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Have you ever felt so anxious during an examination that you couldn't even put down the answers
you knew? If so, you were suffering from what is known as test anxiety.
According to psychologist Ralph Trimble, test anxiety is a very real problem for many people.
When you're worried over your performance on an exam, your heart beats faster and your pulse
speeds up. These reactions start others: You may sweat more than normal or suffer from a stomachache
or headache. Your field of vision narrows and becomes tunnel-like. Before you know it, you're having
difficulty focusing.
"What I hear students say over and over again," says Dr. Trimble, who is working at the
Psychological and Counseling Center at the University of Illinois, "is, 'My mind went blank.'"
For a number of years, Dr. Trimble helped many students learn how to perform better during exams
and to bring up their grades. Some of these students were interested in sharing what they learned and,
with Trimble's help, began holding workshops on overcoming test anxiety. For many students, just
being in a workshop(讨论会,实验班) with other sufferers made them feel better. They realized that
they were not the only ones who had done poorly on tests because of tension.
The workshops were so successful that they are still given.
In the workshops, students are taught that anxiety is normal. You just have to prevent it from getting
the best of you. The first step is to learn to relax. If before or during an examination you start to panic,
stretch as hard as you can, tensing the muscles in your arms and legs; then suddenly relax all of them.
This will help relieve tension. But keep in mind that you don't want to be too relaxed. Being
completely relaxed is no better than being too tense. "If you are so calm you don't care how you
do on an examination, you won't do well," Trimble says. "There is an optimum level of concern when
you perform at your best. Some stress helps. There are people who can't take even slight stress. They
have to learn that in a challenging situation, being anxiously excited is good and will help them to do
better. But if they call it anxiety and say, 'It's going to hit me again,' that will make them nervous and
worried."
As a student you must also realize that if you leave too much studying until a day or two before the
examination, you can't do the impossible and learn it all. Instead, concentrate on what you can do and
try to think what questions are likely to be asked and what you can do in the time left for studying.
When you sit down to study, set a moderate pace and vary it by reading, writing notes, and going
over any papers you have already written for the course, as well as the textbooks and notes you took
in class. Review what you know. Take breaks and go to sleep early enough to get a good night's rest
before the exam. You should also eat a moderate breakfast or lunch, avoid drinks like coffee and stay
away from fellow students who get tense. Panic spreads easily.
Get to the exam room a few minutes early so that you will have a chance to familiarize yourself with
the surroundings and get out your supplies. When the examination is handed out, read the directions
twice and underline the significant instructions, making sure you understand them. Ask the teacher to
explain if you don't. First answer the easiest questions, then go back to the more difficult.
On essay questions, instead of starting right away, take a few minutes to organize your thoughts,
make a brief outline, and then start off with a summary sentence. Keep working steadily, and even
when time starts to run out, don't speed up.
1. We learn from the passage that test anxiety ___________.
A. affects a small number of people
B. can lead to physical discomfort
C. can have a negative effect on a person's eyesight
D. often affects those who are physically weak
2. Dr. Trimble often heard students say that _________.
A. their mind failed to work when faced with a test
B. they had difficulty focusing on the test items
C. they could not think of a way to get rid of text anxiety
D. they began panicking well ahead of a test
3. In Trimble's workshop the students learned __________.
A. how to avoid being controlled by test anxiety
B. that test anxiety is normal and would go away in time
C. certain mental exercises that would help them relax
D. how to concentrate on what they could do
4. According to the passage, being completely relaxed before a test _________.
A. helps a student to perform better in the test
B. can also be harmful to a person's performance in the test
C. helps a student to cope with a challenging situation better
D. may be more harmful that getting too worried over tests
5. The author suggests that before a test ___________.
A. you should avoid staying with a fellow student who suffers test anxiety.
B. you should not think that you will be affected by your fellow student's anxiety
C. you should get together with other sufferers of test anxiety in order to feel better
D. you should eat a big meal and drink some coffee to keep yourself in high spirits