英语好文 22.7.3

[A] I have always been a poor test-taker. So it may seem rather strange that I have returned to college to finish the degree I left undone some four decades ago. I am making my way through Columbia University, surrounded by students who quickly supply the verbal answer while I am still processing the question.

我总是一个不擅长考试的人。所以似乎有些奇怪对于我返回大学去完成在40年前我没有完成的学业来说有些奇怪。我正在哥伦比亚大学学习，周围的环境是我正在读题他们就快速地回答出来了问题。

[B] Since there is no way for me to avoid exams, I am currently questioning what kind are the most taxing and ultimately beneficial. I have already sweated through numerous in-class midterms and finals, and now I have a professor who issues take-home ones. I was excited when I learned this, figuring I had a full week to do the research, read the texts, and write it all up. In fact, I was still rewriting my midterm the morning it was due. To say I had lost the thread is putting it mildly.

既然没有什么别的方法让我避免考试，我正在最近想知道什么是最累人但是最终收益的考试类型是什么。我已经在很多的课堂期中测试、期末测试中挥汗如雨，现在我拥有一个教授，他布置课后作业。当我得知这些时我非常兴奋，想知道我拥有一个满的周末去做研究，阅读文献，然后把他们都写下来。事实上，我仍然在重写我地作业在该要交作业的上午。要是说没有思路的话，那只是委婉的说法。

[C] As I was suffering through my week of anxiety, overthinking the material and guessing my grasp of it, I did some of my own polling among students and professors. David Eisenbach, who teaches a popular class on U.S. presidents at Columbia, prefers the in-class variety. He believes students ultimately learn more and encourages them to form study groups. “That way they socialize over history outside the class, which wouldn’t happen without the pressure of an in-class exam,” he explained, “Furthermore, in-class exams force students to learn how to perform under pressure, and essential work skill.”

当我正在经历我一周的焦虑的时候，过度思考材料以及猜测我掌握了多少时，我在学生和教授中做了一些调查。大卫，他在哥伦比亚教我一门特别流行的关于总统的课程，更喜欢课上任务。他相信学生们最终会学到更多并且鼓励他们去形成更多的组。那便是为什么他们在课堂外通过历史学习而进行社交，假如没有课堂作业的推动下，这将不会发生。他解释说，另外，课堂任务考试会强制同学们去学习怎么样在压力下更好的表现，还有重要的工作技能。

[D] He also says there is less chance of cheating with the in-class variety. In 2012, 125 students at Harvard were caught up in a scandal when it was discovered they had cheated on a take-home exam for a class entitled “Introduction To Congress.” Some colleges have what they call an “honor code,” though if you are smart enough to get into these schools, you are either smart enough to get around any codes or hopefully, too ethical to consider doing so. As I sat blocked and clueless for two solid days, I momentarily wondered if I couldn’t just call an expert on the subject matter which I was tackling, or someone who took the class previously, to get me going.

他也说有更少的机会去在课堂考试中作弊，在2012年，125名哈佛大学的学生在一个“国会介绍‘的课程的课后考试被抓的臭味。一些大学生拥有他们所谓的“荣誉准则”，尽管你足够聪明去这些学校，你要么足够聪明去避开这些准则，要么出去道德而不去做，在我整整两天都不知道怎么做的时候，我突然想到如果我是否可以不只是在我正在克服的这个问题上只请一位专家，还可以找些其他之前学过这个课程的人来帮助我渡过难关。

[E] Following the Harvard scandal, Mary Miller, the former dean of students at Yale, made an impassioned appeal to her school’s professors to refrain from take-hone exams. “Students risk health and well being, as well as performance in other end-of-term work, when faculty offers take-home exams without clear, time-limited boundaries,” she told me. “Research now shows that regular quizzes, short essays, and other assignments over the course of a term better enhance learning and retention.”

从哈佛丑闻，Mary,耶鲁大学前教导主任，给学校的教授做了一场激情澎湃的关于取消课后作业的呼吁，学生牺牲了健康和身体，以及其他的课后功课，但是老师们没有提供明确的时间限制。他告诉我，研究表明规律的小测试，简短的论文和其他的任务能够更好的加强学习和记忆力。

[F] Most college professors agree the kind of exam they choose largely depends on the subject. A quantitative-based one, for example, is unlikely to be sent home, where one could ask their older brothers and sisters to help. Vocational-type classes, such as computer science or journalism, on the other hand, are often more research-oriented and lend themselves to take-home testing. Chris Koch, who teaches “History of Broadcast Journalism” at Montgomery Community College in Rockville, Maryland, points out that reporting is about investigation rather than the memorization of minute details. “In my field, it’s not what you know—it’s what you know how to find out,” says Koch. “There is way too much information, and more coming all the time, for anyone to remember. I want my students to search out the answers to questions by using all the resources available to them.

