填空题 As anxiety-makers, examinations are second to none. That is
because so much depends on it. They are the mark of success 21
or failure in our society. One"s whole future may be decided on
one fateful day. It doesn"t matter that he wasn"t feeling very
well, or that his mother died. Things like that don"t
count on: the exam goes on. No one can give of his best when 22
he is in mortal terror, or after a sleepless night, yet this is precisely
what the examination system expects you to do. The moment 23
a child begins school, he enters into a world of vicious competition 24
where success and failure are clearly defined and measured.
Can we wonder at the increasing number of "drop-outs": young people
who are written off as utter failures before they have even embarked 25
a career? Can we be surprised at the suicide rate among students?
A good education should, among other things, train one to
think for himself. The examination system does nothing but that. 26
What has to be learnt is rigidly laid down by a syllabus, so the student
is encouraged to memorize. Examinations do not motivate a student
to read widely, but restrict his reading; they do not enable him to seek 27
more and more knowledge, but induce cramming. They lower the
standards of teaching, for they deprive teachers off all freedoms. 28
Teachers themselves are often judged by examination results and
instead of teaching their subjects, they are reducing to training their 29
students in exam techniques which they despise of. The most 30
successful candidates are not always the best educated; they are
the best trained in the technique of working under duress.