My Views on Examinations

  Since school comes into being， the test standard has been used to appraise performance of students. So far it is still being used， which may suggest that actually there are some advantages in it. However， it is also highly possible that the test standard is a not ideal way to find out what students have learned and what they haven't. Most school is still using it just because there is no better method to replace it.

　　In my opinion， the following three points are the critical flaws in the test standard.

　　One of the most harmful effects on the test method is that it will force us to study just for passing tests， not for acquiring knowledge especially in China. Obviously the final object of education is making us intellective by learning more knowledge. While the test is only a way to examine the level of students' studies， it has been deteriorated to a sifter deciding the fate of students. Why can it be called a terrible sifter？ Now in the tests， which decide who can enter a higher school， thousands of poor students， who want a splendid future， must prepare for the tests by finishing a great deal of practices. Those practice tests are heavy-laden to them. So in this case， how can they be expected to study to obtain knowledge？ To them that are enough if they can reach the level which tests need. In the end what our nation will get， genuine persons with ability or just test robots？

　　Secondly， tests will bring the examinees great pressure， which can affect their lives. A typical example of this is that most young students have worn glasses even though some of them are still children. For preparing for tests， they must spend a lot of time on doing their homework so that their eyesight becomes worse and worse. And the more time they spend on those， the less time they have for playing and relaxing. Consequently， there is a bad influence on their health.

　　Thirdly， in fact， test system itself can not veraciously estimate who is better than others because there are many factors impacting the results of test. For instance， someone cheated in test so that his score would be higher than others. Or someone who was too nervous to perform well fell in the test.

　　Only in spare time and no pressure of tests existent， students can study simply for the fun， for obtaining knowledge and for the things that they are really interested in. But now the test system is the only way to select which one is better， who can reach better school and who can get good job. Then what we can do is to improve the test system or hope that something better will be invented and replace the test system.