Skip to content
Gaokao (CN)
Gaokao (CN)
中文原版
Gaokao (EN)
English edition · International Gaokao
Gaokao (FR)
Édition française · International Gaokao
← Library
学习策略 · Study strategy · 5 min

How to actively review, not passively re-read

Highlighting the textbook feels productive and produces almost nothing. The alternative takes less time and works.

Re-reading a chapter is one of the most comforting things you can do while studying and one of the least useful. Your eyes move, the words are familiar, and nothing new sticks.

The alternative is embarrassingly simple: close the book and write, from memory, everything you think the chapter said. Do it on blank paper. Then open the book and mark, in a different color, everything you missed or got wrong.

For math and physics, replace 'write' with 'do': pick one hard problem you have not seen and solve it without notes. If you can't, that is the diagnostic you needed.

Do this after every study session, not once a week. The pain of realizing you already forgot Monday's material is the mechanism.

If you find yourself reaching for a highlighter, stop. Highlighting is note-taking that pretends to be studying.

More in Study strategy
← Previous
The Pomodoro method, adjusted for gaokao prep
Next →
Spaced repetition for English and 文言文 vocabulary