大多数的大学专家同意这种他们选择的考试大多依赖于学科。比如，一门基于量化的课程，不可能带回家去做，因为学生可以寻求哥哥姐姐的帮助。而另一方面，职业类的课程，例如计算机科学或者是新闻学，更多的是定向研究并且让他们去带回家测试。Chris，教广播新闻学历史，指出报道是关于调查而不是记忆的细节，在我的领域，不只是你知道什么，而是你知道怎么样去发现，Koch说。有太多的信息，扑面而来，这很难让你记住。我想让我的学生去寻找答案通过他们身边各种各样可用的资源。

[G] Students’ test-form preferences vary, too, often depending on the subject and course difficulty. “I prefer take-home essays because it is then really about the writing, so you have time to edit and do more research,” says Elizabeth Dresser, a junior at Barnard. Then there is the stress factor. Francesca Haass, a senior at Middlebury, says, “I find the in-class ones are more stressful in the short term, but there is immediate relief as you swallow information like mad, and then you get to forget it all. Take-homes require thoughtful engagement which can lead to longer term stress as there is never a moment when the time is up.” Meanwhile, Olivia Rubin, a sophomore at Emory, says she hardly even considers take-homes true exams. “If you understand the material and have the ability to articulate (说出) your thoughts, they should be a breeze.”

学生们对测试形式的喜好也是不同的，经常依赖于学科和课程的难度。“我更喜欢课后作业，因为他们真的是关于写作，所以你拥有时间去打草稿和做更多的调查。”Elizabeth说，他是一个大四的学生。其次就是一些压力因素。Haass说，我发现在课堂测试的人们在短期看更加有压力，但是有特别快的解脱当你吸收了只是，然后你把他们全都忘掉的时候。课后作业要求思考参与这会带来更长时间的压力，因为这没有要完成的确切时间。同时Olivia说，他几乎很难把课后测试当作考试，如果你理解了材料，然后拥有能力去说出你的想法，那就是比较轻而易举的。

[H] How students ultimately handle stress may depend on their personal test-taking abilities. There are people who always wait until the last minute, and make it much harder than it needs to be. And then there those who, not knowing what questions are coming at them, and having no resources to refer to, can freeze. And then there are we rare folks who fit both those descriptions.

学生最终怎么样掌控压力也许依赖于个人考试能力。有人总是拖时间直到最后一分钟，然后让这个事情做的很难受。但是也有人，不知道会遇到什么样的问题，并且没有什么资源可以参考，这些人什么也不做。并且也有一些稀少的人群同时符合以上两个特征。

[I] Yes, my advanced age must factor into the equation (等式), in part because of my inability to access the information as quickly. As another returning student at Columbia, Kate Marber, told me, “We are learning not only all this information, but essentially how to learn again. Our fellow students have just come out of high school. A lot has changed since we were last in school.”

是的，我年长的年纪在等式中起到了作用，一部分因为我不能快速的获取信息，并且在哥伦比亚另一位返校生Kate说的，我们并不只是学习这些信息，而是学习如何再次学习的能力。我们的学生都是刚刚高中毕业的，很多和我们上学时都不一样了！

[J] If nothing else, the situation has given my college son and me something to share, When I asked his opinion on this matter, he responded, “I like in-class exams because the time is already reserved, as opposed to using my free time at home to work on a test,” he responded. It seems to me that a compromise would be receiving the exam questions a day or two in advance, and then doing the actual test in class the ticking clock overhead.

说到底，这次经历让我和上大学的儿子有了一些共同话题，当我问他的关于人物的观点是，他说，我喜欢课上考试，因为时间已经被流出来了，而不是使用我在家的休息时间去考试，他说。对我来说，似乎是一种妥协就是在考试前提前得到题目，然后再真正的课堂考试中做出来。

[K] Better yet, how about what one Hunter College professor reportedly did recently for her final exam: She encouraged the class not to stress or even study, promising that, “It is going to be apiece of cake.” When the students came in, sharpened pencils in hand, there was not a bluebook in sight. Rather, they saw a large chocolate cake and they each were given a slice.

然而，更好的是，据说亨特学院的一个教授报道再她的期末考试做了这些，他鼓励学生不要压力，甚至不要想学习，她说，这件事小菜一碟，当学生走进教室，手里拿着削好的铅笔，眼前没有任何试卷。相反，他们看到了一个大的巧克力蛋糕，然后每个人都分了一块。