Can You Pass A 1926 SAT? 10 Vintage Questions From The First-Ever Exam

In June 1926, a few thousand nervous American teenagers sat down to the very first SAT — and it was a different creature from today’s exam. No calculators, no bubbling multiple sections on a screen; just sharp pencils, ticking clocks, and a heavy diet of verbal reasoning: analogies, vocabulary, and the infamous question where you must decide which three things in a set belong together. A century later, the words have aged but the thinking has not. Below are ten questions written in the faithful style of that 1926 paper — try them under exam rules: no dictionary, no searching, just you and your wits, exactly as we demanded in our middle school quiz. Score 7 or more and the 1926 admissions office would have waved you through.

Part One — Analogies

Choose the word that completes each pair with the same relationship as the first pair.

Question 1: Book is to pages as wall is to —

1. Mortar
2. Bricks
3. House
4. Paint

Question 2: Doctor is to patient as teacher is to —

1. School
2. Lesson
3. Pupil
4. Book

Question 3: Fish is to school as wolf is to —

1. Den
2. Cub
3. Pack
4. Hunt

Part Two — Vocabulary In Sentences

Choose the word that best completes each sentence.

Question 4: Despite the storm, the sailors remained ______ and continued their work.

1. Timid
2. Steadfast
3. Idle
4. Frightened

Question 5: His argument was so ______ that not one person in the hall could answer it.

1. Feeble
2. Brief
3. Cogent
4. Loud

Question 6: The miser was known throughout the county for his ______ habits.

1. Generous
2. Frugal
3. Careless
4. Jolly

Part Three — Which Three Belong Together?

The signature question of the 1926 paper: in each set of four, three items are closely related. Name the three.

Question 7: Oak — Pine — Rose — Maple. Which three belong together?

1. Oak, Rose, Maple
2. Pine, Rose, Maple
3. Oak, Pine, Maple
4. Oak, Pine, Rose

Question 8: Violin — Trumpet — Cello — Harp. Which three belong together?

1. Violin, Trumpet, Cello
2. Violin, Cello, Harp
3. Trumpet, Cello, Harp
4. Violin, Trumpet, Harp

Part Four — Opposites And Meanings

Question 9: Which word is most nearly OPPOSITE in meaning to ANCIENT?

1. Old
2. Recent
3. Antique
4. Distant

Question 10: The old proverb “All that glitters is not gold” teaches that —

1. Gold is a poor investment
2. Appearances can be deceptive
3. Wealth brings happiness
4. Hard work always pays

The 1926 Answer Key

1. B — Bricks. A book is made of pages; a wall is made of bricks. 2. C — Pupil. The person each professional serves. 3. C — Pack. A school of fish; a pack of wolves. 4. B — Steadfast: firm and unwavering, the only choice that fits sailors working through a storm. 5. C — Cogent: clear, logical and convincing. (Feeble arguments get answered all day.) 6. B — Frugal: a miser’s defining habit is thrift. 7. C — Oak, Pine, Maple: three trees; the rose is the odd one out. 8. B — Violin, Cello, Harp: three stringed instruments; the trumpet is brass… played by blowing. 9. B — Recent. 10. B — Appearances can be deceptive: the proverb warns that a fine surface may hide a worthless interior — a lesson the 1926 examiners clearly thought every seventeen-year-old should carry to college.

The Admissions Office Decides

9–10: Admitted with honours. The class of 1930 salutes you — your vocabulary alone would have turned heads in any era, much like the reading stamina built by our East Of Eden reading list. 7–8: Admitted. A clean pass; the century respects you. 4–6: Waitlisted. Sound instincts, rusty vocabulary — the examiners suggest a dictionary and another attempt. 0–3: Politely declined. The ivy gates close — but take comfort from our art and music quiz, where the same brain tends to score suspiciously better. So: could you have passed in 1926? However it went, you have now sat an exam with teenagers from a hundred years ago — and the pencils, at least, were on your side.