You are going to read a newspaper article on education. Read the text and answer the questions that follow. Decide whether each statement is True or False and provide your arguments drawn from the text to justify your choice. The proof should be given in your own words.
Revision is only revision if it involves something you have already learned. Otherwise, it is reparation and regret.
Even if you are trying to revise something you never learned in the first place, make sure you understand what you should know. This means checking what exams you have, when and where they are taking place, and what the syllabus is.
Next, make a revision timetable. Don’t get carried away with colour coding. Drawing up your revision timetable should not encroach on the time you’ve earmarked for revision.
Remember that cramming non-stop for 12 hours a day is likely to leave you so overwhelmed by information that you will struggle to recall your name by the time you face your first exam paper. Your timetable should therefore build in plenty of periods of relaxation - not all when you are asleep. But do make sure some of them are while you are asleep. Playing recordings of your notes as you doze off (i.e. drowse) will achieve nothing but a noisy night. Combining relaxation with revision is also a bad idea.
Nor will having a TV dramatisation on help you pass an English literature exam. Instead, try a change of scene. Altering your location according to the relevant topic - the Victorian section of a museum for a paper on the Industrial Revolution, a field for a paper on the environment, the back of a church for a paper on religion.
Notes help you concentrate and understand a topic. They also save you from having to read your whole course file, because you can memorise your own notes more easily. Read through your essays, notes and textbook chapters and list key points and words under each separate heading as you do so. Write in different colours or use highlighters to make important points or to make headings stand out. List any of your own ideas under each of these headings in another colour. Make sure your notes are concise and relevant. Try to show what is important information and what is not. Make sure your notes are legible. Once you have completed your notes, you may find it useful to rewrite them and keep a final copy stored on index cards or in a small notebook for easy reference, especially for when you have a spare moment.
Armed with the right notes in the right place at the right timetabled hour, you need to think about how you are going to go about remembering them. For this, staring is not enough. You should try brainstorming everything you remember, then looking up the bits you’ve forgotten and brainstorming again. Or you could draw a mind map, using different colours, pictures and shapes to organise the information. Or you could think up mnemonics, using the first letters of the facts you need to remember to form a word or sentence.
A useful technique is to tell your friends what you have been studying. This tests the strength of your memory, powers of summary - and friendship. Forming self-help pairs or groups to assist your revision and to test each other can be a great advantage. Working with others can help you to fill in gaps in your understanding or knowledge and is bound to be more fun than working alone. But be careful not to make your sessions all fun and no work!
If possible, try to get hold of a selection of recent past papers from your school exams officer or your head of year. Using past papers is vital. It allows you to test your timing and exam technique and makes it impossible to kid yourself that you know enough without having to do much more revising. Study the past papers and familiarise yourself with the layout of the paper, the types of questions asked and how marks are allocated.
1-5. Choose whether the statements are True (T) or False (F) and, to justify your choice, provide your proof from the text in your own words.
Example : (0) The statement is true because the narrator has never read a single book in the original and has not demonstrated any interest in the subject.
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1. Long revision sessions are most effective if they are accompanied by appropriate music or a film in the background.
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2. Changing location when revising is advisable.
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3. When taking notes you shouldn’t focus too much on making your handwriting clear, it is more important to structure your notes well.
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4. Establishing a good relationship with your fellow students during the revision period is beneficial because you can copy their answers when taking your test.
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5. Past papers enable students to to try taking a mock exam to see what aspects require working on.
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