Intensive Study8 5. Learn how to read. “I used to spend hours goingthrough irrelevant material," Amanda remembers. "But thenI got used to reading quickly; if the first sentence of aparagraph wasn't relevant, I'd move on to the nextparagraph." “The best course I ever took," says anOklahoma student, “was speed-reading. I not only increasedmy words per minute but also learned to look at a book'stable of contents and pictures first. Then, when I began toread, I had a sense of the material and I retained a lot more."To such students, the secret of good reading is to be an activereader one who keeps asking questions that lead to a fullunderstanding of the material being read.K
8 5. Learn how to read. “I used to spend hours going through irrelevant material,” Amanda remembers. “But then I got used to reading quickly; if the first sentence of a paragraph wasn’t relevant, I’d move on to the next paragraph.” “The best course I ever took,” says an Oklahoma student, “was speed-reading. I not only increased my words per minute but also learned to look at a book’s table of contents and pictures first. Then, when I began to read, I had a sense of the material and I retained a lot more.” To such students, the secret of good reading is to be an active reader — one who keeps asking questions that lead to a full understanding of the material being read. Intensive Study
Intensive Study6. Take good notes. “Before writing anything, I dividemy page into two parts," says Amanda, “the left part isabout one third of the page wide; the right, two-thirds. Iwrite my notes in the wider part, and put down the mainideas on the left. During revision, this is very useful becauseyou can see immediately why the material is relevant, ratherthan being worried by a great mass of information." Justbefore the end-of-lesson bell rings, most students close theirbooks, put away papers, talk to friends and get ready toleave. But a smart student uses those few minutes to writetwo or three sentences about the lesson's main points, whichhe scans before the next class.K
9 6. Take good notes. “Before writing anything, I divide my page into two parts,” says Amanda, “the left part is about one third of the page wide; the right, two-thirds. I write my notes in the wider part, and put down the main ideas on the left. During revision, this is very useful because you can see immediately why the material is relevant, rather than being worried by a great mass of information.” Just before the end-of-lesson bell rings, most students close their books, put away papers, talk to friends and get ready to leave. But a smart student uses those few minutes to write two or three sentences about the lesson’s main points, which he scans before the next class. Intensive Study
Intensive Study10 7. Ask questions. If you ask questions, you know at oncewhether you have got the point or not,' says Alex. Classparticipation is a matter of showing intellectual curiosity. In alecture on economics, for example, curious students wouldask how the Chinese economy could be both socialist andmarket-driven, thus interesting themselves not only in whats.but also in whys and howsK
10 7. Ask questions. “If you ask questions, you know at once whether you have got the point or not,” says Alex. Class participation is a matter of showing intellectual curiosity. In a lecture on economics, for example, curious students would ask how the Chinese economy could be both socialist and market-driven, thus interesting themselves not only in whats, but also in whys and hows. Intensive Study
四仓Intensive Studyll 8. Study together. The value of working together wasshown in an experiment at the University of California atBerkeley. A graduate student there who observed a first-yearfoundthatcalculusAsian-Americanstudentscoursediscussedtrieddifferentapproachesandhomework,explained their solutions to one another while the othersstudied alone, spent most of their time reading and rereadingthe text, and tried the same approach time after time even if itwas unsuccessful.K
11 8. Study together. The value of working together was shown in an experiment at the University of California at Berkeley. A graduate student there who observed a first-year calculus course found that Asian-American students discussed homework, tried different approaches and explained their solutions to one another while the others studied alone, spent most of their time reading and rereading the text, and tried the same approach time after time even if it was unsuccessful. Intensive Study
合Intensive StudyAfter all, the secrets of A students are not so secret. Youcan learn and master them and become an A student, too.U
12 After all, the secrets of A students are not so secret. You can learn and master them and become an A student, too. Intensive Study