How To Prepare English Test

Students who are new to university-level English classes may find it hard to determine exactly how to make the best use of their study time to prepare for an English exam. Generally speaking, English is not a field that requires memorization of certain key facts and figures in order to ace a test -- instead it demands an understanding of the conceptual frameworks that help shape written works. With that in mind, here are some approaches to tackling the material.

Exam Preparation During the Semester
The best exam preparation of all takes place over the course of the semester as a whole. Many students overlook the importance of developing good work habits until it’s too late. Doing the reading, showing up for class, and taking notes is essential. As Cal Newport argues in How to Become a Straight-A Student, "If you attend class regularly, you will significantly cut down on the amount of studying required to get high grades" [Random House, 2006].
Details from the text(s) and key concepts that the instructor mentions on a regular basis require special attention. If the instructor has emphasized something, it’s likely to appear on an exam. Concurrently, any materials he or she breezed through in the lecture are probably not as significant.
Even students who try their best to do all the assigned readings are bound to miss a few things or not give them full attention. At least a week before the exam, these readings need to be completed or at least selectively skimmed, with special attention paid to any supplemental readings that can flesh out the social and historical contexts of the literature itself.

Anticipating Exam Questions
Once students have a handle on the content and context of each work, they need to draw connections between them in order to get a sense of what questions might appear on the test. Marjorie Boulton points out that "the basic technique of an answer on literature is almost always to argue a case, agreeing or disagreeing with a statement in the question, or looking at both sides" [Routledge, 1980]. What ideas do the works share, and where do they differ? What overarching themes are present? Are there certain common threads? What sorts of questions might the exam ask on a typical compare and contrast question?
It may help at this stage to go back to the syllabus and read the course description. What is the class meant to accomplish? This is a checklist that will help students determine whether they learned what the instructor set out to teach, and it can point out gaps that need to be addressed before the exam.

Remembering the Fine Details
As a final preparatory step, students should refresh their memories as to the authors, titles of works, their setting, and the names of characters. The instructor is far more likely to believe a student knows the material if that student remembers that a story takes place in Austria and not Australia. While many instructors are lenient with students who forget a few details, anything more than that suggests a failure to carefully read the course materials.
Students armed with these fine details, with a sense of the content and context of each literary work on the syllabus, and with a general idea of how the works are conceptually related will generally perform well on a final exam.

Indonesia Tales : Bawang Merah and Bawang Putih

The story started in a big house where a mother and two beautiful girls lived. There was no man in that house because the father was already dead. He left two beautiful girls from different mothers. First mother was dead and left him a beautiful little girl called Bawang Putih. Then after she became young girl, her father left her with a stepmother and a stepsister called Bawang Merah. It was a bad luck for Bawang Putih because her stepsister and her stepmother were not kind of person who liked her.

Bawang Putih was a maid in her own house. She did all the houseworks. She cleaned, washed and cooked. Her stepmother and her stepsister were the queens in the house.

In one usual day, Bawang Putih went to the river to wash her stepmother’s clothes. She accidentally washed away her mother’s shawl. That would be a problem because the shawl was her favorite. When her stepmother knew, she got furious. She kicked Bawang Putih off the street. She would not let Bawang Putih home if she could not find the shawl.

Bawang Putih walked fringing the edge of the river. Her eyes were looking for a piece of yellow shawl stacked on the rocks in the river. However, she did not see anything. Bawang Putih continued walking. She stopped in front of women who washed there. “Did you see a yellow shawl swept away?” Bawang Putih asked them.

“Yes. I saw it. Buto Ijo took it a while ago. Is it yours?” one of them asked Bawang Putih.

“Yes it is. I have to get there then” Bawang Putih said.

“Be careful Bawang Putih. Buto Ijo is crazy,” they warn her.

Buto Ijo was an old woman who lived alone. They said she was a little bit crazy. Her hair was like branches of tree, dirty and stiff. She lost almost her teeth and she liked talking alone. The rumor told Buto Ijo cooked from human bones. It was scary.

Bawang Putih came to Buto Ijo’s house. The house looked dirty and untidy. It is as no one ever lived there. She knocked the door carefully. She heard a walk came to the door. Bawang Putih was a bit afraid. The door was opened, a wrinkle face came from it. Her eyes looked sharply, she seemed did not like to be bothers. “What do you want?” the old woman asked suspicious. She did not smile at all.

“I’m looking for a shawl. It is yellow. The woman in the river said you had taken it. The shawl belongs to my mothers,” Bawang Putih said.

“Yes, I took it. “ Buto Ijo said. “But if you want it you have to stay here for a while and did what I order.”

“What do you want me to do?” Bawang Putih said.

“I want you to clean the house and garden. You also have to cook for me” Buto Ijo gave her conditions.

Bawang Putih agreed. She stayed there for a while, cooked and cleaned the house. Buto Ijo was not that scary like her thought. In fact, Buto Ijo was a nice old woman and funny. She liked her. After couple of days, Buto Ijo gave the shawl to her. Before Bawang Putih left the house, Buto Ijo gave her pumpkin. “These are pumpkin. One of them is yours, Bawang Putih and open it when you get home,” Buto Ijo said. Bawang Putih took the small pumpkin. “Thank you Buto Ijo” she said. Bawang Putih then went home.

In her house, Bawang Merah sliced the pumpkin. She was surprised seeing there was a bunch of jewelry in it. Her stepmother and her stepsister were surprised too. “Where did you get that?” her stepsister asked.

“Buto Ijo gave it to me,” Bawang Putih said. Then she told them the story.

Bawang Merah wanted to get a pumpkin with jewelry in it too. The she went to the river and washed away her shawl in purpose. She followed the shawl and she saw Buto Ijo took it. She went to Buto Ijo’s house and asked her for the shawl. Buto Ijo said if Bawang Merah wanted her shawl she had to stay there for a while and she had to do the housework. It was just as she asked to Bawang Putih. For a pumpkin of jewelry, Bawang Merah agreed to stay there and do the houseworks.

After couple of days, Buto Ijo gave her shawl. Before Bawang Merah left the house, Buto Ijo gave her a pumpkin. Bawang Merah was very happy. Her head was full with images of jewelry. Bawang Merah took the big pumpkin. She ran to her house. She could not wait to slice the pumpkin and get the jewelry out of it.

When she got home, she took the knife and cut the pumpkin. She got surprised seeing snakes came out from it instead of jewelries. She threw the pumpkin and ran out the house.