In many cases, the thought of preparing for big tests like this can fill you with anxiety, as you imagine going up against hundreds or thousands of other students in a high-pressure environment.Often these tests decide your fate as a future doctor, lawyer, accountant or student, so you know you need to take them seriously. 很多时候，准备重要考试的想法会让你充满焦虑，想象自己和其他上百名甚至上千名学生一起在高压环境下竞争。通常这类考试决定了你未来作为医生、律师、会计或学生的命运，因此你知道自己必须认真对待。
What is the right way to study for these kinds of tests? 什么才是学习的正确方法对于这些类型的考试？ Step one: Know Exactly How the Test Works 第一步：确切了解考试如何进行
know exactly how the standardized exam works.
正确了解标准考试的流程
The first step is to really know, not just the material you need to learn, but the exact format and specifications of the test itself.How long is it?How are the questions asked?How important will speed be to getting a good score?
第一步不仅要知道需要学习的材料，还要知道考试准确的形式以及考试本身的规定。考多长时间? 都有什么形式的问题?答题速度对于取得好成绩有多重要?
Become an expert on the test you’re about to take.Know your enemy before you face it.
成为你即将参加的那项考试的专家，上场前先要了解对手。
There’s three ways you can do this:
以下是了解考试的三种方式：
Buy premade test-prep guides.These are essential for big standardized tests since many people have already studied them endlessly and know how they work.Learning from a test-prep guide should be your first resource.
1.购买备考指南。 这对于参加大型标准化考试尤为重要，因为已经有很多人对这些考试进行了无数研究，知道这些考试如何运作。应该把备考指南当做是你的第一手资料。
Talk to instructors and graders.Talk to the people teaching the classes or who have graded exams in the past.They can clue you onto which things are important and what the test is trying to ask of you.
2.与辅导老师和阅卷人谈一谈。与教相关课程的老师或曾经阅卷的人聊一聊，他们可以提示你哪些内容重要，以及考试想要考查什么。
Talk to other people who have taken it.While less reliable than a test-prep guide or teachers, other past students can give you insight into the format.
3.与曾经参加过考试的人聊一聊。尽管他们不像备考指南或老师那样可靠，但参加过考试的学生可以为你提供关于考试形式的重要信息。
Step Two: Is the Test Measuring Knowledge or Intelligence?
二步:考试检测的是知识还是智力?
The next step is to know any of the specific material the test is asking.Here you can see a divergence between the two types of standardized test you may face.
下一步是了解测试考查的具体材料。这里你可能遇到两种不同的标准化测试。
Knowledge tests are trying to see whether you know the things needed to pass.These are common in professions which expect all members to know certain things in order to practice.Lawyers need to pass the bar.Doctors need to show they understand medicine.
知识测试想要考查的是你是否知道要想通过考试就必须了解的内容。这常见于职业考试，期望所有从业人员都知道特定的知识从而开展实践。律师们需要通过执业资格考试，医生们要证明他们懂医学。
Aptitude tests are often intelligence tests in disguise.Rather than testing specific knowledge, these tests just want to know how much general knowledge you may have, so they can see how well you will perform in a further intellectual task.SAT,GMAT and other aptitude tests often cover huge ranges of potential knowledge, so they are much harder to study for.
能力测试通常是伪装的智力测验。它们不是要考查详细的知识点，而只是要测试你了解多少基本知识，从而看出你在日后的智力任务中会表现如何。SAT、GMAT和其他能力测试通常涵盖大量隐含的知识，因此这类考试也更难准备。
For knowledge tests, the focus should be on acquiring the knowledge .For aptitude tests, you need to split your efforts between acquiring and focusing on mastering your test-taking skills to learn the test itself as well as you can.
对于知识测试而言，复习的重点应该是获得相关知识;对于能力测试，你则需要分配精力，一部分用于获得可以获得的知识，另一部分专注于熟练考试技能，尽可能地了解考试本身。
Step Three:Know the Material
第三步：了解考试材料
For knowledge tests, or aptitude tests which have specific, learnable components, your next step is to learn the material.This is like studying for an ordinary test, although the scope may be much broader if you have to cover a lot more than a single class.
对于知识测试，或者含有具体可学习内容的能力测试，下一步你需要做的是学习考试材料。这就和准备普通考试一样，只不过如果涵盖多门课的内容，学习的范围要比普通考试广得多。
Studying effectively is a complex art, but here are the basics:
高效学习是一门复杂的艺术，不过以下是一些基本的做法:
Practice retrieval, not recognition.Don’t review notes.Instead, cover up your notes and ask yourself what they say.Do practice problems for complex subjects.Try to explain the essence of big ideas for essay topics.Only look at your reference material after you’ve tried to answer it.
1.练习回想知识，而不只是被动识别。不要复习笔记，而是要把笔记盖住，然后问自己笔记上写了什么。复杂科目要确保做练习。试着阐述论述题的观点要素。 直到试着回答完问题之后再看参考资料。
Repeat and space your studying.Every topic you study should get studied more than once, and those times should be spread out over your total studying time before an exam.
2.间歇重复学习。 你学习的每一个主题都应该重复不止一次，且重复需要分散在考前整个复习过程中。
Understand first, memorize second.If something can be understood-because it has an internal logic or because is a more complex idea-then start there Only memorize details of things once you understand their foundation.
3.先理解，再记忆。 如果某些内容是可以理解的–因为有内在的逻辑或者是复杂的思想–那么就先从理解开始。只有在理解了问题的基础后再记忆细节。
Practice at least as hard as the test.Does the test ask essays?Then don’t study with multiple choice.The act of studying should be no easier than the act of test-taking, with the possible exception of time pressure(which can be added in later).
