Exam Questions CM Asked Her Middle Students (grades 4-6)
These are questions taken from actual PNEU exams for Form II (about grades 4-6)
Bible Lessons - 2 or 3 questions such as:
What were Pharaoh's dreams and what was Joseph's interpretation? Tell
the whole story.
Describe the meeting between Jacob and Joseph in Goeshen.
In what ways did Joseph test his brothers before he told them who he
was?
"God be merciful to me, a sinner"; (b), "What shall I do to
inherit eternal life?" (c), "Why loose ye the colt?" (d),
"Shew me a penny." On what occasions where these words
used? Tell the whole story in two cases.
Give an account of our Lord's Last Supper with His disciples.
Describe the two trials of our Lord before Pilate.
Describe the events of the night when Israel came out of Egypt.
Give an account of the occasions when Moses met with God on Mount Sinai.
Describe the institution of the Passover and its meaning.
What question did St. John (in prison) send messengers to ask our Lord,
and what answer did he get? Tell the whole story.
(a), "What lack I yet?" (b), "Lo, we have left all." What answers did
our Lord give to (a), the young ruler, (b), St. Peter, and what lessons
may we learn?
Give and explain briefly four of the parables of the Kingdom.
Write the story of Balaam.
What were the three great national festivals of the Israelites?
Describe one of them.
What was Balaam's sin? What lessons may we learn from the story?
Describe our Lord's Last Supper (a), at Bethany, (b) with His disciples
at the Passover.
Write about two of our Lord's appearances after His Resurrection.
What was the parable of the Marriage of the King's Son? What was its
lesson (a), for the Jews, (b), for us?
"And Jonathan loved him as his own soul." Of whom was this said? Tell a story of Jonathan's love.
Writing - Write 2-4 lines of poetry from memory (depending on age/grade)
Dictation (unprepared) - 1 assignment, such as:
A paragraph from a newspaper.
Geography Book III. A. Page 314, lines 1-13.
Composition - 2 or 3 questions such as:
Describe your favorite scene from The Tempest.
Quote some of your favorite lines from Marmion, or, Horatius.
Tell a story in prose, or verse, about one of the following,--Iduna,
Daedalus, Ariel, Mrs. Bedonebyasyoudid.
Describe a scene in Julius Caesar in which Mark Antony appears.
An account of "The Wedding of a Princess," or, the Burial of Sir E.
Shackleton.
Tell a story in prose or verse about one of the following:--King
Arthur, Svartheim, Achilles, Beowulf, King Olaf.
An account, in prose or verse, of one of the following,--the journey of
the Price of Wales, the City of Tyre, Ulysses, Odin.
Narrate, in writing or orally, a scene from Coriolanus or from Hereward
the Wake.
English Grammar - Pick out Subjects, Predicates and Objects, and parse the words in italics from a poem such as:
"And the Larch, with all its fibres,
Shivered in the air of morning,
Touched its forehead with its tassels,
Said, with one long sigh of sorrow,
Take them all, O Hiawatha!"
A wind came up out of the sea,
And said, "Oh mists, make room for me."
It hailed the ships and cried, "Sail on,
Ye mariners, the night is gone."
I am busy, said the sun,
All my planets, every one,
Know my work is never done."
AND 1 or 2 questions such as:
Pick out Subjects and Predicates, and say what part of speech each word
is in line 8.
Use the following words in sentences, each as two different parts of
speech,--fair, high, gold, London, then, since, but.
Show, by giving examples, the work of (a), adverbs, (b), adjectives.
Make sentences using,--before, along, behind, into, below, off,
between, and parse each of these words in your sentences.
Make sentences to show how adverbs are used in questions.
Analyse, parsing words in italics.
Make sentences to show the use of each kind of adverb.
Use the following words, each as two different parts of speech,--above,
after, before, but, as.
Use, in sentences, the word,--in, on, with, at, against, and say what
parts of speech they join.
What must be remembered about nouns, in apposition, the verb to be,
collective nouns, the nominative absolute? Give examples.
Use the following words in sentences, each as two parts of speech,--no,
only, round, that, well, why.
Give examples, in sentences, to show what are the eight parts of speech.
English History (or, in our case, US History?) - 2-4 questions such as:
What do you know of Sir Robert Peel, Lord Shaftesbury, John Bright,
Wilberforce?
