THE

MANCHESTER READERS.

FIFTH BOOK

FOR

FIFTH AND SIXTH STANDARDS.

JOHN HEYWOOD'S

MANCHESTER

READERS:

A NEW SERIES

FOR

ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS

OF ALL GRADES.

THE FIFTH BOOK,

COMPILED TO SUIT THE REQUIREMENTS OF
STANDARDS V. & VI.

FIFTH AND SIXTH STANDARDS OF
EXAMINATION,

ACCORDING TO THE NEW CODE OF REGULATIONS,

1871.

STANDARD V.

Reading. A short ordinary paragraph in a newspaper or other modern narrative.

Writing. Another short ordinary paragraph in a newspaper or other modern narrative, slowly dictated once, by à few words at a time.

Arithmetic.-Practice, or bills of parcels.

STANDARD VI.

Reading. To read with fluency and expression.
Writing. A short theme or letter, or an easy paraphrase.
Arithmetic.-Proportion and vulgar or decimal fractions.

* In all schools, the children in Standards V. and VI. should know the principles of the Metric System, and be able to explain the advantages to be gained from uniformity in the method of forming multiples and sub-multiples of the unit.

The "FIFTH MANCHESTER READER" has been prepared to meet the requirements of the New Code of 1871, for the Fifth and Sixth Standards of Examination. The old Sixth Standard, under the Revised Code, is now the new Fifth Standard, under the New Code. The additional Standard which has been introduced by the Committee of Council on Education, and which now ranks as the new Sixth Standard, is intended to secure fluency and expression in reading. The pupil who offers himself for examination in the Fifth Standard must be able to read correctly, and pronounce the words to which he gives utterance with accuracy; but the pupil who desires to be examined in the Sixth Standard, and pass with credit, must be competent to do more than thishe must be able not only to read with accuracy in every respect, but to accomplish his task without the slightest hesitation, and to show by due attention to tone and time that he fully comprehends and enters into the spirit of the passage he is desired to read.

It has been considered unnecessary to prepare separate works for the Fifth and Sixth Standards; the Reading Lessons have therefore been selected in such a manner that, while all are perfectly suitable for either Standard, the shorter Reading Lessons, consisting of brief extracts from the works of poets and orators of the highest order, are more peculiarly applicable as exercises for acquiring fluency and expression-the principal requirements of the Sixth Standard. As in the preceding volumes of the series, the Reading Lessons that appear in the "Fifth Manchester Reader" treat of subjects connected with a variety of branches of human knowledge, and are calculated to arouse the interest of the reader, as well as to impart instruction.

In compliance with the request of several experienced teachers, the Lessons in Spelling have been partially continued in this volume. These lessons are expected to serve as models for the Exercises in Spelling that the pupil is expected to construct for himself from the Reading Lessons to which no Lessons in Spelling have been prefixed. The Exercises in Word Building have been continued, a variety of Greek roots entering into the composition of English words having been given as tests of the pupil's acquaintance with his own language. For convenience of reference, the Lists of Prefixes and Affixes given in the "Fourth Manchester Reader" have been repeated in this volume, as a necessary assistance to the pupil in the work of word-building. A number of Exercises in Dictation have also been introduced, as in the preceding volume of the series.

The Exercises in Arithmetic are such as are likely to be placed before pupils offering themselves for examination in the Fifth and Sixth Standards. They must be regarded rather as test exercises to be worked at home than as exercises sufficiently copious, when taken in conjunction with the teacher's oral explanations, to obviate the necessity of a text-book on arithmetic. Indeed, without such a work, no pupil can be sufficiently prepared for examination in the higher Standards. A clear explanation of the Metric System and its advantages will be found at the end of the volume.

Excluding the examples of Sketching from Nature given in the Frontispiece, the Exercises in Drawing are of a two-fold character. In some it has been attempted to show how the Lessons in Geometry given in the "Fourth Manchester Reader" may be practically applied; while in others the first rudiments of perspective have been given. The examples have been confined to parallel perspective, for reasons that will be obvious to everyone who is well acquainted with the principles of the science.