在上期“期末考题大预测”中为同学们介绍了从不同方面了解教授的出题形式和出题思路从而完美备考。这期我们将继续介绍更多揣测考题、充分备考的方法。
Mine the study questions.
挖掘知识点
In many cases, professors hand out “study guides” or “practice exams” to help the students focus their study on the questions likely to be asked. Don’t just “look over” these important anticipations of the actual final, take the time to do them – writing them out is always best – under “test conditions.” This way, you can not only make precise your answers, but see what it’s like to do the work in a finite period of time under somewhat stressful conditions. Sometimes, if you’re lucky, you’ll get these actual questions on the test; and even if you don’t, you might get variants (that is, basically the same question with some minor changes) on your test.
大多情况下，教授给出“学习指导”或是“练习测验”帮助学生研习可能被考到的知识点。不要仅仅是仔细看看这些重要的期末预期试题，而是要花时间认真去做这些试题——用考试的要求，在模拟考试的状态下，动笔写出最棒的答案。这样，不仅使你的答案更加精准，而且可以体验在稍感压力且时间有限的状态下答题的感觉状态。有时，如果够幸运，你可能会在试卷中碰到原题；即使没有遇到原题，试卷中也很可能出现同类型的题（也就是大体上是一样的问题，只是有细小的改动）。
Pay particular attention to any tips the prof offers as he or she hands out the study questions. Many times profs feel obligated to “make a few comments” as they hand out the sheet. And often, important clues slip out about what questions are really going to be on the test, what to focus your study on, or what is probably not going to be on the test.
注意教授讲解知识点时给出的任何提示。许多时候，教授会觉得因为他（她）出了这种考题所以有义务给出关于这个知识点的一些评论。重要的提示往往暗示着会出现试卷的考题，也暗示你该重点学习这些知识，反之，也可以看出什么内容很可能不会考查。
Get last year’s version.
找到去年的真题
If you’re even minimally social, you probably have some friends who have taken this very course in the recent past. And they’ll probably remember what the prof asked on the final. Milk your friends; they’ll be happy to tell and no one has sworn them to secrecy.Before using this tip, make sure your friend has taken the course with the exact same professor as you. Professors have significant latitude in how they teach even the same course – and what they put on the final. So info about some other prof might not only be unuseful, it may be misleading.
即使你不太擅长社交，你的朋友中也可能有人曾经考过你正在学习的某些科目。他们没一定还记得当初期末考试都考了什么内容。讨好你的朋友们，他们会很乐意告诉你这些信息，反正当初又没有发誓要保密试题。但是，用这招的前提是确定你的朋友上这门科目时也是同一位教授讲授的。因为即使是相同的一门课程，每位教授都有自己独到的见解和立场，导致他们的期末考试内容不尽相同。所以得知另外一位教授的曾经的出题方向不一定会有帮助，反而可能造成误导。
Take the gifts.
接受“恩惠”
Some nice professors – and also ones who know they haven’t taught so well and the whole class will do badly on the final—offer “review sessions” either in the evening or weekend or during the regular class time. Be sure to attend, and take careful notes at, these tip-offs about what’s going to be on the final. Not only do profs sometimes “go over” the course – in the process, locating those topics that are most likely to appear on the test—they also sometimes do actual questions (or ones quite similar) to the test they’ve prepared that very morning.
部分“善解人意”的教授，当然还有那些知道自己教的不太到位可能会导致全班成绩很差的教授，会在期末考试前的某个晚上或某个周末，甚至在正常的教学课时上给出“总复习课”。这种课一定要参加，并要认真的做好笔记，每个提示都在暗示期末考试的动向。教授不仅仅会时常“复习”课程——在教学进度中，确定哪些课题很可能在期末考查——教授们甚至常常会出近期刚讲过的原题（或是非常类似的题目）。
Look back to the graded work.
回顾评分功课
Not only previous tests, but also smaller and seemingly-less-important previous graded work, such as quizzes, homeworks, problem sets, and even ungraded diagnostic exercises can provide additional information about what the prof thinks most important and what could, therefore, appear on the test. After all, when the prof makes up the homeworks or quizzes, he or she is locating the most important things you need to know – albeit in smaller bite-size pieces.
不仅是以前的测验，还有以前打过分数的那些琐碎的、看似无关紧要的功课，例如小测验、作业、练习题，即使是没有批改评分的练习也能提供关于教授侧重的、极可能出现在期末考试中的信息。毕竟，当教授布置作业和小测试的时候，他（她）锁定的是你需要掌握的最重要的内容——虽然是以琐碎的形式出现。
Ask.
提问
You’d be amazed how many professors and TAs are willing to offer you glimpses of what will be on the final if you only take the time to ask. Go to an office hour and, instead of asking boldly about “what will be on the test,” ask whether you’re “studying in the right way.” Point to a couple of questions or problems you’ve been preparing and ask – politely and cordially—whether your finals-prep is on the right track. And then, sit quietly and listen very carefully to what the prof answers (sometimes it’s useful to take notes). Often the more time you give them to answer, the more they’ll give up “suggestions” that you can incorporate into your preparation. And then you won’t be left wondering so much about what will be on the exam, after all.
只要你肯问关于考试内容的信息，你会惊讶有多少教授和助教会很乐意的提供给你。去参加办公室答疑时间，与其赤裸裸的直接问“期末考什么”，不如试着问问“我学习的方向对吧”。 提出你所准备的几个知识点或问题，礼貌而诚挚的询问他们，不论你的期末考前准备是不是在正确的方向上。然后，静静的坐着，认真听教授给你的解答（有时边听边记笔记也很有帮助）。通常，他们有更多的时间解答，就会为你准备考试提出有更多的“建议”。当然，这之后，你就不会有关于考试内容的太多疑惑了。
