Via Jay Nordlinger:
The Spectator publishes the entrance exam (site registration required) for King Edward’s School in Birmingham, England, in 1898. Topics are English Grammar, Geography, Latin, English History, and "Arithmetic." I put quotation marks around "arithmetic," because we're not talking about dividing 450 by 15. Algebra might be a better term, especially when using funny money:
12. A and B rent a number of fields between them for a year, the rent and other expenses amounting to £108 17s. 6d. A puts in 2 horses, 5 oxen and 10 sheep; and B puts in 4 horses, 1 ox, and 27 sheep. If a horse eats as much as 3 sheep and an ox as much as 2 sheep, how much should A and B each pay?I'll ask my teenagers.
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