CBSE Class 10 Answered

Helen did not like exams. Helren thought that exams was the chief problem of her college life. No matter how many times she took them, she found them rising again and again and menacing with her. In her opinion, exams were very stressful you had to cram your mind with 'mystic formula and indigestible dates'. She wished 'that books and science and you were buried in the depths of the sea' during exam time. She felt her memory fading away in the examination hall. She said that facts that she had garnered with such great trouble invariably failed her at a pinch. 

Mr. Gilman read out the papers to her through manual alphabet sentence by sentence and then Helen repeated it to make sure she had understood it correctly. She then used the typewriter to write down her answers after which Mr. Gilman would read it again. She would then make the necessary changes.

At Radcliffe, nobody read Helen’s papers once it was written. She had no opportunities to correct her errors unless she finished her papers before time. Even if she did finish it before time, she could only correct the mistakes she could recall in the last few minutes. 

When Helen took her exam in June 1899, she faced many difficulties, as the administrative board of Radcliffe did not realize how difficult they were making her examinations. They did not understand the peculiar difficulties Helen had to go through. However, Helen, with her grit and determination, overcame them all.

A difference of opinion between Mr. Gilman and Miss Sullivan resulted in Helen’s mother withdrawing Helen and Mildred from the Cambridge school. Helen went on to continue her studies under a tutor.