The examination candidate, if
he/she is to be successful, must:-
(a) Obey
the rubrics (b) understand the questions asked (c) arrange his material
satisfactorily and avoid irrelevancy.
The rubric means the instruction at the
beginning of the examination paper. These instructions should be read very
carefully and fully understood. Frequently an examination paper is divided into
sections and the candidate is required to answer one question from each
section. If this is stated then the candidate should answer what is asked; no
more, no less. It is pointless answering two questions from a section if only
one is asked for: no matter how well answered the extra question is, it will
gain the student nothing since it is a superfluous; he has ignored the rubric.
If the instructions say four questions must be attempted, this means four not five.
Neither does it means three; it may happen that a candidate can answer only
three of the questions, but sometimes candidates think that if they answer
three well instead of tackling four they will be able to make up the deficiency
of the fourth by a good three. This seldom happens: If each question has a
minimum of 25 marks, the candidate is scoring out of 75 not 100. Again, if the
instructions say that sketches or diagrams should be drawn to illustrate answers
wherever possible, the student should observe this direction, first because the
examiner is looking out for such illustrations and will give credit for them
and, secondly, it may happen that a certain proportion of the marks for any
given question is reserved for sketches and diagrams
The student should read the question paper through very very carefully
and spend a few minutes thinking about the questions before beginning to answer
them. Do not rush into answering the first question you spot which you think
you can answer. It is a wise plan to read the question though, tick off the
ones you feels capable of answering and then re-read and select the four or
five that you decide you will answer. Before answering a particular question
make sure you understand the examiners demands in the question; it is good idea
to read the question through and underline the salient or key points requiring
attention. Take, for example, the following question:
“Describe very briefly the origin
of petroleum. Name the principal producing areas in the world. Indicate the
chief method by which oil is transported and the chief movement of oil.”
The crucial points here are: (1)
briefly – (2) origin of petroleum – (3) principal producing areas – (4) methods
of transport – (5) movement of oil.
The examiner requires a brief account – a
paragraph or so, not a page or more – of the origin of petroleum; he wants
named the brief area – not countries (through these may be named in addition
with the areas) – of oil production; he ask for methods of transport (i.e.
pipelines and tanker); and the wants to know the routes by which the oil is
moved from the centre of production to the consuming centers.
If a question asked for the
“Industrial geography” of a country, this means industry not agriculture; if a
question asks a “either/ or” this means one of the other, not both; if a
question asks for two “two of the following,” it means two, not three; and so
on. It is surprising how many candidates trip up on small points of this
nature. Avoid superfluous and irrelevant “padding”; by padding, the student is
not fooling the examiner, only himself. Obeying the injunction: “answer the
question, the whole question, and nothing but the question.”
Organize the material of your
answer in an orderly, systematic and logical way. Be precise; give figures, if
possible; give examples. Avoid such meaningless phases as a fertile soil,” the
right type of soil,” a good climate”, “cheap labour,” in many other areas,”
which at this level just cannot be tolerated. In discussing rainfall and
temperature figures required for the growth of a particular crop, give
approximate inches of rainfall and degree of temperature; not plentiful
rainfall and high temperatures, for these can have different meanings under different
circumstances. Likewise, in quoting cropping areas give precise locations;
cocoa on brazil, jute in India, wheat in the United States, sugar-cane in
Australia, coal in the soviet union, etc, are almost valueless. The student
should pay particular attention to those questions which ask him to deal with
special; areas of production of a commodity; in such cases he/she must refer to
what the conditions are and not to what the commodity requires.
A commodity type of question is
that which ask for description of a geographical condition of production of a
commodity. Answers to this kind of question should, generally speaking, deal
with (a) the geographical conditions of production (i.e. those of climate,
soil, labour, transport facilities; (b) the method of preparation or processing
involved; (c) the word distribution of a commodity and the precise located
areas of production; and perhaps (d) the markets to which the commodity goes to
the consumed. World distributions can be shown on sample sketch – maps.
Another common type of question
involves the analysis of the factor which has assisted the growth of particular
industry, e.g. the Lancashire cotton industry, the German chemical industry,
the United States motor- car industry. In answering such questions base your
account upon the following factors: (a) the supplies of raw materials; (b) the
availability of power supplies; (c) labour supplies, quantity and quality; (d)
markets; (e) transportation facilities. But do not forget, either to use the
knowledge you have learned in you history, economics, or comers classes; it is
often applicable to geographical questions. Students are all too prone to keep
their subjects knowledge into watertight compartments; let one subject
fertilize the other.
Sometimes a question is set which
involves comparison and contrast, perhaps of countries, regions, crops, or
towns. In such cases, take a point at a time and consider the similarity or
dissimilarity. Two quite separate and distinct descriptions do not necessarily
certitude a comparison or a contrast. Moreover, if the questions specifically
ask for the comparison, the candidate may be penalized if they do not fulfill
the instruction.
“Write a geographical assay upon
such and such a country” or “Give a systematic account of the economic
geography of such and such a country” are fairly common type of question.
Systematic simply means orderly and logical and in answering question of this
kind the student should consider (a) the natural conditions, i.e. geographical
position, relief and drainage, structure and minerals, climates, vegetation,
and soils, which have influence man and his activities; (b) the people, their
numbers, characters, culture, and stage of development, and their economic
activities, especially in relation to the use which they have made of the
available natural resources; and (c) the communications, towns, ports, foreign
trade, and trading relationships.
Illustrate your answers with
maps and diagrams. But remember, these should add to your written work and they
should be used in lieu of a page of written matter (in other word maps should
save time – Precious time). There is no much point in drawing a map which
merely repeats in practorial for what you have said in written word. Keep maps
clear, simple, and as accurate as possible; there is no need to embellish them
with blue -shaded seas, etc. And do not forget that if an outline map of the
world is provided, this can be used to help you get the shapes and size of
countries reasonably correct.
Finally, and this should not
need emphasizing, write legibly and neatly and use good English, paying some
respect to grammar, punctuation, and spelling. Avoid using slang,
abbreviations, and un-geographical expressions. Exemplify and amplify
statements. The quality, not quantity, of you answers matters to the examiner.
Allot your time carefully so that you do not over write on any particular
question.
The good student and the one who
scores heavily in examinations is the one who can give that little bit extra,
which place him above the run of general candidates. Examiner purr with delight
when they come across some (relevant) fact, illustration, idea, or approach
which is different and unexpected. The best way to widen, deepen, and
particularize, ones geographical knowledge is to read books. You may not have
much time to do this, but at least you can read your daily paper intelligently,
and from this you can gain much.
CONI T. T.
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