From Where Shall I Educate my Son? (1884) by Charles Eyre Pascoe via http://www.edwardianpromenade.com/Eton: There are seventy scholars always on the Foundation; and the average number of yearly vacancies is about twelve. Election to these takes place annually on the last Monday in July. Candidates must be between the ages of twelve and fifteen, and for permission to compete application must be made to “The Clerk of the Governing Body, Eton College, Windsor.”? The subjects of examination are Latin Composition (Prose and Verse); Translation from Latin and Greek; Mathematics (including Arithmetic, Algebra, and Euclid); and ”? General Papers ”? (whatever these may mean), not limited to Latin and Greek Grammar and Parsing. The examination varies according to the age of the candidate, who is permitted the use of Dictionary, Gradus, Greek Lexicon, and Grammars on the Composition and Translation papers...
...The Examinations
Winchester
EXAMINATION PAPERS SET TO BOYS BETWEEN 12 AND 16 YEARS OF AGE, CANDIDATES FOR ELECTION TO THE FOUNDATION OF WINCHESTER COLLEGE, JULY, 1882.
ARITHMETIC
I. Find the G.C.M. of 5325 and 8307; the L.C.M. of 34, 68, 17, 2.
II. Find the value of–
1. 3.4 and 4/3 of 3
2. 1/2+3/4+5/8+7/9
3. 5-25/7
4. 16 2/3 divided by 12 1/2
5. 9 7/9 divided by 2 1/27
III. Find the value of–
1. .0003 x .01 x 500000
2. 9.065 divided by .049
3. .001953125 of £40
IV. Work out by Practice the rent of 2A. 3R. 25P. a £5 7s. 5 1/2d. per acre
V. A man owes £360 16s. 3d., and can only pay £240 15s. 6d.; how much is this in the pound?
VI. A rectangular piece of ground of 780 square feet area was sold for £25,050; the cost was said to be £1,565 10s. for each foot facing the street: how many feet frontage were there? At the same rate how much would the land cost per acre?
Show that a square plot one acre in extent measures nearly 69 1/2 yards each way.
VII. A man has an income of £558 2s. 6d. after paying 5d. in the £ for tax: what was the original income? If the income arises from 3 per cents, at £95, what is the value of his estate?
VIII. Find the difference between simple and compound interest on £2,784 15s. for three years at 4 per cent.
IX. A mixture contains 1 pound of A, 24 1/2 pounds of B, 2 pounds of C, 12 1/2 pounds of D: find how much per cent, there is of each.
X. A man in discounting a bill due three years hence, at the rate of 5 per cent., found the true discount on one year, and multiplied it by 3: by what fraction of the whole bill was he wrong?
ALGEBRA AND GEOMETRY.
I. Find the G.C.M. and L.C.M. of 6x^3-11x^2+5x-3, and 9x^3-9x^2+5x-2; leave the latter in factors
Multiply x^2/3+3x^1/3-1 by x^2/3-3x^1/3+1
II. Solve the equations:–
1. x^2+ 1/x^2+x+1/x=4
2. square root of 1+x/ 1+ square rood of 1+x = square root of 1-x/ 1- square root of 1-x
3. xyz=231
xyw=420
yzw=1540
xzw=660
III. Show how to sum a geometrical series to n terms
Prove that .637=631/990
IV. If a:c:d, show a^3+b^3: a^3-b^3::c^3+d^3: c^3-d^3
Write down the 11th term of (a-b/2)^17
V. The pth term of an arithmetic series is u, the qth term of the same is v; find the 7th term.
VI. If two angles of a triangle are equal to one another, the sides also which subtend, or are opposite to, the equal angles, shall be equal to one another.
VII. If two sides of a quadrilateral figure in a circle are parallel, prove that the other two must be equal.
VIII. Inscribe a circle in a given triangle, and a circle in a quadrant of a circle.
IX. Show how to divide a given line into seven equal parts.
X. Find the area of a triangle which is equilateral and has the three sides together equal to the four sides of a square whose area is a2.
EXAMINATION PAPERS SET TO BOYS UNDER 13 YEARS OF AGE, CANDIDATES FOR ELECTION TO THE FOUNDATION OF WINCHESTER COLLEGE, JULY, 1882.
FOR LATIN ELEGIACS.
They talk with one another in manifold conversation.
But of himself the old dog. Argus, knew his lord (herum)
Then, for neither the form of his master escapes him, nor his words,
He pricks his ear, and stretches out his grey head. He, once swift to pass the fleeting stags,
Now lies covered with dust on the foul ground.
With ears, and eyes, and tail lie salutes the king;
As he desires to rise his feet had no power.
“What dog, thus nohle to the view, lies here?”? began the hero;
And though he willed it not, his cheeks grew moist.
But, when he had seen his lord after twenty years,
Did the fates of black death lay hold on Argus.
FOR LATIN PROSE.
So great was the consternation of the inhabitants of Londinium, when the news came that Jumbonius must leave the shores of England, that not even the judges and senators could refrain from openly expressing their grief. Added to these the voices of women and children were heard, exclaiming that now they were being shamefully deprived of their chief pleasure. “How long,”? said they, “must we endure such wrongs? Do not imagine, O Prefect of the gardens, that thy deceit is unknown. Thou hast sold for money to foreigners the joy of our children, the pride of our native land, the consumer of sweetmeats. What can be more disgraceful than for a noble animal, whom we all love, to be enticed against his will into a cage, exposed to the waves of the Atlantic, and delivered to the unknown tortures of his enemies?”? To these complaints the Prefect replied that the money had been paid, and that the purchaser asked if it was just that so many thousands of the citizens of the great republic should be defrauded of the spectacle, which had now long since been promised to them.
GEOGRAPHY.
I. What is a glacier, an iceberg, a spring, a springtide, dew?
II. Draw a map of Italy, marking the chief ranges of mountains, rivers, and twelve important towns.
III. In what countries, and on what rivers, are the following towns:—Dresden, Oporto, New Orleans, Alexandria, Nijni Novgorod, Rustchuk, Montreal, Cordova, Rangoon, Liverpool?
IV. A Russian gentleman, averse to railways, wished to go from St. Petersburg to Odessa; name, in order, the seas and straits through which he would have to pass.
HISTORY.
I. The chief events of the reign of Edward I. giving the dates as nearly as you can.
II. In what English reigns do we hear the most of Ireland? Give a short account of the leading events connected with it.
III. With what events do you connect the following places:—Worcester, Runnymede, Torbay, Glencoe, Evesham, the Nore?
IV. Who were Jack Cade, Judge Jeffreys, Sir W. Wallace, Clive, Titus Oates, Sir Walter Raleigh, Lord Raglan, Anselm?
:c:d, show a^3+b^3: a^3-b^3::c^3+d^3: c^3-d^3I have a bachelors degree (double major graduated cum laude) and two masters degrees and this is scary stuff. But in 1882 fifteen year olds expecting to get into a good school were expected to know all of this cold. If a fifteen year old today could answer half of these questions s/he would be considered a prodigy on their way to a Nobel prize!
P.S. For anyone trying their hand at the questions above please remember that the British Pound Sterling was not decimalized until 1970. So for the purposes of this exam £1 = 20 shillings each composed of 12d or 240 pence to the Pound. You may begin your exam now. Good luck.
