[Barrykgerdes]

I read through the "exam paper" referred to and could relate it to the typical exams that we endured in the 1940's at the "intermediate" level (third year at a high school). Some was even 6th class work. English as a subject was largely based on grammar and parsing and analysis was the way it was done. I hated English and could scrape through exams when Grammar was 40% of the paper, spelling 10% and writing (composition) the rest. I could get full marks for grammar (it was logical) 90% for spelling(memory) so I only needed 5% for the rest. I usually got about 20% of it right. The English "writing" was about the books, poems, Shakespeare that I could not stand so never read them. I never studied or did homework but still managed to scrape through the leaving certificate.

The typical questions were based on the syllabus that was probably studied at the time and the answers would have been known by the students.

I was particularly interested in the practical nature of the maths problems we had based on commodity prices and measurements. I remember butter was 1s 10d per lb, sugar was 4d per lb, potatoes 5lb for 6d and we did pounds, shillings and pence problems based on this, much more intensive calculations needed than with the decimal system.

Yesterday I did a bus tour to Cambridge and Oxford. The Tour guide quoted history and dates relating to the kings and church that I remember having to learn off pat for my history exams. I also remember much that was in our history books of the era that is not included these days because it is not "politically correct". Off course it may not have even been "politically correct" then either.

Barry