Give a short account of the Crimean War?
What do you know of the Cotton Famine? What was the cause of it?
What do you know of the Monasteries in Norman Times? Describe an old
abbey that you have visited.
Give some account of the landing and the doings of Julius Caesar in
Britain.
"Then Augustine came before King Ethelbert." Tell the whole story.
How did St. Swithin educate King Alfred? What did Alfred do for England
besides fight her battles?
What do Caesar and Tacitus tell us of the early Britons?
What do you know of St. Dunstan, King Edgar, St. Alphege, Caedmon?
Write an account of roads in the olden days.
General (World) History - 2 or 3 questions such as:
Describe some of the pictures to be seen in the Book of the Dead.
How did the British navy grow to meet the conditions in the recent war?
What do you know of the ancient inhabitants of Mesopotamia? Write in
detail about Babylon, Ashurbanipal.
What did a great scholar discover at Bebistan, and what was the result?
Give an account of the part played by the Phoenicians in the ancient
world.
Describe some of the relics in the British Museum which show
Sennacherib's work as a builder.
What do you know of the government of Louis Philippe?
What was the Coup d' Etat of 1851?
Write a short account of Louis Napoleon after 1851.
What do you know of (a), Vercingetorix, (b), St. Martin of Tours, (c),
Attila?
Give an account of Charles the Great and his government.
What do you know of the Feudal system in France?
What do you know of Rollo and Robert the Pious?
Describe the First Crusade.
Give some account of the capture of Jerusalem.
Geography - 3 or 4 questions such as:
Give a map of Wiltshire, putting in the boundaries, chief towns and
physical features.
What do you know about Stonehenge, Chippenham and Salisbury.
Why is New Zealand called, "a second Britain"?
Describe a visit to Derbyshire.
What do you know of (a), the salt beds of Cheshire, or the Welsh
Marshes, (b), the Bristol Channel?
What products does New Zealand send to England?
Describe the Fen Counties.
Give a map of Lincolnshire, putting in the chief towns and physical
features.
What do you know of Cambridge?
By what routes could you travel from Australia to England? Give a rough
sketch map. What do you know about Queensland?
Give an account of Henry the Navigator.
Describe a visit to the Lake District. What mountains and lakes could
you see?
What do you know about "the Border"?
Tell the story of a piece of coal.
Describe a visit to an ostrich farm.
Write what you can about Drake and his "Golden Hind."
Describe the north bank of the Thames.
Give a map of Suffolk, putting in the boundaries, chief towns and
rivers. What are the industries of this county?
"It was by Sea Power that Holland rose to be a leading State." Explain
this.
Write a short account of the British in the history of India, with some
account of the Prince of Wales' visit.
Give a rough sketch map of Yorkshire, putting in the boundaries, chief
towns and rivers.
Where are the cotton town? Describe a visit to a cotton mill.
What do you know of Admiral Blake?
What do you know of Gibraltar, Malta, the Suez canal?
What towns, rivers, and castles would you see in travelling about Warwickshire? (from Geographical Reader, Book III.)
Natural History and General Science - 2 or 3 questions (depending on age/grade) such as:
What is a phonograph? Explain how it works.
How does a worm live and work?
Describe a "mailed warrior" of the sea.
Describe, with drawings, the flowers you would expect to find in a
hedge or in a hayfield.
Show in what ways a hayfield is one the beautiful workshops of the
world.
What do you know about the ant caterpillar and the snake caterpillar?
Describe two experiments in electricity. What is a magnet?
Describe, with drawing if possible, a cockroach, a grasshopper, a
caddis fly, a dragon fly.
How are mountains formed? What is a volcano? Give a diagram.
Describe, with drawings, the twigs and buds of the oak, sycamore,
beech, willow, hazel.
What do you know about thread-slime, the bolt flower, flint shells
built by slime animals?
What account did Mr. Pachytylus Migratorius (Plague Locust) give of
himself?
What is to be found in the depths of the sea? What is an iceberg? Draw
one.
Make a diagram which shows the sun and the planets. What have we
recently heard about Mars?
Write an account of the life history of the tortoise-shell butterfly,
with drawings.
Make a list of twenty wild flowers, and say where you would expect to
find each. Describe the two least common you have found.
What is a star, a comet, a planet? Can you make a drawing of Saturn?
