Burning the midnight oil
Whenever examination time draws near, students begin staying awake late at night, right up to the early hours of the next morning. They sacrifice precious sleep in order to memorise lessons so that they will do well in the forthcoming examinations. Their parents, too, take turns, sitting with them, making hot cups of tea or coffee, to keep them awake while they study. All through the year they neglected their studies, enjoyed themselves, played games, watched plenty of TV, went for a number of movies, and took studies for granted. Only when the terrible shadow of examination looms near, do they become nervous and feel that they need to spend more than usual time on study. So they burn the midnight oil, fighting sleep and forgetfulness, in desperate attempts to cram into their heads a whole year’s study. My advice to such shirkers is: Do regular study all the year round. Do your homework on time. Revise regularly whatever has been taught. And you will have no need to burn the midnight oil. Examinations, then, will be a mere cakewalk?
Difficult Words
- Forthcoming
- About to happen or appear in the near future.
- Neglected
- Failed to give proper care or attention to something or someone.
- Looms
- Appears as a vague and often frightening large shape or figure.
- Cram
- To study intensively over a short period of time, especially just before an examination.
- Shirkers
- People who avoid or get out of doing work, duty, or responsibility.
- Cakewalk
- Something that is very easy to achieve or do.
- Sacrifice
- To give up something valuable for the sake of something else considered more important.
- Memorise
- To learn something so that you can remember it exactly.
- Granted (take for granted)
- To fail to properly appreciate someone or something, especially as a result of overfamiliarity.
- Desperate
- Feeling or showing a hopeless sense that a situation is so bad as to be impossible to deal with; involving a very great risk.
- Revise
- To re-examine and make corrections or improvements to; to study work already done.