Consider, for example, the profitless linguistic difficulty of problems 1-6, whose quantitative difficulties are simply those of:—
1. 5 + 8 + 3 + 7
2. 64 ÷ 8, and knowledge that 1 peck = 8 quarts
3. 12 ÷ 4
4. 6 ÷ 2
5. 3 × 2
6. 4 × 4
1. What amount should you obtain by putting together 5 cents, 8 cents, 3 cents, and 7 cents? Did you find this result by adding or multiplying?
2. How many times must you empty a peck measure to fill a basket holding 64 quarts of beans?
3. If a girl commits to memory 4 pages of history in one day, in how many days will she commit to memory 12 pages?
4. If Fred had 6 chickens how many times could he give away 2 chickens to his companions?
5. If a croquet-player drove a ball through 2 arches at each stroke, through how many arches will he drive it by 3 strokes?
6. If mamma cut the pie into 4 pieces and gave each person a piece, how many persons did she have for dinner if she used 4 whole pies for dessert?
Arithmetically this work belongs in the first or second years of learning. But children of grades 2 and 3, save a few, would be utterly at a loss to understand the language.
We are not yet free from the follies illustrated in the lessons of pages 96 to 99, which mystified our parents.