Quiz: Some Thoughts Concerning Education

All 30 questions. A perfect score earns the gold medal; 80% earns silver.

1. 1. What game does Locke describe for teaching children to read?

   Hopscotch squares marked with letters Lettered dice, the winner throwing the most words A spelling race for sweets A card game in which each card shows a picture with its name beneath
2. 2. Why does Locke think geography should be begun with?

   It is the easiest kind of abstract reasoning It is the foundation of arithmetic It exercises only the eyes and memory, so a child learns it with pleasure It is needed before reading the Bible
3. 3. What practice does Locke cite as evidence that cruelty to animals hardens people towards one another?

   The exclusion of butchers from juries in capital cases The ban on bear-baiting in London The Spartan custom of whipping boys at the altar of Artemis The refusal of physicians to dissect animals
4. 4. Whom does Locke praise for giving one another a fair, silent hearing until a speaker has quite finished?

   The Portuguese gentry The American Indians The French court at Versailles The judges of England at the assizes
5. 5. What four things does Locke say every gentleman desires for his son, besides the estate he leaves him?

   Health, honour, wealth and learning Piety, courage, eloquence and wit Virtue, wisdom, breeding and learning Virtue, Latin, dancing and travel
6. 6. What is Locke’s attitude to a son who shows a talent for poetry?

   It should be cultivated by writing Latin verses at school It should be encouraged as the finest ornament of a gentleman It shows the boy should be educated as a professed scholar The father should rather have it stifled, since poetry wastes time and estate
7. 7. What lasting effect did the boy chased by a madman with a sword suffer?

   He grew afraid of swords and refused to learn fencing He lost his speech for some months He always looked back on entering that door He could never again walk alone in the street at night
8. 8. Why does Locke want a history of the Bible studied before natural philosophy?

   Because natural philosophy is forbidden to the young by the Church Because the Flood explains all the phenomena of geology Because Bible history teaches Latin more easily Because matter so occupies the senses that it may exclude belief in spirits
9. 9. What proportion of men does Locke say are what they are because of their education?

   All without exception Nine parts in ten About half One in ten
10. 10. What does Locke recommend for the boy’s feet?

    Going barefoot, but only in the summer months Cold washing and shoes that leak Warm stockings and thick boots in winter Bathing them in warm wine
11. 11. What does Locke say a father risks by being indulgent to small children and severe to grown ones?

    He will lose his estate His sons will secretly wish him dead His daughters will marry without consent His sons will run away to become soldiers
12. 12. Why does Locke think the usual age for travel is the worst?

    Young men then think themselves too old to be governed but are too young to govern themselves Foreign universities will not admit them at that age Their tongues are too old by then to learn foreign accents only They are needed at home to manage the estate
13. 13. Which two early “Humours” in children does Locke call the roots of almost all injustice and contention?

    Envy of their elders and contempt for the servants who wait on them Lying and excuse-making Love of having their will and of possessing things Fear of the dark, and a love of idle play with servants
14. 14. What should the child drink, according to Locke?

    Wine well diluted with water at meals Small beer, after some bread Cold water whenever he is hot from play Warm milk at any time of the day
15. 15. Where does Locke place the foundation of all virtue?

    In a lively fear of the rod and of disgrace In a good temper given by nature at birth In a sound knowledge of the classical authors Denying one’s desires as reason directs
16. 16. Whose way of raising children does Locke offer as the model for a gentleman’s son’s health?

    The ancient Persians described by Xenophon Farmers and yeomen The French nobility and their tutors The families of London physicians
17. 17. What does Locke say of Newton’s Principia?

    It should be the first book of natural philosophy a boy studies It is a speculative system no better than Descartes’s It is useful only to professed mathematicians Few can follow its demonstrations, but its conclusions can be relied on and it deserves to be read
18. 18. According to the dedication, what was the origin of the book?

    Letters Locke had written to Edward Clarke A commission from the Board of Trade Notes for the education of the Prince of Orange Lectures Locke gave at Oxford
19. 19. How does Locke propose to cure a boy of a game he plays too much?

    Whip him each time he is caught at the game Make him play it for hours until sick of it Shame him by telling all his friends about it Take the toy away and forbid the game for good
20. 20. How did the noble Venetian cure his son’s extravagance?

    He had the cashier give him only as much money as he counted when he received it He sent him to work in a merchant’s counting-house He cut his allowance in half He made him keep a daily account of every pint of wine
21. 21. Why, according to Locke, do tradesmen and farmers send their children to grammar schools to learn Latin?

    Because the law requires it of every freeholder To prepare them for travel Because Latin is needed for keeping a merchant’s accounts Custom, followed as if it were religion
22. 22. Which scholar does Locke, following Montaigne, say was reduced to making trenchers to avoid starving?

    Erasmus of Rotterdam Joseph Scaliger Castalio George Buchanan
23. 23. Why is Locke wary of teaching a gentleman to fence?

    A little skill makes young men quarrelsome and leads to duels It damages the health of growing boys It is a recreation fit only for soldiers It is too costly, and needs a master brought over from France at great charge
24. 24. What does Locke name as the most powerful incentives to the mind?

    Fear of the rod Rewards of money and finery Sweets and play-things Esteem and disgrace
25. 25. Why does Locke say the gentleman’s calling most needs care?

    Gentlemen’s sons are harder to teach than the children of tradesmen The poor need no schooling at all Only gentlemen will ever need to read and write Latin well Set that rank right and it will order the rest
26. 26. What is Locke’s “inviolable Maxim” about children’s crying for things?

    Crying children should be beaten What has once been denied must never be obtained by crying A crying child should always be quieted with sweets or toys Children should be allowed to cry for what they need
27. 27. For which single fault does Locke think children should be beaten?

    Childish noise and play Forgetting rules of manners Mistakes in Latin grammar Obstinacy or rebellion
28. 28. What is Locke’s one rule about medicine for preventing disease in children?

    Purge them every spring and autumn as a precaution Never give children any physic for prevention Bleed them once a year Diet-drinks prepared by ladies
29. 29. What argument does Locke give that Latin and Greek need not be taught by beating?

    The Romans never beat their children Latin is easier than French Children learn dancing, fencing, French and Italian without whipping Grammar schools in Holland have already abolished the rod for Latin and Greek
30. 30. What does Locke call the only protection for a young man entering the world?

    Total ignorance of the world’s vices A large fortune and powerful friends Knowing the world thoroughly Mastery of logic and metaphysics