Have you ever been surprised by a bad grade on an essay or research paper? What a terrible feeling that is!

　　你有没有曾经为一篇文章或研究报告中取得不好的成绩感到惊讶?那真是一种非常糟糕的感觉!

　　We can work really hard on a paper and turn it in with complete confidence, only to be shocked when the teacher gives it back covered in dreadful red marks and comments.

　　我们可能非常努力地完成试卷并充满信心地交卷，却被老师返回的试卷上那糟糕的分数和评论而震惊。

　　How do you react when this happens? It’s normal to feel frustrated and disappointed, but you must avoid dwelling in a state of negativity. As hard as it seems, you’ll need to turn things around and move on to take a constructive approach. Don’t try to pass the blame to somebody else, and don’t get angry: neither reaction will result in anything positive.

　　当这事发生时你会如何反应呢?感到沮丧和失望是很正常的，但你必须避免总处在一种消极的状态中。似乎很难，你需要扭转现状，采取一些有效的方法。不要试图责怪别人，也不要生气：这两种行为都不会带来任何积极的效果。

　　When you’re surprised by a bad grade, you must take steps to discover what went wrong and make sure this bad experience doesn’t happen again!

　　当你对一个糟糕的成绩感到惊讶时，你必须采取措施，看看哪里出了问题，确保这糟糕的经历以后不会再发生!

　　There are a few ways to go about this.

　　这里有一些处理的方法。

　　Talk to the teacher. If you don’t understand (or don’t agree with) the comments that are written in the margins of your paper, you should definitely set up an appointment to talk with your teacher. During the meeting, be positive and open to the guidance the teacher offers you. He or she will clarify any questions you have and help you avoid any mistakes you’ve made. Teachers like to know that students are willing to improve. You may find that the teacher is willing to let you turn in a revised paper.

　　与老师交谈。如果你不理解(或不同意)某些老师的评论，写在试卷的边缘，你应该找个时间约老师谈谈。在谈话期间，对老师给你的指导要持积极和开放的态度。他或她会澄清任何你有的问题并帮助你避免你犯过的任何错误。老师希望知道学生愿意改进。你会发现老师愿意让你把修改后的论文提交上来。

　　Look for problems and patterns in your writing. Look over the comments you see and determine whether you are repeating mistakes. You may have an issue with subject-verb agreement, or you may be mixing up words that we commonly confuse. Identify any weakness in your writing and take steps to make improvements.

　　寻找你在书写中的问题和模式。审视你看到的评语，确定你是否在重复犯错。你可能犯了一些错误：主谓一致，您可能误用了容易混淆的词。确认你书写中的弱点，并采取措施做出改善。

　　Take a deep breath and see the big picture. A final grade in a course is made up of many individual grades from papers, projects, and tests. Students must remember that some of the assignments carry more weight than others. For example, a quiz grade may count for 10% of a final grade while a test grade may count for 25% of your final grade.

　　深呼吸，看整体。课程的最终成绩是由许多部分组成，从论文成绩，项目，和测试。学生必须记住，一些项目比其他项目占有更大的分量。例如,小测验成绩可能占期末成绩的10%，考试成绩可能占期末成绩的25%。

　　Review your process. One thing that surprises students is the amount of work that should go into a paper. Some students are naturally talented, and they go through middle school writing great papers with one or two drafts. This changes as you progress into higher grades! Even the most talented writers will need to increase their number of drafts and rewrites to finish with a really good paper. And it is important to start early on your paper.

　　反思整个过程。令学生震惊的是论文撰写中投入的的工作量。一些学生天生才华横溢，在中学期间他们写一到两个草稿就可以完成高质量的文章。但随着年级的升高，即使是有才华的写作者也需要增加草稿的数量并重写来完成一个很好的论文。而且早点开始写论文也是非常重要的。

　　Expectations will increase when it comes to formatting your paper, using evidence and good arguments, using transitions that make your paper flow, and tapping in to your creativity. As these expectations grow, so will the required time commitment—if you want a good result.

　　在论文排版时，期望也会增加。使用论证和好的论据，使用过渡词句使你的文章流畅，并融入你的创造力。随着这些期望的增长，如果你希望取得一个好成绩，你付出的时间也会增加。

　　Students must get used to writing multiple drafts. You should never turn in a paper until you’ve written at least three drafts!

　　学生必须习惯多写草稿。当你至少写了三遍草稿时，你才可以提交你的文章。

（编辑：何莹莹）