It is said that experience is the best teacher, but to learn consciously through wisdom may even be a better and more convenient way. T learn by experience is to learn from mistakes. It means you have burnt our fingers and now your eyes are open'. This is a tough, costly and inconvenient way to learn. Rather than leaving our learning to experience, why do we not learn consciously going out way to acquire knowledge and wisdom rather than leave our learning to chance.
Surely, we can learn from mistakes but why wait till when we make mistakes before we lean? We should give more premium to learning by wisdom than by experience.

This will involve one making up ones mind to be decisive in learning. We must decide to learn consciously and not necessarily from negative experiences. The first step is to realize that life is simply the outcome and outplay of decisions. Our life now is the sum total of our decisions and our future will be determined by our decisions. Our life now is the sum total of our decisions and our future will be determined by our decisions of today. If we decide to learn today we are not likely to make mistakes and when we do not make mistakes, experience need not be our best teacher.

To avoid making experience our best teacher will take more than a decision. We must couple our decision with a complete and -wholehearted devotion. We must be resolved, resolute and resilient in our bid to learn by wisdom and not necessarily by experience. This is crucial because situations and circumstances will want us to make a detour and leave our learning and life to chance. We must therefore be disciplined to remain with our resolve to make a clean break with experience as our best teacher. Disciplined in this regard means learning something new everyday by wisdom rather than rather than experience. It
means consciously getting better by the day in your chosen field. Discipline will demand taking advantage of every learning opportunity that comes our way. It will mean we must pay the price for learning by wisdom -invest in books, magazines, seminars and other means by which we may become wiser.

It is much easier and cheaper to learn consciously by wisdom than to learn by experience. When we learn by experience , the deed is done and we are just picking up the pieces-learning in regret how to avoid such predicament next time. Consider the child who grapes a burning coal, he has learned the hard way through the painful experience, but his fingers will remain burnt. Thus the saying, that experience is the best teacher, may not be justifiable after all.

Adapted from Sunday Tribune , July 2007

It can be deduced from the passage that

A. all experiences are best teachers

B. learning through pains is better

C. experience is superior to wisdom

D. wise thoughts are more desirable than experience

Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?

A. man must make mistakes in order to survive.

B. the totality of our actions should be decided by our judgement.

C. if we do not make mistakes, experience must be our teacher

D. our future would be judged by our past mistakes

According to the passage, we must be disciplined to

A. make experience our best teacher in reality

B. learn from our experiences in future

C. choose the learning opportunity that comes our way

D. decide against making experience our teacher

The phrase 'a complete and wholehearted devotion', as used in the passage, means

A. acting without doubts

B. learning with tension

C. learning without pains

D. teaching with ease

Answer the following question below and select the option that best explains the information conveyed in the sentence.

Hardworking students must not have a finger in every pie at school.

A. Hardworking students must not have a role to play in most activities in the school

B. Only hardworking students must participate in all activities in the school

C. Hardworking students do not participate in all activities in the school

D. Hardworking students must ask others to participate in school activities

The vice chancellor is riding the crest of the last quarter of his administration.

A. The vice chancellor enjoys the acknowledgment of the success of his administration

B. the vice chancellor does not enjoy the people's criticism of his administration

C. the vice chancellor hopes to overcome soon the poor comments on the adinistration

D. the vice chancellor does not talk of his success in office

She was absolved by the court from the charge.

A. she was convicted for the charge

B. she was blamed and charged to court

C. her case was resolved by the court

D. she was declared free from the charge

The landlord is fond of throwing his weight about

A. the landlord likes healthy exercise

B. the landlord is overweight

C. the landlord gives orders to people

D. the landlord is respected by his tenants

The company ought to have issued warrants for one billion shares

A. the company has issued one billion share

B. the management expected the company to issue more than one billion shares

C. members of the company bought less than one billion shares

D. the company did not issue one billion shares

He needed not to have played in the position of quarterback in volley ball.

A. He participated in the game in his unusual position

B. Nobody expected him to have participated in the game

C. He wanted to play in a position other than the one he was offered

D. Someone did not want him to play in the position that he played