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。
DURING:
期中考试进行时：
1. Start your work right away. Many students piss away the first ten minutes of the test outlining their answers, jotting down code words they might have memorized, or trying out each of the choices in their head before starting to write. But, if you think about it, ten minutes is 20 percent of the test. Better idea? Start doing one of the problems right away, or, if yours is an essay test, getting your first paragraph down (preferably with a thesis sentence) immediately. You’ll thank yourself when the clock runs down and time starts to be a factor.
1. 立刻开始，直入主题。许多学生在考试开始后的前十分钟里写下他们归纳的大致答案、草草记下他们可能还记得的关键词、或是在落笔前回顾脑海中的每个选项。但是，如果你仔细想想，十分钟其实占据了考试20%的时间。好主意？考试开始立刻开始回答试题，或者，如果是写文章，立即开始写第一段（最好用论文用语）。随着时间流逝，时间开始成为重要因素的时候，你会感谢自己当初的明智做法。
2. Be sure to answer exactly the question asked. You might not believe this, but more points are lost at college by not answering what the professor asked than by providing wrong information. Pay particular attention on an essay test to the verbs used in forming the questions: Explain is different from compare and contrast, defend is different from object to, and form a hypothesis is different from prove. And, if there are multiple parts to the question, be sure to devote equal space to answering each of the subparts (except where directed otherwise). The grade might be being equally divided among the parts.
2. 答为所问。你可能不会相信，但是在大学不直接回答教授所提问题比给出错误答案失分更多。特别注意写作题目中的动词：“解释”与“比较和对比”是不同的，“辩护”与“反对”是不同的，“形成假说”与“证明”是不同的。如果一个问题有很多部分组成，记得每一个小问题用同等的长度来回答（除非有指示不需如此），分数很可能平均分给每个部分。
3. Don’t be a lemming. As you are taking your exam, especially if you’re in a large lecture class, you’ll probably see many students heading for the exits long before the exam is over. Resist the temptation to follow them. It’s always a good idea to stay to the end of the exam, even if you’ve finished your work; there are always problems to go over, essays to reread and perhaps tune up, or short answers to recheck. Even a few mistakes corrected and points gained here or there, can propel your grade from one level to another.
3. 别随波逐流。正当你考试的时候，特别是在大教室里，你很可能看到许多学生在考试结束前就离席走向出口。拒绝追随他们的诱惑吧。坚持到考试结束总是个好主意，即使你已经答完试卷。总会有问题需要解决、再读一遍文章、再检查一遍、也许小调整、或者精短答案。即使改正一些小错误，分数也会一点点涨上去，很可能把你的成绩推向更高的一级。
