声明：双语文章中，中文翻译仅代表译者个人观点，仅供参考。如有不妥之处，欢迎指正。
The most common question we hear around the end of a semester is, “So, what’s going to be on the final?” And it’s no wonder. In many cases, students are in the dark about what the prof is likely to spring on them in that all-important last assessment of what they‘ve learned in the course—or haven’t. Luckily it’s not all that hard to guess what lurks in the mind of your instructor. Especially if you follow our ten time-tested tips:
学期行至尾声，最常听到的问题就是“期末考试会考什么？”这不足为奇。在大多数情况，教授们在重中之重的最后一项任务——期末考试上针对课程上的内容会对学生出什么“杀手锏”，不论你是否有好好学习，恐怕对此都知之甚少。幸运的是揣测你指导教师潜伏在脑海中思路并非难事。特别是如果你遵循我们这十条久经“沙场”、屡试不爽的提示：
Figure out the scope.
了解学习范围
Different professors have different strategies in setting up the final: Some like to cover all parts of the course equally, others weight the test on the material since the midterm, and still others treat the end-of-course test as just a third or fourth exam, covering only a small portion of the material. Figure out how your prof is thinking about the final—and then be sure to study accordingly.
不同的教授对待期末测试有不同的策略：有些教授倾向于考查全部的知识点并不会厚此薄彼，另一些教授则更侧重期中以后的学习的材料，还有一些教授把期末考试仅仅看做第三或第四次测验从而只考查很小的一部分知识点。弄清楚你的教授是怎么看待期末考试的，然后就显而易见的知道该针对什么内容学习了。
Figure out the format.
探明格式
Some profs focus the final on short-answers, for example, multiple choice, short IDs, and paragraph-long essays in response to prompts. Others are more adventurous, asking for essays, sometimes as long as an hour (or more). And still others offer a hybrid exam with elements of all. Be sure to figure out in advance what format your exam will be–and budget your study time in accordance with the point-value of the different parts.
部分教授更愿意出短答案的题目，例如选择题、短填空或者依据一段文章作答。而另外一些教授则更偏向开放性答案，要求你写一篇文章，有时要写一个小时或者更长时间。也有些教授会选择包含很多要素的多元化考试。提前弄明白你考试的形式，从而针对不同部分的分值分布而计划复习时间。
Focus on the main stuff.
聚焦主流
One indication of what’s going to be emphasized on the test is the sheer amount of time the professor spent on some topic or issue in lecture. It stands to reason that if the professor spent four lectures on some issue – and only half a lecture on some other issue—the first is likely to be on the final, and the second, less so. Most professors—except in the most specialized upper-division courses—test on the “meat and potatoes” material: the most central issues that they hope students will have learned, though many haven’t.
对于考题中会出现的内容的重大提示就是教授在课堂上针对某一主题花费特别多的时间。如果教授在某一个问题上的花费四课时，而其他问题只用了半课时，那么前者往往会出现在考题中，而后者出现的几率则更低。大多数教授，除了大部分高年级专业课程，考试中往往考查最基础的知识点：他们希望学生习得最中心最关键的问题，虽然很多学生依然不能掌握。
Figure out if your professors is a “synthecist” or an “atomist.”
“整体”教授或是“个体”教授
Some professors like to ask questions that require you to synthesize broad swatches of material – that is, to draw connections and to analyze relations between different topics or issues or authors covered in the course. Others look at problems and issues individually—as if each one were an “atom” standing alone. Find out how your prof sees the topics –and prepare accordingly.
有些教授喜欢要求你扩展的看待问题，也就是在科目中的不同话题或问题间建立连接并分析其间的关系。而其他的教授则单独看待每个问题和要点，犹如每个问题都是一个单独的“原子”。弄清楚你教授是如何看待话题的从而更好的做准备。
Look at how the series of lectures was constructed. If the prof devoted a single lecture to each topic, then it’s possible the test will examine the topics individually. But if the prof spent two weeks exploring the development of some issue, or its relation to some issue previously treated in the course, it’s possible that the final will have a similar, comparative or developmental focus.
去想想一个系列的课程是怎么搭建的。如果教授将每个话题都用单独的课时去讲授，那么很有可能考试会单独检测各个话题。但是如果教授耗费两周去探索某个问题的进展，或是其与以前课程中讲到过的问题的关系，那么很有可能期末考试时也会出现形如此类对比或进程行关注的问题。
Dust off the syllabus.
别冷落教学大纲
In some courses the professor has given out a quite detailed and elaborate syllabus, often listing the “course goals,” “methodology,” and sometimes even a class-by-class “schedule of readings and lecture topics.” In many such cases, the professor has tipped his or her hat – right from the outset—about what the key topics of interest are going to be. Worth a look.
在部分课程中教授会给出充满细节、阐述详尽的教学大纲，通常会罗列“课程目标”、“教学手段”，甚至有时会有每一课的“阅读和课程话题安排”。普遍情况下，教授会遵循教学大纲，并从开始就能看出课程的重点。绝对值得一看！
大学学习之道——期末考题大预测（下）>>>
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