ANSWERING QUESTIONS.

Our next advice to the candidate is,-Begin the work of answering questions with discrimination. Do not lose time by a long study of the paper as a whole. Do not trouble yourself with the fear that you will not be able to do the whole paper. Do not begin to puzzle yourself with some great and particular difficulty. As soon as you have your paper in hand, after a moment's glance at its general scope and its most important features, begin with the first question which you can the most fully and clearly answer, without minding whether it is at the top, middle, or end of the paper; though, all other things being equal, it is advisable as a general rule to take the questions either in the order in which they stand, or in some simple and natural order in which they may depend on one another. Having answered the first question, without spending too much time on it because it is the easiest for you, at once proceed to the next clearest one; and so on, until you have dealt with all the questions about which you feel sure beforehand, leaving till the last all those which are likely to entangle or delay you. By this method you will save the valuable time which might be spent in attempting answers which from their incomplete or inaccurate state would count little or nothing in the result. Besides, you will so fully have got over the nervous dread of the opening moment that you can approach the remaining questions with the glow of confidence which the feeling of triumph always inspires. Should you find yourself unexpectedly and hopelessly entangled with a problem, leave it at once and proceed to the next, in the hope that you will find time at the last for its correction or revision. We know there is a strong temptation to struggle heroically to the last with a perplexing and obstinate problem, in the thought that if finally mastered it will count well. There is also a natural repugnance to leaving an attempted solution half finished; but it is better to do so than to lose irrecoverable time over it whilst there are half a dozen easy questions which the candidate may not yet have touched at all. The examination-room is not a place for experiments or Quixotic contests, but for writing down at once definite and well-ascertained results, the power of producing which has been acquired beforehand. The question for the examiner is not what the candidate might have done but for this or that unfortunate event. The examiner must form his judgment both on the quantity and the quality of what has actually been accomplished, and on that alone.

Some candidates take the time of two or three questions in answering one. In order to avoid this error they should place their watches by their side, and duly apportion their time for the different parts of the paper, according to their relative importance and the number of questions which they can answer in each part. A well

classified and concise answer will pay better than a long, loose, and rambling one. Undue length and comprehensiveness in the answers to two or three questions will not make up for bare, inaccurate, or superficial answers to half a dozen others; although half a dozen full and correct replies will be more likely to carry the candidate through than ten or twelve scanty and imperfect ones. It may be well to summarise here the opinion of an examiner of considerable experience, though not in University examinations : "Onesidedness is an error which will always discover itself at a written examination. Absolute completeness cannot, of course, be expected under the excitement and pressure of a competition, but the onesidedness, or incompleteness, which characterises many candidates, especially in historical and literary themes, might easily be avoided. Many seem to be under the impression that a minute and thorough acquaintance with one great event will make up for their ignorance of the other and more important events connected with the same subject; forgetting, it seems, that a complete answer need not be long, and that incompleteness is only made more apparent by an undue multiplication of words. One of the most noticeable faults in answers is that of irrelevancy. Rather than draw upon their imagination, and make a useless show of ignorance, candidates should realise the truth that nothing but facts ad rem will pay at examinations." Do not attempt, therefore, to make up an apparent but unmeaning answer by writing aimlessly about what you do not understand, or by losing yourself in a cloud of words. Every skilled examiner is up to these and similar devices, and cannot be readily imposed upon. Such fruitless attempts at deception are either heavily discounted, or altogether ignored.

GUESSING.

This brings us to another point of advice,-Never guess at the answer to a question. If you are not quite sure of the correct answer, say nothing and pass on. Many a time the candidate will have a strong temptation to risk it in matters of doubt, and to venture upon an answer which seems more probably right than wrong. Of course, if the guess should be absolutely correct it will pass for a bona fide answer, unless there is something about it which betrays its true character. But the guess is more likely to be. wrong than right; for out of a thousand possible guesses nine hundred and ninety-nine may be wrong and only one right. Besides, in many cases the ignorance revealed by the answer may be more damaging than absolute silence, and will naturally excite prejudice the mind of the examiner.

NEATNESS AND METHOD

A few other points are worthy of attention. Write your answers legibly, neatly, and methodically. "The candidate should endeavour to arrange the matter contained in his answers after a clear, definite, and logical method; as a clear arrangement shows a thorough acquaintance with the subject and produces a favourable impression upon the examiner." "It is hardly, perhaps, necessary to insist upon legibility of the writing and distinct numbering and separation of the answers; but if the candidate reflect upon the extra difficulty thrown upon the examiners (who have often to inspect some hundreds of papers in a few days) by neglect in these respects, and that anything which cannot be read is necessarily at once passed over, and is lost to him, he will not, perhaps, consider the reminder superfluous." It is equally important to catch the right meaning and drift of each question, and to try to bring out those facts and aspects of the subject which the examiner may be supposed to have had in view in preparing the question. "It very frequently happens," says Mr. Dodds, in his excellent little Guide to Matriculation, "that candidates misunderstand or altogether overlook questions for want of a little attention; and so apt are they to become fidgety and excited that they scarcely know what they are about, and make mistakes in the simplest things. Therefore, endeavour to keep cool, and again we say, read over your questions carefully and thoughtfully."

