Mid-term time is midterms time. You know, that special week in the semester when you get to find out—in many courses, for the first time—how you’re really doing. Many students think that the midterm goes on only for the 50 minutes you’re sitting on your butt in the lecture room. But really, there are things you can do in advance of the midterm, during the midterm, and even after the midterm to notably improve your performance.
期中时也就是期中考试的时间。你知道，这个一学期中特殊的一周你发觉，对于许多课程，你第一次明白你学的怎么样。许多学生认为期中考不过是屁股老老实实坐在教室里50分钟。但事实上，在期中考前、期中考试中、甚至期中考试后，有些事情如果你好好做都能够提升你的期中考表现。
BEFORE:
考前：
1. Get on the stick. Many students start to prepare for the midterm only the very day before (or, in street language, they cram). This is almost never a good idea. A much better strategy is to make it a rule to start studying a week before the midterm is to be given. That way, your ideas will have time to jell (especially important if the midterm is going to have essays), and you’ll have plenty of time to go over any special areas of difficulty or things you didn’t understand.
1. 加把劲。许多学生仅仅在考试前一天才开始准备期中考（也就是常说的，临时抱佛脚的死记硬背）。这基本就是个糟糕的主意。更好的策略是制定一个比期中考试提请一周就开始的学习规划。那样，你的想法才有时间得以具体化和巩固（特别是当期中考是要写文章的时候这点就非常重要），而且你也有足够的时间复习任何特殊的难点或是你不懂的知识点。
2. Go for the gold. Many professors give many hints about what’s going to be on the midterm: Sometimes there are study questions or actual previous exams, sometimes the midterm problems are just variants of homework or quizzes, and sometimes the professor or TA drops hints about “what might be on the exam.” Whatever the case in each of your courses, make use of these golden resources. Professors are lazy beasts and often just recycle, or tweak existing questions.
2. 摘金夺银。许多教授会给出很多关于期中考试的提示：有时是提的问题、或是以前的试题，有时期中试题就是作业或测试题的变体，还有时教授或助教留下“这可能会出现在考试里”的提示。不论你的课程中是那种情况，记得使用这些金牌资源。教授们都是懒惰兽，常常出老题或是变形已经有的试题。
3. Give it a trial run. The night before the exam, construct a practice test of the exact length and with the exact kinds of problems you expect to see on the midterm. Then, close the door, turn up the heat, close your books, set your stopwatch, and take your exam under actual test conditions. If you do this, not only will you see how you did, but, when you go into the actual exam room, it won’t be the first time you’re sweating bricks—and so, you’ll know how to time yourself and manage the stress.
3. 模拟考。考试的前一晚，构建一个和考试长度相当、包含你所期待期中考出现的试题的练习卷。然后，关上们，调好室温，合上书本，设好计时表，开始以考试状态答题。如果你这么做，你不仅会对自己的表现心中有数，而且当你真正坐在考试的教室时，也不会是第一次紧张的后背流汗了，这样你也就知道怎么安排时间和控制好压力。
