General Chat

[LondonLax]

Anybody want to have a go at the 1869 Harvard entrance exam?

Ha.

The maths sections I probably could have attempted, it is pretty similar to maths from my first year at uni (though I haven't used any of it in a while!).

I am not going to have a chance with latin or ancient greek and those geography questins are pretty detailed as well unfortunately.

I don't think I will be going to Harvard.

[mjmooney]

I don't think I will be going to Harvard.

In 1869, anyway.

I found I could have a stab at the history and geography ones, but the maths predictably brought me out in shudders. In fact I'd probably do better with the Latin than the maths.

[tonyh29]

Anybody want to have a go at the 1869 Harvard entrance exam?

I thought Daddy just built a library wing or something to get you into Harvard ?

[LondonLax]

I wanna go to Glastonbury one day.

I recommend it.

Though not next year as they are having a year off.

[Brumerican]

Loving the weather, better late than never.

bloody cough, it won't bugger off.

Have I stumbled into the poetry thread ? (Or is it all in my head ?)

[villadude]

On Monday the vacuum cleaner broke, unfixable and needs replacing, the fridge/freezer finally chucked a seven and croaked it this afternoon, and just now it seems my ipod docking station doesn't want to play anymore either.

That's the best part of five hundred sheets to replace all that this weekend I reckon

[RunRickyRun]

Anybody want to have a go at the 1869 Harvard entrance exam?

If they give you the vocab, then all you have to do with the Latin and Greek is to know the correct conugation/declension (eg Bellum, Bellum, Belli, Bello, Bella, Bella Belorum, Bellis). As grammar is the key to doing well at either language, I would expect an 'A' calibre A level student to be able to complete this.

I'd struggle with the History/Geography apart from the Greek questions

The geometry seems tough at first sight but I would imagine Euclidean geometry would have been taught extensively due to the fact that Differential Geometry and Topology were very much in their infancy at the time. The proofs are quite beautiful.

On a similar note, have a look at the All Souls Entance Exam. It's considered the toughest academic entrance exam in the world because usually only students gaining a first are invited to sit the exam and usually only one person is admitted. (I know one person who has passed it and is a fellow).

[mjmooney]

On a similar note, have a look at the All Souls Entance Exam. It's considered the toughest academic entrance exam in the world because usually only students gaining a first are invited to sit the exam and usually only one person is admitted. (I know one person who has passed it and is a fellow).

General paper

Candidates should answer THREE questions

1. Is it immoral to buy a £10,000 handbag?

2. "I don't care if anyone reads my books; I write for myself," said the author of a half-dozen published novels. Is there anything wrong with this statement as a theory of art?

3. Are boycotts futile?

4. "Every act you have ever performed since the day you were born was performed because you wanted something" [Andrew Carnegie]. Do you agree?

5. What, if anything, is wrong with selective schools?

6. Is dislike of politicians a sensible default position?

7. Why is a leather jacket more acceptable than a fur coat?

8. Why do Jane Austen's novels continue to be so popular?

9. Can any public and political institutions be trusted to reform themselves?

10. Is it an extremely unnatural condition for a male and female to live continuously together?

11. Is student mobility in Europe merely a form of subsidised tourism?

12. Do children's games involving blindfolds reveal an essential cruelty in human nature?

13. Why does the UN tolerate so many bad regimes?

14. Is there a breakdown of family values in the west, and if so should the state attempt to redress it?

15. Should governments support scientific research when there may be no technological benefit?

16. Does the moral character of an orgy change when the participants wear Nazi uniforms?

17. Isn't global warming preferable to global cooling?

18. Should the laws of a secular state accommodate religious groups which desire to live by their own customs governing family, property, and marital relations, administered through separate religious courts?

19. What should the west learn from China?

20. Does celebrity entail a loss of dignity?

21. Is the desire for posthumous fame irrational?

22. What, if anything, should be done about the "obesity epidemic"?

23. Why has Africa done so badly economically?

24. Can the world afford not to grow genetically modified crops?

25. Can architects and urban planners design out crime and social breakdown?

26. Do very large salaries for sports professionals alter the character of the games played?

27. It has been said that architecture is frozen music. Does this make any sense?

28. "Old poems such as Beowulf, The Faerie Queene and Paradise Lost are now unreadable by modern English speakers (without special training), so the cultural and social value of the 'great' poetry of the past lies in the material it provides for modern adaptations, such as the recent film version of Beowulf and Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy." [The Economist]. Do you agree?