EXAMINING THE EXAMINERS.

Some candidates are very eager in going up to the examiner's desk and making inquiries as to the scope and particular meaning of some of the questions, or on similar matters. We do not think that anything is gained by such a procedure. Examiners are naturally loth to be put under examination themselves, or to give one candidate a preference over others by privately affording him information which cannot be conveniently given to others. Unless there is some palpable misprint or mistake in a question, the candidate had better save time by retaining his seat and using his own careful judgment as to the purport and range of the question. The examiners will usually call attention at the outset to any error or misprint in the examination-paper; and no prejudice would lie against any candidate who might make a slip through an error of that kind, especially if he should show competent knowledge and skill in other respects. A candidate who found on his classical paper the words, Explain the following passages, went to ask the examiner whether he should write notes on the grammatical peculiarities of the passages, or on their historical, literary, or other allusions. "Whichever you like," was

the curt and only reply. Whatever kind of answers the candidate might give would be a test of his discernment and of the spirit and skill with which he had studied the given authors of the year.

ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF THE EXAMINATION-PAPERS.

For various reasons it is impossible to indicate how much of each paper it is essential to do in order to command a pass in that paper. Quality as well as quantity must be considered, and of that the examiners must be left the sole judges. We may, however, try to indicate those parts of a paper which are either relatively more important than others, or on which more stress is laid; so that whilst the candidate should attempt the whole of a paper if he can find time for it, he should always make sure of certain parts.

In the classical papers there can be no doubt that Latin Composition and the Questions in Grammar are of primary importance. Again we quote the words: "Grammatical correctness in the rendering of English into Latin is imperatively necessary." Failure in this point will vitiate the whole of the work in classics. The questions on the given extracts are also a peculiar test of the candidate's thoroughness in the study of the specified authors, and should be accurately, but only briefly, answered. As a University authority has in substance observed: In the study of languages ignorance of Grammar is the prevailing fault. Many candidates just learn by rote or otherwise to construe their text very well, and yet fail to satisfy the examiners when they are met with the simplest tests in Grammar.

The same remark applies, in a certain degree, to French or German Grammar, which is indispensable. The questions on this subject are an essential part of the examination."

In Mathematics we would recommend the candidate, unless he has a fair prospect of doing the whole of the morning paper, to answer first those questions which embrace the higher subjects not included in the Matriculation examination. As to the afternoon paper, which is a very comprehensive one, he should first attempt one or two questions at least in each branch of study, and not spend so much of his time on the Plane and Solid Geometry part of the paper, which is usually the longest, as to leave no time for the important subjects of Co-ordinate Geometry and Trigonometry. We say this, however, with the caution that whatever is done in Mathematics should be accurately and carefully done. A little thoroughness here will pay better than much incompleteness.

As to the papers in English, we may observe that the candidate is often induced by his greater freedom and familiarity with the subject to enlarge too much on the first few questions. As we have already implied, those questions in the morning paper which relate

to the special work on the structure, history, and development of English Grammar should be primarily dealt with. Failure here means failure altogether-failure without excuse. In the afternoon, our political and literary history as a nation is the vital point; and well-classified, coherent, and concise answers bearing directly upon the questions asked are necessary to success; especially in English Constitutional History, where weakness and inaccuracy would be more disastrous than an absolute blank.

With regard to all the papers, we would suggest that, instead of writing up to the last moment, the candidate should invariably, reserve the last few minutes for a rapid but careful review of his answers, in order to correct slips of the pen, punctuate where necessary, and otherwise make his answers more acceptable and intelligible to the examiner. Above all, let him make sure that he has written his examination number distinctly legible at the head of each book, otherwise he may lose the whole value of his work—a result for which the University authorities will in no respect be responsible or disposed to make any amends. The number should be written down at the outset, or the candidate may become so absorbed in his work as to entirely forget to do it until after he has left the room.

CONCERNING FAILURES.

We believe there is no University in which the percentage of failures is so great as it is in the University of London. Perhaps this is the chief reason why its degrees and distinctions are so widely and so eagerly coveted. The standard is placed high in order that men may have the greater honour in reaching it, and may have a stronger ambition to inspire them in the attempt.

No doubt one reason why there are comparatively so many failures is that a large number of the candidates are self-prepared and, in many cases, have slight means of determining the absolute accuracy or relative value of such knowledge as they have picked up. Many of these candidates are often highly deserving, conscientious, and industrious students, and yet fail from want of suitable assistance to point out their defective knowledge, or from want of that trained skill which can rarely be acquired except by years of schooling and practised study. The fact of their inaccuracy and want of disciplined scholarship comes upon them as a surprise when they learn they have failed to pass.

It is not easy to get at the exact statistics which bear upon this point with regard to the First B.A. Examination. But we may