How do sponges live and grow?
What do you know of the katydids of South America?
How many kinds of bees are there in a hive? What work does each do? Tell how they build the comb. (from Fairyland of Science.)
Citizenship/Government (Plutarch) - 2 questions such as:
Why did Timoleon first save his brother's life and then consent to his
death? Tell the whole story.
Give a short account of Timoleon's expedition against the Carthagenians.
Why ought everyone to save? How can it always be done?
Tell how King Pyrrlius fought the elephants.
What do you know of Fabricius?
How did Caesar inspire his soldiers with valour? Give two instances.
Describe the crossing of the Rhine by Caesar.
What is the work of the Home Office, the Colonial Office, the Foreign
Office, a County Council?
Why did Fabius refuse to wear a laurel wreath and come home in triumph?
Tell the whole story.
How did Caius Marcius win another term?
Why did Marcius go disguised to the house of Tullus?
Mention four of the great rules observed in English Courts of Justice.
What is the work of the lawyers, of the jury and of the judge?
Write an account of the dictatorship of Cincinnatus.
"Ah! Pericles, those that have need of a lamp, take care to supply it with oil." Who said this? Tell the story.
Alcibiades, Form II
Alcibiades with all his "great courage and quickness of understanding had many great faults and imperfections." Tell a story to illustrate (a), his courage, (b), his envy (of Nicias).
Alexander Part I, Form II
Write an account of Alexander the Great and Bucephalus. 2. How did Alexander behave when ill towards his physician Philip?
Alexander Part II , Form II
1. Why and how did Alexander teach his men "to acquaint themselves with hardness"?
2. How did Alexander go to war with King Poros? Give the whole story.
Aristides, Form II
1 How did Aristides (a) pacify the mutiny, and (b), put an end to a conspiracy of rich noblemen before the battle of Plataea?
2. Describe how Alexander revealed the Persians' secret council to Aristides.
Brutus, Form II
How did Brutus behave in besieging the city of (a), the Xanthians, (b), the Patareians? OR How did Lucilius save the life of Brutus?
Demosthenes, Form II
Give some account of how Demosthenes went to hear an orator who "bore the bell of eloquence," and how he then trained himself to become an orator.
Julius Caesar, Form II
1.Tell one story to show how Caesar inspired his soldiers with valour.
2. Describe the crossing of the Rhine by Caesar.
Pompey, Part II Form II
1. Telll a story to show how Pompey "fell into such a pride and glorious conceit of himself."
2. 2. Describe how Pompey "ran away, nor looking back for all he was so bold."
Timoleon, Form II
Describe (a), Timoleon's arrival in Sicily, or, (b), the desolation of Syracuse after the capture by Timoleon. What did Timoleon do to restore the city?
Aemilius Paulus, Form II
How did Aemilius conduct the war against the Ligurians at the time of an eclipse of the moon?
Describe (a), how Perseus was betrayed by Orandes, yielded himself to the Romans and was brought before Aemilius, or, (b), the triumph which the Romans gave in honour of Paulus Aemilius.
Reading - Father to choose an unseen passage, giving marks for enunciation.
Arithmetic/Geometry - 3 questions such as:
Find the value of 10 5/8 of 1s; 1 3/7 of 21s; 5 ¾ of 2s.
If I buy a table for £3: 17: 1 and 8 chairs at £1: 9: 6
each, how much shall I have to pay?
Find the value of 6 x (£5:16:7 - £3:19:10) -- £3
Draw a plan of a floor of a room and find its area. (1 inch to 10 feet).
Find the H.C.F. of 1788, 3718, 1887, and the L.C.M. of 15, 45, 125, 225.
Find the cost of 3 cwt, 2 qr. 21 lb. at £3:12:8 per cwt.
Find the simple interest on £450 for 150 days at 8%.
How far would a train go in 15 hours at the rate of 48 km. an hour? How
many metres a minute does this train travel?
Some tea cost £4:9:0 per cwt. Give the price per lb.
Measure your pace and find the length and width of a room or passage
(take measurements in "break").
Multiply: 1.21 x .121 x .0121. Divide: 4.375 by 1.26.
How many times can a line .0975 inches long be cut off from a line
16.73 inches long? What will be the remainder?
If I can get 50 frs. in exchange for £1, what decimal of a penny
is a centime?
