Exams
by Jo Bertrand
Do you remember that nasty feeling of sweaty palms? A wave of nausea coming over you? The sudden inability to talk your mouth is so dry? No, it’s not the first meeting with the dreaded in-laws, although some parallels could easily be made. I’m talking about waiting at the door of an exam room, convinced that you know nothing and that there’s no way you will get through this experience alive.
We’ve all been there at some point of our lives, whether it be for the 11+, the G.C.S.E French oral exam, university finals, the FCE exam… the list is endless. Somehow though we get through it. We survive to see another day. But what has always baffled me is how people react so differently when faced with the prospect of taking an exam.
I don’t know about you but I’ve always been insanely jealous of those people who party all year round, then the night before the exam flick through my course book, (theirs is empty because they didn’t go to any lectures), and then somehow manage to sail through the exam with flying colours. In the meantime I’m there, present and correct at most of my lectures, panicking for weeks before my finals, and the night before, not only am I trying to cram like mad everything my clever friend points out is missing from my file as he flicks through my text books and observes that I’ve missed out a whole chapter of essential work that is bound to come up in the exam, (draw for breath!), but I’m also panicking about packing my school bag.

考试

乔·伯特兰

你还记得掌心满是汗水的恐怖感觉吗？你还记得当时那一阵阵的反胃吗？你还记得由于突然间无言以对，而导致的口干舌燥吗？我说的不是你和可怕的亲家初次见面的场景，尽管可能有一定的相似之处。我这里谈到的是等在考场门外时的感受：知道自己对要考的内容一无所知，此次必然在劫难逃。

我们都在一生中的某些时刻参加过考试:初中入学考试、中考的法语口语考试、大学的期末考试、第一英语证书考试……名目之多不可胜数。好在我们都是过来人了，我们活了下来，看到了一片新的天地。但只有一点我一直困惑不解：那就是同是面临考试，为什么人们反应各异。

我不知道你是怎么想的，但是对于那些成年去参加派对，只有在考前一晚才拿着我的课堂笔记临阵磨枪，最后还能很风光地过关的人，我简直嫉妒得要疯掉。（他们的笔记本空空如也，因为他们从不去听课）。同时我却在那儿复习订正我的课程，考前几个星期就开始心惊肉跳。而到了考前一晚，就是我聪明的朋友拿着我的课本检查并告诉我漏掉了整整一章重要的必考内容而我对他指出的任何遗漏都气急败坏的时候（深呼吸！）不仅如此，我对收拾书包这样的事都感到害怕。