Are exams a good thing?

[shane]

The answer doesn't seem right- if all of my friends don't drink, then the natural conclusion would be that 'none of my friends drinks\drink' IMO.

Congratulations Tdol; you just failed your English exam :wink:

[RonBee]

The answer doesn't seem right- if all of my friends don't drink, then the natural conclusion would be that 'none of my friends drinks\drink' IMO.

Congratulations Tdol; you just failed your English exam :wink:

Unfortunately, it would seem to be the English exam that has failed. "All of my friends don't drink" is not a natural English sentence in my humble opinion, and it is, in my humble opinion, not a good idea to teach it. Just about any native speaker would say None of my friends drink.

Testing can be overdone, but it is essential. Unless you test them, you can't be sure what your students know, and, perhaps more important, you can't be sure what your students don't know. The tests you get in school are easy compared to the tests you get outside of school.

That is my opinion.

[shane]

And it's a very valid opinion. What's more, I completely agree with you. Sometimes I feel like I am banging my head against a brick wall when trying to overcome these little difficulties.

Even though I am the foreign speaker, and my native tongue is English, it's still hard for me to convince students that questions like these are wrong.

"Bu..but my Chinese teacher told me it's right" is usually the response.

I usually respond with:

"Well, if you are willing to trust a non-native speaker over a native speaker, fair enough. Just don't go to my country"

[wpqin]

The answer doesn't seem right- if all of my friends don't drink, then the natural conclusion would be that 'none of my friends drinks\drink' IMO.

Congratulations Tdol; you just failed your English exam :wink:

Is it correct?

Or: Congratulations Tdol; you just failed in your English exam.

[shane]

In spoken English it is perfectly okay to say "you failed your exam" :wink:

Likewise, "I passed in my English exam" would be considered incorrect, at least in BE

[RonBee]

In spoken English it is perfectly okay to say "you failed your exam" :wink:

Likewise, "I passed in my English exam" would be considered incorrect, at least in BE

In AE we say "You passed the test" or "You failed the test". The same goes for exam. I have never known of "in" to be used there. However, it is used in a sentence like "He failed in his attempt to lose weight." One might also use "to" in a sentence like "He failed to keep his promises."

:)

[wpqin]

Thank RonBee and Shane!

[Tdol]

What do you think?

I think "yes" until and unless you don't cheat.If you cheat there is no use to take part in any exams.


:P

Me cheat in exams? I've never cheated in an exam- only in forums.