Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 41 to 47.

Although achieving good grades is significant and should be a goal for every student, they do not always reflect a student's level of intelligence accurately. Instead of solely focusing on grades, students should prioritize understanding and retaining the material they are learning, thereby gaining genuine knowledge.

David Thomas, a principal lecturer at ASU, said there are varying theories about intelligence. One of them is the entity theory of intelligence, which describes intelligence as being stable throughout someone’s life. Thomas said there are also people who think just the opposite, and that a person can become more intelligent throughout their life. While there are varying theories on what intelligence is and whether it can improve, you can gain knowledge throughout the course of your life. This principle should be the focus of education, not a person’s grades.

Every student at ASU is preparing for a career and learning the necessary skills to do well in their desired industry. Getting an “A” on a test will not mean anything if you cannot apply the material you learned to real-life situations. Just because someone gets an “A” in a class or is in Barrett, the Honors College, it doesn’t define intelligence. Similarly, someone who gets a “D” in a class is not necessarily unintelligent, as there are other factors that play into grades. Take Bill Gates for example, a very wealthy and successful man who dropped out of Harvard University two years into his degree and later became the co-founder of Microsoft. He is intelligent, and yet he did not have a college degree when he started his company.

Additionally, Thomas said motivation plays a big part in a person’s grades. A student with mastery-oriented motivation approaches a class with curiosity and an interest in the subject, whereas a student with performance-orientated motivation does so solely from a grade standpoint. If people spent the same amount of time working to ensure they retain important information as they did pulling all-nighters to cram for finals, they could become be more intelligent. Students should focus on developing their critical thinking and problem-solving skills rather than simply memorizing information for a test.

A transcript only shows a student’s motivation, dedication and work ethic - not their personality, humor,

work or life experiences. While grades still matter, we need to stop weighing our intelligence through grades and instead recognize that intelligence comes in all forms.

(Adapted from 10 practice tests for GCSE exam)

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