29. Why hug a hoodie?

30. Is string theory science?

31. Can a painting change the world?

32. Can (and should) Europe maintain its relatively high standard of living as compared with emerging economies?

33. Can you love someone if you don't respect them?

34. Is the treaty of Lisbon a further step towards the federation of Europe – or is it a step back from it?

Philosophy (Sept 2009)

1. Are vague concepts incoherent?

2. Should we distinguish between persons, human beings, and their bodies?

3. Can computers think?

4. Does any ancient philosopher have something to teach moral philosophers today?

5. Does beauty lie in the eye of the beholder?

English (Sept 2009)

1. How European was Chaucer?

2. Discuss relationships between allegory and realism in any period.

3. "At that moment she felt that to be mistress of Pemberley might be something!" [Jane Austen] Discuss.

4. Write an obituary of Harold Pinter.

5. Discuss ONE of the following in relation to the literature of any period: apocalypse, Biblicism, commemoration, dialect, enclosure, fortune, geriatrics, homoeroticism, imprisonment, justice, kingdoms, letters, manners, notions, options, pain, questions, republicanism, stupidity, testaments, unimaginability, verisimilitude, wealth, X-Men, youth, zillionaires.

History (Sept 2009)

1. Is Greek sexuality worth studying?

2. To what end did William the Conqueror assert continuity between his rule and that of Edward the Confessor?

3. "Medieval kings were like modern drinks dispensers; when they didn't do their job, you kicked them till they did." Discuss.

4. "Like all revolutions, the French Revolution was deeply reactionary." Do you agree?

5. Did Peel or Disraeli do more to found the Conservative party?

Seriously, that looks like a piece of piss.

I'm not saying I'd pass it - because I don't know what sort of answers the examiners are looking for - but I'd happily do most of those questions and quite enjoy doing it it.

[RunRickyRun]

It's more the competiton that you are up against (most students with firsts or double firsts) and the fact that a maximum of two of you will be admitted that makes it so tough.

As you say, most people who sit the exam enjoy the experience.

The person I know who passed had the word 'Tradition' as their one word essay title.

[CarewsEyebrowDesigner]

When it gets past midnight, people greet eachother with 'good morning', then proceed to say 'how's your night/having a good night'.

seems a bit odd to me.

[Xann]

Red Leicester has ascended in my personal cheese hierarchy.

The lady bought some mature stuff in mouldy muslin - it's another cheese world.

8)

[The_Rev]

Seems crazy that during the night shift I am currently working that I have chosen to spend the four hours of downtime I have sitting on a train in the carriage sidings at Tyseley depot rather than in the staff room at Moor Street station. Free WiFi and air conditioning on the train or sauna like conditions in a staff room with no windows at Moor Street. Its a no brainer, isnt it?

[AVFC-Prideofbrum]

Why is it so **** hot.

[The_Rev]

Air con ftw. It is nice getting paid to sit watching TV and surf the net, even if I have to be at work at 3am in order to be able to do it.

[theunderstudy]

Bring on the real winter.

[packoman]

We have shitty cold and wet weather over here.

[LondonLax]

I am always amazed when weather is good that English people still manage to moan about it. People over here complain when it is wet, grey and overcast, they complain when it's snowing and when it's windy and to top it off they complain when it is actually sunny and fantastic outside!

I will never get my head around it I don't think.

[The_Rev]

It's part of being British mate. 2000+ years of living on an island with no predictable climate whatsoever means it is now in our DNA to complain about the weather whatever is is, mostly because it never stays the same for long enough for us to get used to it!

[CarewsEyebrowDesigner]

It drives me mad, listening to people bang on about the weather.

As the great man said, "there is no such thing as bad weather, only the wrong clothing."

[sparey16]

i **** hate the sun.