The following problems and questions, printed in the 1 lth Annual Report of the Superintendent of Public Schools of Springfield, Illinois, were stibmitted to the pupils in the First Division of the Second Grade of the Ward Schools, for admission to the First Grade, June 1 7 and 18th, 1869 (students who took this test had to he at least twelve years old and planning to attend high school). Take the test yourself and see if you were high-school material by the standards of the day.

Spelling.

Gossiping, lyrical, plagiarism, stucco, vitriol, unfeigned, saltcellar, tranquility, accessible, caterpillar, feasible, hearth, mortgage, palliate, nuisance, jockey, excellency, bacchanalian, wield, cinnamon, opaque, quoit, zephyr, indispensable, receipt.

Arithmetic-Rules and Definitions.

What is notation?
Give the rule for notation.
What is multiplication?
Given the divisor and quotient, how do you find the dividend? What is a compound number? Explain the difference between a simple and compound number. Tell what a rectangle is, and define a cube. Give the table for cloth measure. Give the table for long measure. Knowing the difference in longitude, how do you find the difference in time? How are common fractions expressed? What does the denominator of a fraction show How does it affect a fraction to divide the denominator?
What is a compound fraction? I low do you find a number when a certain percent of it is given? When is stock below par? How do you find the selling price when the cost and gain or loss per cent are given? What is the present worth of a note? Give the difference between true and bank discount.

Written Arithmetic-- Problems.

What is the difference between two million seven thousand and eighteen, and one hundred and five thousand and seventeen?
Divide 23331883961 by 6739549. The sum of two numbers is 360, the less is 116, what is the product of the two numbers? What is the least common multiple of 25, 10, 60, 100, and 125? What is the sum of 7/8, 1 7-12, 10 5-6 and 5? What is the difference of longitude between Washington and St. Petersburg, if their difference of time be 7 hours, 9  minutes, and 20 seconds?
What will be the cost of 28 1/2 gallons of molasses if 1 5 hogsheads cost $236 25.3? To be solved by the rule for simple proportions. What per cent of $240 is $13.20? A man owning 40 per cent of an iron foundry, sold 25 percent of his share for $1,246.50; what was the property worth? What is the interest of $97.86 from May 17, 1850, to December 19, 1857, at 8 percent? What are the proceeds of a note for $368 at 90 days, discounted at Exchange Bank, New York, at 6 per cent? What is the face of a note at 60 days, which yields $680 when discounted at the First National Bank at 10 percent?

Springfield's 1st Ward School (Painter School), as it looked in 1897. Photo courtesy the Sangatnon Valley Collection, Lincoln Library.

Illinois Heritage 11

History.

Define history.
For what purpose do you study history?
From what countries in Europe did the colonists come?
When and by whom was New Jersey settled?
Give an account of the Pequod War.
When and by whom was Maryland settled?
What can you say of religious liberty in Maryland?
What can you say of King William's War?
What can you say of Queen Anne's War?
Describe the western boundary of the United States at the beginning of the revolutionary war. Which state was the most populous at the time? Name the second in rank also. Give an account of the events of 1777. Give an account of Arnold's treason. What can you say of General Greene? Give an account of the disbanding of the army at the close of the war.

English Grammar.

Of what does Etymology treat?
What is a word?
What is a primitive word?
What is a collective noun?
Write a sentence containing one proper and three common nouns. Write the plurals of thief, roof, mouse, penny, fly, toy, pailful, ox, cargo, and brother. How many methods of distinguishing sex, and what are they?

When is a noun in the objective case? What are the relatives? Write four sentences, the first containing a regular, the second containing an irregular, the third a transitive, and the fourth an intransitive verb. Write a sentence containing a verb in the present perfect subjunctive.
Write a sentence with an adverb in the comparative degree. What is a preposition? Give an example. What is a complex sentence? Give an example. Write three sentences, one containing an adjective, one an objective, and one an adverbial element. What is a compound sentence? Give an example.

Correct the following examples:

I know it as well as her. Was you sheltered from the rain.
I seen James when he done it. Tell the boys to set still.
The horse who belonged to Mr. Jones was killed by lightning. Arnold was not a honorable man. The nations hopes are blasted. I don't want no aid. Eliza said how she believed it. Who did you see yesterday? Our harps we left by Babel's stream. Parse the italicized words. Analyze the following sentence: The boy who has studied diligently deserves promotion to a higher class.

Geography.

Bound the United States.
Bound the State of Illinois.
Name the rivers and chief towns of Illinois.
Bound the State of Massachusetts.
Name the rivers and chief towns of Massachusetts.
Describe the Hudson River.
Name the bays on the coast of New England.
Describe Chesapeake bay.
Describe the Columbia river.
Describe Mexico and Central America.
What can you say of Alaska?
Draw a map of North America.
Mental Arithmetic.
If a horse can run 3/8 of a mile in one minute, how many minutes would it take him to run 5-6 of a mile? What will 4-7 of a yard of cloth cost at 3-5 of a dollar per yard? Two men build a wall; one man builds 16 rods, which was 4-5 of what the other had built; how much did the other build, and what was the entire length of the wall? A painter had 5-6 of a keg of white lead worth $2.75 a keg; he used 4-5 of what he had; what part of the keg did he use, and what was its value?
Three-fourths of 4 and 6-7 is 5 halves of what number? Charles has 9 cents and Franklin 7 cents; they gave them for 48 apples; how many should each have?

12 Illinois Heritage