really fallen in a 99 years. We own a book called "The National Question Book: A Comprehensive Review of the Common and High School Studies" published in 1907 and written by Edward R. Shaw, Ph.D.

Here is an excerpt from the preface: "In all parts of our country there is a growing demand for more thorough work in our public schools and especially in the Common School Studies. Pupils are "pushed" through to High School unprepared for the work because they lack proficiency in the grades below. A practical Reference book so arragnged as to make it widely acceptable and by means of which the pupil can examine himself and test his proficiency has long been lacking. The National Question Book answers this purpose and furnishes this aid."

The basic purpose of this book is to have the student be able to answer all the questions contained within it by the time they graduate High School. So just for kicks... I will type up a randomly selected question from each of the sections below and you can have fun trying to answer them. I'll admit, I don't know the answers to many of these questions. The only thing I ask is that you use your knowledge, and yours solely, and not that of Google or some other such source. Also, keep in mind the publish date of 1907, as that will affect some of the answers to history/geography/astronomy questions. I'll wait about a week before posting the answers.

a. Arithmetic
59. Write a repetend, and define the term

b. Arithmetic Supplement
55. A man sold two-sevenths of his farm, and gave away three-fifths. He had 142 acres left. How many had he at first?

c. Geography
100. What is the number of United States Senators?

d. Geography Supplement
76. What great empire lies between the White and Black Seas?

e. History of the United States
122. What were the principle events of 1760?

f. History of the United States Supplement
31. What was the question of "State sovereignty"? What position did Webster take on this subject?

g. Grammar
159. Distinguish between the uses of O and oh.

h. Orthography and Orthoepy
5. State when w and y are vowels.

i. Physiology
181. Desctibe the corpuscles of the blood.

j. Bookkeeping
23. What is a trial-balance?

k. Civil Government
34. Between the adoption of the Declariation of Independence and the Articles of Confederation (1776-17871), how was the government of the colonies exercised?

l. Reading
15. What note represents the average pitch of the voice?

m. Rhetoric and Composition
52. Name four figures founded on comparision, and define each, giving an example.

n. English Literature
51. Name the author of each of the following: Essays of Elia; The Task; The Seasons; Elegy in the Country Churchyard; The Wealth of Nations; The Bridge of Sighs; Aurora Leigh.

o. Physics
93. What is the difference in colour resulting from the misture of the spectral colours yellow and blue, and the mixture of yellow and blue pigments?

p. Physical Geography
93. What are spring-tides? What are neap-tides?

q. Advances Studies: Algebra
14. Derive a formula for the sum of an arithmetical series, when the extremes and the number of terms are given.

r. Advanced Studies: Geometry
9. Show how to circumscribe a circle about a scalene triangle. Then state and deonstrate the proposition on which your solution depends.

s. Advanced Studies: Latin
11. Translate into Latin the following sentences: Little rills flow into great oceans. The Roman soldiers fought fiercely and conquered the enemy.

t. Advanced Studies: General History
6. State one important fact in the life of each of the following persons: Aristides, Miltiades, Leonidas, Themistocles, and Socrates.

u. Advanced Studies: Advanced Physics
6. If the barometric column stands at 30 inches, and the pressure of the atmosphere be 14.7 pounds to the square inch, what does a cubic foot of ercury weigh?

v. Advanced Studies: Chemistry
13. If a spark be applied to a mixture of 18 grains of O, and just dufficient H to unite chemically with all the O, (a) what will be the phenomena? (b) What compound will be formed? (c) How much of it?

w. Advanced Studies: Geology
20. What are the principal means of identifying rocks of the same statum, and of determining the relative age of the different strata? (no, this isn't necessarily evolutionary)

x. Advanced Studies: Botany
3. How are strawberry vines propagated?

y. Advanced Studies: Zoology
13. To what order of Mammals foes the rat belong, and what are the charictaristics of the order?

z. Advanced Studies: Astronomy
24. Explain the difference between a solar day and a sidereal day.

aa. Theory and Practice of Teaching
90. Desctibe the Socratic method of teaching and explain its value.