Find the area of a room 18ft. 9in. by 16ft. 8in. Find the length of an
equally large room whose breadth is 12ft. 6in.
A cubic foot of water weighs 1000 oz. Find the weight of water in a
cistern 11 x 7 x 8 feet.
What is the difference between four square inches and four inches
square?
Through a given point P to draw with ruler and compasses a line
parallel to a given straight line AB.
Draw a line 2.7" long and divide it into three equal parts.
Construct an equilateral triangle on a base of 7 cm. and circumscribe a
circle about it.
If a man whose hieght is 6 feet, stands 12 feet from a certain
lamp-post, he finds that his shadow cast by the light is 12 feet in
length. How high is the light above the ground?
The length of a rectangular field is 100 yards, the distance round is
190 yards. What is the breadth? Find the area.
Given the circumference of a circle, to find its centre.
Latin - 2 questions such as:
Answer, in Latin, questions 1-6, & 51, page 29.
Translate into English and retranslate into Latin,--page 28 & 42 OR
Translate into Latin,--they were writing, he had written, I conquered,
he will have led, I shall have arranged.
Conjugate the Imperfect, Future and Perfect Indicative of audire.
In what cases are the following,--insulae, coronam, filia, servi,
puerum?
Translate into Latin,--we may be, they might be, he has been, I should
have been, he will be.
Decline hiems, dux, pater, caput, mare, manus, fides.
Put adjectives to each of these nouns.
Translate,--I have loved, he will love, they may advise, he was
advising.
Foreign Language - 2 questions such as:
Tell, in French, about "La Poupee Malade."
Make sentences, in French, using the following words with Possessive
Adjectives of the Second and Third Person Singular,--oiseau, rose,
feuille, tete, cahier.
Make sentences, using the Third Person Singular Present Indicative of
obeir, finir, choisir, ecouter, oublier.
Describe picture 2 in French.
Say a sentence, in French, about yourself, about her, about us, about
Charles et Henri, about la rue.
Describe, in French, picture 17.
Use, in sentences, as direct and indirect object,--me, le, te, nous,
vous.
Use, in sentences, the First Person Plural of the Imperfect Indicative
and Preterite of,--finir, vendre, choisir, repondre.
Describe, in French, picture 7.
Make sentences using the French for,--first, 100, 17, March 27th,
half-past two.
Describe, in French, picture 20.
Narrate the story, "Esope et le Voyageur."
Work Exercise 21, page 169, (7), 1-10.
Describe, in French, picture 2.
Work Exercise II., II. (a), 1-6.
Picture Study - 1 question such
as:
Describe J. F. Millet's, A. "Going to Work" AND "The Sheepfold"
Describe Gerard Dou's "The Grocer's Shop" AND Jan Steen's "The Painter
and His Wife."
Describe Corot's, "Souvenir d'Italie"AND B "The Fisherman's Hut."
Drawing - draw 3 assignments such as:
An original illustration from "The Tempest" (with title).
Three kinds of wild flowers in a vase.
A woman working in a garden.
An illustration (with name) from Julius Caesar.
A design for a book cover in twigs.
A royal procession in India or England.
An illustration from Hereward the Wake.
Choose and paint a flower border for a garden bed.
A tree study.
Recitations - Father to choose
a hymn, poem, or a scene from Shakespeare, and two passages from the
Bible Lessons.
Music (such as playing an instrument) - Examine in work done and report upon stage reached.
Musical Appreciation - 2 questions such as:
How many kinds of Children's Music are there? Give examples of each
type. In what category would you place Schumann's "Scenes of
Childhood," and why?
Write a few lines on any five of the following,--Clara Wieck;
"Traumerei"; the "Lied" or art-song; Florestan; G.A.D.E.; Jean Paul
Richter; Schumann's use of the "Marseillaise."
Give an account of the meeting between Grieg and Liszt, or, enumerate
shortly any mannerisms which you may have observed in Grieg's music.
Write three lines on any five of the following: Ole Bull, Vinge,
Troldbaugen, Peer Gynt, Alexander Grieg, Ludwig Holdberg, Niels Gade.
Singing - Father to choose an
English, a French, and a German song, and two tonic sol-fa exercises.
Drill (exercise; calisthenics) - Drill, before parents.
Handicrafts - Outside friend to examine, and list of handicrafts completed to appear on Report Form.