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How to Get Straight “A”s for Tests

Tests appear like weeds (杂草), don’t they? You take one test and there’s another just around the corner. Start showing those tests who’s boss: 【小题1】

Make time for breakfast. Studies show that students who eat breakfast before a test do better. 【小题2】 Focusing on that lump (肿块) of fatty food in your stomach won’t do you any good. Stick to fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and light dairy products.

【小题3】 Time management is key to studying for a test or tests. If you plan out your time, you’ll feel less rushed and hurried. You’d be able to avoid a Sunday night, 3 a.m. cram (临时死记硬背) session.

Avoid the last minute cram session. Studying the night before the test will make it even more difficult—you’ll be lacking sleep, weak and unable to think clearly. You don’t want to gather a lot of information in one night; it’s impossible to take in that much information at once. Studies show that late-night crammers get average grades. 【小题4】 But if you’re looking for something a bit better, avoid it.

Study right after waking and just before bed. 【小题5】 Though you wouldn’t think it works this way, your mind seems to have more room to take in information right when you wake up. At night, your brain produces chemicals to strengthen the information into your memory. So studying right before bed and when you wake up is a safe bet.

Many students have not developed good study habits and find homework quite difficult. They don’t know how to deal with their homework. Here are some tips that you should consider.

【小题1】 Some of the problems may require a lot of thinking, so you may need to think about them several times over several days. This is to be expected, and does not mean you do not understand the material. It is simply part of the process of doing hard problems. Do not expect to be able to do all the homework problems in one hour.

Don’t do your homework with the TV or the radio on. 【小题2】 Studies show that it takes students longer time to finish their work if they watch TV or listen to the radio. If you must listen to music while studying or doing homework, at least listen to classical music; studies show that this makes you smarter.

【小题3】 This is one of the best ways to learn the material. If you don’t understand it, other students often can help it out; if you do know how to do a problem, explaining it to someone else often helps to solidify the process for you.

Don’t turn in work that you know is wrong but pretend that you think it is right. It is far better not to finish a problem than to continue on and produce a wrong answer. 【小题4】 You should say something like: “I know that something has gone wrong at this point, but I can’t figure out what.” and you should also say why you think something is not right, and what you would have done if you could have continued on. 【小题5】