4.练习的难度至少要和考试一样。 考试有问答题吗?那么复习时就不要用多项选择代替。复习时练习的难度不应该低于真正的考试，只是时间压力可能适当放宽(这可以稍后再增加)。
Start learning early, keep learning consistently.Pick a schedule for studying, and stick to it .A consistent, long-term studying plan will do more for you than any trick or hack applied last minute before a cram session ever could.
早点开始学习，持之以恒地学习。为学习选择一个时间表，并坚持下去。一个始终如一的、长期的学习计划会给你带来更多的好处，而不是在补习班之前最后一刻使用的任何伎俩或技巧。
Organize all the things you need to learn and attach them systematically.If you’re dealing with a huge topic coverage, you may want to inset tests in your learning phase so you can get feedback about how well your efforts are on track.
规划好所有你需要复习的内容，然后逐个击破。如果涉及的内容范围广泛，你可以在复习阶段就插入几次测试以获得反馈，了解自己的努力是否上了正轨。
Step Four:Master the Test
第四步：掌握考试
In an ideal world, your mixture of studying the topic and practicing the test would be:
理想情况下，交叉进行复习和测试练习的状态应该是:
Take a practice test immediately.This sets a benchmark for future progress and will show you the difficulty you face, even if you fail miserably the first time.
1.先立即做一次测试练习。 即使第一次测试的成绩惨不忍睹，但这为未来的进步设定了基准线，也会显示出你所面临的困难。
Study until you feel about 50% ready to take the test.This is a subjective benchmark, but you shouldn’t wait to get feedback on your progress.
2.一直复习，直到有 50%的把握参加考试。这是一个主观的标准，但你应该主动获得复习进展的反馈。
Take the test again and see if you were right.If you were, you should have made noticeable improvements, over your initial attempt.
3.再进行一次测试，检验自己判断是否正确。如果判断正确的，你应该较第一次有显著的提高。
Once you feel 80% ready, focus at least half your efforts just on doing practice tests.This is for two reasons:
4.当你有八成把握时，至少花一半的精力用来做测试练习。 这出于两点原因:
Doing practice tests will help you learn the material.
a) 练习有助于你学习材料。
They will be much more focused than general studying efforts, so you’ll start to master the test.
b)测试练习比一般的学习更专注，从而使你开始掌握考试。
When you take a practice test, always do it under the conditions of the actual exam.That means you should have access to the same materials(or the be restricted from them)as well as operate under the same time pressure.
在做测试练习时，也要和真实考试的环境一样。这意味着你应该和真实考试利用同样的材料(或者不能用参考材料)，并在同样的时间内完成。
If time is a factor in the actual test, and you don’t do your tests under time pressure, you aren’t learning much about how you’ll perform on the test in real life.
如果真正的考试有时间限制，而你的测试练习却是在没有时间压力的情况下完成的，那么你对自己在真实考试中将表现如何不会有多少了解。
Your goal should be that, as you approach the final exam, you should be able to estimate your grade to within 10% of what you actually achieve.This is because you’ll have done it enough already to know.
你的目标应该是，随着最后考试的临近，你对成绩的估计和真实水平应该不超过10%的误差，因为你已经做了足够多的测试练习。
Step Five: Relax and Focus Your Mind
Focus and Relax Before the Test
第五步:放松并摒除杂念
If you’ve gotten this far, you’re about ready to take the test.You should have understood how it works thoroughly, mastered the material and taken enough practice tests to know your score within ten percent.
走到这一步，你已经准备好要参加考试了。你应该已经透彻地了解了考试如何进行，掌握了要考查的内容，进行了足够多测试练习，对成绩的估计误差不超过 10%。
If you’ve managed to do this, most of your work is done.Now you just need to make sure you’re set up for peak performance on test day.
如果你做到了这些，那么大部分工作就已经完成了，现在只需要确保你在考试那天调整到了巅峰状态。
Start by getting enough sleep.At minimum, you should require yourself to get enough sleep the night before.If you suffer from test anxiety that might make it hard for you to sleep the night before properly, make this a minimum of three nights of proper sleep.That means no all-nighters, no last-minute cramming.
从保持充足睡眠开始。至少你应该要求自己在考试前一夜有充足的睡眠。如果你在考试前一天晚上因为焦虑而无法入眠，则至少考试前三天要有良好睡眠。这意味着不要通宵，不要最后一刻填鸭式学习。
Next, practice a visualization ritual of taking the test.Imagine yourself sitting down and hearing the signal to start.See yourself flipping through the papers, writing down your responses.Picture facing questions that you have no idea what the answer is, but you calmly give your best response and move onto other sections.
接下来，练习在脑中描绘自己参加考试的样子。想象自己坐下来，听到考试开始的信号，看到你自己翻阅试卷，写下答案。脑海中浮现出你遇到不会回答的问题的画面，但你镇定地给出自己最好的回答，然后继续答试卷的其他部分。
This kind of mental rehearsal can help reduce the anxiety in the actual moment.If you experience a lot of test anxiety, you may want to actually go to the room you’ll be taking the test to try to imagine it as vividly as possible, and start practicing your visualizations earlier.
这种头脑中的彩排有助于你在真正的考试中减少压力。如果感到非常焦虑，你可能需要去到参加考试的房间，从而尽可能生动地想象。尽可能早地开始这种想象。
Ultimately, however, no visualization can replace the work of preparation.Confidence comes from knowing your competent.You’ll be competent because you learned the material.You’ll know you’re competent because you did practice tests.Start early, be patient and you’ll be sure to be successful.
但是，最终没有任何想象可以取代准备工作。自信源于对自己能力的了解。你能够顺利完成考试是因为你学习了要考查的内容;你知道自己能顺利完成考试是因为你做了测试练习。尽早开始:保持耐心，你一定可以取得成功。
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