Tom Field: I’ll never pass the exams. I’m just not
clever enough. Everyone’s ashamed of me now. Why do I have to be clever and be
miserable all the time Is passing exam more important than being happy I like
playing ball games, football, basketball, soccer, baseball a lot of them. I
think I will be quite good at all of them if I have more time to practice
instead of sitting in a miserable classroom, listening to the teachers’
miserable classes. I think I will become a sportsman. And I don’t see any link
to connect my present situation to a good happy sportsman. Barbara
Field: We’re all so disappointed. Those exams were so
important for Tommy’s career. He should have studied harder, instead of wasting
most of his time playing foot-ball and computer games. He’ll have to spend
another year at school now, and he’ll probably never get to university. We spent
a lot of time and money on his education, and it’s all been wasted, I am afraid.
His brother is doing extremely well at school yet Tom performs badly. That’s
really worries his father and me. Ian Clark: I am
Tom’s doctor. Tommy was due to take his final school examination. Instead he
went into hospital suffering from a nervous breakdown. He is now recovering in
the hospital. This happens every time exams are held. Students play all year
round and forget about their studies, and then suddenly there’s a last-minute
panic as they realize that the exams are looming up. Suddenly they start
studying twenty hours a day, they go without sleep, they neglect their food,
they don’t get any natural fresh air and exercises, and naturally they get
overtired and worried and they can’t handle the mental strain. It would be
better if the schools hold exams once a month instead of once a year. Then the
children could achieve a better balance between work and play. Nick
Sharpe: I am Tom’s friend. I’m against the whole system of
exams. They test only a little of what kids learn at school. They test the
ability to remember information and repeat it, but not their ability to think
intelligently about what they’ve been taught. Biased examiners, who fail
students if they don’t agree with what the examiners write, regardless of how
original and perceptive it may be, grade the examination papers. Many examiners
grade papers in such a hurry that they don’t possibly compare them in order to
give lair marks. On the basis of a system like this, people are categorized for
the rest of their lives as "pass" or "fail", yet for many students the exam
results may have been influenced by sickness, injury, or family quarrels just
before the "big day" of the exams. Richard Kennedy: I
am the head master of Tom’s school. We notice the panic caused by examinations,
which depend too much on memory and don’t allow the children to develop their
own personality. We have been trying to reform the whole examination system by
way of basing our school reports on a system of continuous assessment through
various ways, not just the final written examination. We hope in this way we can
maintain a high academic standard without examinations. Yet I wondered whether
this would be accepted by the society. A personnel department manager once said
to me that although they base their employment decisions on a number of factors.
Manners, personality and appearance are important. So is actual job experience,
yet the only way they can judge applicants’ intelligence, without knowing them,
is by their examination record. Now match each of the persons
(61 to 65) to the appropriate statement. Note: there are two
extra statements.
Statements [A] Students
usually suffer from a nervous breakdown before the examination takes
place. [B] Tom will never get to university. [C] Exams fail to make a fair
and correct judgment on the ability of the student. [D] Tom’s bad performance
at school worries us. [E] We may find better ways than those of examination,
yet it is hard to make them accepted by the society at large. [F] It’s
important for students to be able to keep a good balance between work and play
all the time. [G] I can become a happy person without learning
anything. Richard Kennedy