Worcester Polytechnic Institute - Peddler Yearbook (Worcester, MA)

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3. How did the United States become possessed of Louisiana, Texas, California and Alaska? 4. What caused the War of 1812? 5. Name some of the important fathers of the Revolutionary war. Geography 1. Why does the climate of Ireland differ from that of Labrador? 2. Where are Lima, Rio Janeiro and Edinburgh? 3. Describe the following rivers: Columbia, Nile and Amazon. 4. Mention the principal mountains of Europe and their direction. 5. Name the principal rivers of New England. 6. Draw a map of the United States giving an outline, principal rivers, mountains. 7. Localize Washington, San Francisco, Chicago and Pittsburg. Arithmetic 1 . 2. 3. 4. months, 5. Reduce: 5% 2 % to its lowest terms. Find the side of a square whose area is 16,297,369. How many cords of wood in a pile 2V long, 1 ' wide and 5% ' high? Find the present worth of a note for $350.75 payable in seven money being worth 7%. If $300 gains $18 in nine months, what is the rate %? To be done by compound proportion. Algebra 1 . 3. 4. Define exponent, also coefficient. Divide a+1 by a—1, writing to four terms. Divide a 4 —tV k 4 by a 2 —lb by detached co-efficients. From A 1 a-b a+b a take b a-b 22

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Growth in the Studies Far more interesting than the growth in numbers is the difference in the course of then and now. For instance, for a long time the course was fo r three years, and there was an apprentice or preparatory class, which was obliged to spend most of its time in the shops and in freehand drawing, before it could be admitted to the school. Others who desired admittance were obliged to show mechanical knowledge and skill equal to those who had taken the course. The three classes were then called the juniors, mid- dlers, and the seniors. For many years there was a summer school, which consisted mostly of shop work. Can you remember for the moment the stiff exams that you have taken in this school? If so compare them with these, which were the first entrance exams. There were four of them, and although they seem simple today, the records show that many of the appli¬ cants flunked, and some of the exams were flunked outright. The follow¬ ing is a list of the questions: History 1. Who were among the first settlers of America? 2. Who settled New England, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, South Carolina and Florida? 21

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5. Find the greatest common divisor: 2 x 7 x 2 — 12 x + 5. — 4- — = b, c + by = a. — x y « 6. Find four terms of the square root a-J-1. + x 2 +5 — 8x and Solve. 7. A banker has two kinds of money; it takes a pieces of the first to make a dollar, and b pieces of the second to make the same sum. If he is offered a dollar for c pieces, how many of each kind must he give? Curriculum Finally, to show better than anything else how much the courses of study have developed, get out your last year’s catalogue and run over the schedule laid down in the many courses, and compare what you find there with the following schedule taken from the first catalogue, which was issued three years after the Tech started: i 23