Nowadays the examination is used as a chief means of deciding whether a student succeeds or fails in mastering a particular subject in most colleges and universities. Although it is efficient, its side effects are also enormous.

　　On the one hand, examinations lower the standards of teaching. Since teachers are often judged by examination results, they are reduced to training their students in exam techniques. No subjects can be taught successfully if treating exam as a gole . On the other hand, the most undesirable effect is that examinations encourage bad study habits. A examination is not the only criterion for driving the students to memorize mechanically, but to think creatively instead.

　　In fact, few of us admit that examinations can contribute anything really important to the students’ academic development. If that is the case, why cannot we make a change and devise something more efficient and reliable than examinations?