Modern examinations

Most teachers and students would probably agree that examinations – spoken or written – are unsatisfactory. Students dislike taking them, teachers dislike giving them and scoring students’ answers. During examinations teachers and students are expected to act like machines, there is nothing very human about the examination process.

In spoken examinations success or failure greatly depends upon the examiner’s feelings at the time of examination. If he/she is feeling tired or bored, the students may receive a lower mark that they should. Very often attendance is taken into account, as well.

From this standpoint written examinations give the students a fairer chance.

Two types of tests are commonly used nowadays. The first type is sometimes called an “objective” test. To make it up the teacher writes a series of questions, each of which has only the correct answer. Along with each question the teacher writes the correct answer and also three statements that look like answers to the students who have not learned the material properly. The students must recognize the correct answer and circle it (or copy the letter / number on his examination paper).

For testing some kind of learning, however, such a test is not satisfactory: a lucky student may guess the correct answer without really knowing the material.

To get a clear picture of what the students know, most teachers use “essay” tests, which require students to write long answers to broad general questions.

An advantage is that it shows the examiner more about the student’s ability to put facts together into a meaningful whole. One disadvantage of the essay test for the students is that it reduces the element of luck. Sometimes, though, essay tests have more disadvantages. Some students are able to write rather good answers without really knowing much about the subject, while other students who actually know the material have trouble expressing their ideas in essay form.

As you see, written examinations also have *their pros and cons¹.

3. Few explanations to the text

1. their pros and cons – свои достоинства и недостатки.

4. Key vocabulary / words and expressions

attendance [ə'tendəns] – n посещение

failure ['feil'ə] – n неудача

require [ri'kwiə] – v требовать

score [sko:] – n счет; v считать

standpoint ['stændpoint] – n точка зрения

take into account – принимать во внимание

5. Test your own attention.

5.1 Find English equivalents in the text

экзаменационный процесс_______________________________________

принимать во внимание__________________________________________

точка зрения___________________________________________________

достоинства и недостатки________________________________________

складывать факты вместе_________________________________________

5.2 Find in the text synonyms for the following words and phrases

count__________________________________________________________

point of view____________________________________________________

multiple choice questions __________________________________________

true answer _____________________________________________________

6. Express your own opinion on taking exams.

7. WORD FORMATION (Different ways to construct the words or new notions)

Give antonyms to the following words:

careless, flawless, useless, unmatched, unwritten, unproductive, unskilled, imperfect, impossible, dissatisfied, displeased, disarrange, disadvantage, satisfactory, correct, true, legal, regular, possible, essential, different.