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The Common Room

22nd April 1966, Page 82
22nd April 1966
Page 82
Page 82, 22nd April 1966 — The Common Room
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

By George Wilmot

Lecturer in Transport Studies, University of London

THE TRANSPORT EXAMINER'S NOTEBOOK II—A Few Pointers in the Remaining Days

T AST week I emphasized the need for selection of topics and

training in writing an answer in a specified time in the quite critical period of two or three weeks before the major transport examinations. Within this framework there are a number of guide lines to hold in bringing preparation up to peak efficiency.

The old myth that examiners are fundamentally sadists at heart gloating over the misfortunes of candidates still dies hard. In fact, the examiner sets a paper with the basic objective of finding how much a candidate knows; he does not pick questions to expose weaknesses in knowledge and there are no "tricks" in the paper to trap the unwary. Indeed, examiners spend a great deal of time in trying to avoid all possible ambiguities in questions—occasionally not always successfully, as I know to my own embarrassment—and always try to make their meaning perfectly clear.

The sloppy use of terms and concepts in road transport by candidates causes examiners in all the transport schemes a good deal of anxiety. Last year, to take but one topical example, I corrected a number of scripts in which candidates used the words "co-ordination" and "integration" as if they had exactly the same meaning. In any question dealing with the problem of bus transport in an urban region it is absolutely essential to distinguish between these two terms. Integration refers to the bringing together of all the parts under one unified control (for example, London Transport in 1933) but co-ordination simply means bringing the parts into an orderly relationship and preserving the identity of each (for example, joint and through services). Looseness of expression was also a common feature in defining terms in economics.

Too many candidates try to stretch their memorizing powers so that they can quickly reproduce data on the day of the examination. It is the application of the facts to specific transport problems which will score marks, not the mere recital of the facts themselves. Allied to this aspect is the importance, when practising writing in examination conditions, of preparing answers which have a related and coherent theme. Candidates should always try to take a particular viewpoint in a question, using solid facts to build up a structure on which these opinions can stand firmly. The result of neglecting this need for a specific theme can be a confusing medley of fact and opinion or, even worse, a presentation of views which are contradictory.

In this final preparation, time should be devoted to working on specific examples of the traffic flows in particular industries, or the transport situation in a given area. Vague generalizations in answers bring a meagre return on the mark sheet; the pinpointing of actual examples scores quick returns towards a high award. With this aspect in mind, last autumn I reviewed the transport problems in various regions of Great Britain with specific reference to difficulties of the bus industry. In the next few weeks I shall consider examples of the transport requirements and operational techniques in certain major industries.

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Organisations: University of London

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