Prepare for a test

In your school, tests or quizzes(小测) may be a part of your regular classroom work. 【小题1】 If taking a test makes you feel worried, the good news is that there are many easy ways for you to prepare and feel better before an exam or quiz. Here is how to get started.

Studying for a test will be easier if you organize your notes, handouts, and homework ahead of time for each of your classes. 【小题2】 You can use a separate folder(文件夹) for each subject. You can keep them at home at school, or in your backpack.

【小题3】 This might mean spending 30 minutes studying for a few afternoons the week before the test. Or maybe you have more time on the weekends and want to plan extra study time then. No matter what you decide, block out the time on your calendar so you remember.

If you have learned a lot of material, ask your teacher what information will be on the test. If your teacher hands out a study guide, use that guide to help you find out what information you need to pay attention to most. Next, decide how you want to review. the material. Besides reviewing your notes, you could write key points on flash cards to test yourself. 【小题4】 If there is something you are not clear about, highlight(标亮) that part and ask your teacher for help.

As the day of the test comes closer, be sure to get enough sleep the night before and eat a healthy breakfast on the test day. You don’t want to be distracted(分神) by feeling hungry during the test! When you sit down to take the exam, give yourself a few minutes to review the whole test. You can start by answering the first question, but you can also work on questions in a later section that you find easier to answer. For multiple-choice questions(单选题), cross off answers that you know are incorrect(不正确的). 【小题5】 The correct answer may come to you later. Finally, if you finish the test before the time ends, instead of turning your test in right away, go back and review all your answers to check for any mistakes. You can do well!

Language students often think they have memory problems. They worry because they can’t remember words. In fact, the problem usually isn’t with their memory. The problem is with how they study.

To remember words better, you need to understand how memory works. There are two kinds of memory: short term and long term. When you see, hear, or read something, it goes first into short-term memory. But short-term memory lasts for only a few seconds. You will only remember something longer if it goes into long-term memory. Your long term memory is like a very big library with many, many books. And like a library, it’s organized(有条理的). When you put away a book—or memory—you can’t just leave it anywhere. You have to choose a place where you can find it again.

How can you do this with vocabulary? The answer is to work with the word and think about the word in new ways. You can do this by writing new sentences that include it. Even better, you can invent a little story about the word, with people or places that you know. Another way is to make a picture in your mind with the word. For example, if the word is “height”, you can think of the tallest person you know and try to guess his or her height. All of these activities are good ways to think about words. They make the meaning of words stronger in your long-term memory. And they give a way to find a word when you need it.

Homework is a problem for students all over the world. As a student, you have a lot of homework to do every day. It’s a major part of a student’s school day. It’s the best way to review what you have learned in class. And it helps you understand important concepts (概念). Luckily, there are several things you can do to make homework less difficult.

Be sure you understand the homework. Write your homework down in your notebook if you need to. Don’t be afraid of asking questions about it. It’s much easier to ask the teacher during or after class than to try to remember later that night.

Use your time at school. Many schools have study halls. They are designed to allow students to study there. It’s more interesting to play with your friends. But the more homework you finish at school, the less you’ll have to do at home that night.

Take a break. It’s difficult to hold your attention for too long. So take some break while doing your homework. Sitting for too long without relaxing will make you feel very tired. Taking a 15-minute break every hour is a good idea for most people.

Make a plan. If you don’t finish your homework at school, think about how much you have left, so you can budget your time. Most students have between 1 and 3 hours of homework a night. If it’s a heavy homework day, you’ll need to spend more time on it. It’s a good ideas to make a homework timetable, especially when you want to enjoy sports or other activities.