Front-row reminder: Today’s article is a motivational piece
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Because I am quite interested in programming, most of the tutorials and documentation I read are in English. I also report issues on GitHub, ask questions on Stack Overflow, and communicate various situations by emailing server customer service. Occasionally, I need to look up new words in a dictionary, but I basically don’t use translation software much. I think my English level isn’t too bad.
However, I have never passed the CET-6 (College English Test Band 6). Since sophomore year, my first highest score in the second semester of sophomore year was 389, but then it declined all the way down, with the lowest being in the 270s. In between, I even missed an exam opportunity because I missed the registration. Later, I met my graduate supervisor who required us to pass the CET-6 before graduating from undergraduate.
To be honest, I took the test so many times, and each time I performed worse and worse, which was quite discouraging. I remember when I first started university, my English teacher, Mr. Shao, said: “Passing the CET-6 doesn’t prove much, but failing the CET-6 definitely proves something.” Sometimes I comforted myself by saying my reading and writing skills were relatively strong, but whenever I thought of this sentence, I knew I was just bad at exams.
With this mindset plus my supervisor’s push, I decided to work hard! Sooner or later, I had to pass! In the first phase, I corrected my attitude and faced it seriously. Before that test, I simply memorized vocabulary and listened to some New Concept English lessons with teacher Li Duoduo (now I can still recite Lesson 60 by heart). At first, I studied every day, but later I wasn’t so dedicated. Sometimes I stopped for half a month or a month due to various reasons, then rushed to cram before the test, scoring 389, returning to my first level. What does this prove? Passing CET-6 isn’t that difficult. I told the teacher about my situation, and they suggested I enroll in a cram class because the exam follows patterns, and mastering those patterns can make learning more efficient.
The next time was the same: I started reviewing every day, then the frequency dropped, and I reviewed more before the test. Overall, I followed the cram class schedule, but sometimes I was just muddling through, sometimes focused. After this test, I felt the questions were quite difficult and was ready to take it once more.
On the morning of August 24, 2023, at eleven o’clock, I was looking at my phone when suddenly a notification popped up that the CET-6 scores were available. This time, CET-6 was merciless, ambushing the veteran test-takers like me who had taken it four or five times! Boom, very fast, I immediately opened the score checking page. I defended myself against every thought of disappointment and surprise, and looking closely, I scored 433 and passed.
I’m passing with a low score, nothing to brag about, but I wanted to record and share this experience with you: something that most people can do well, I probably can do well too, but the main reasons I didn’t do well before were: lack of commitment and not mastering the test patterns.
In the future, when encountering problems that are hard to solve, you can analyze from these two perspectives. For example, for final exams, if you don’t study enough or focus on the key points during revision, how can you pass? Another example, practicing skills—if you only practice for three days and still just mess around randomly, how can you have any sense of qi or progress?