review vs. go through vs. review

[formalboy]

I have experienced another trouble. That's a multiple choice sentence in which I must be able to distinguish three above listed words.
Here is that sentence:
""will you help me to______for tomorrow's exam?
A. go through B.read C.revise D.review

I was hard pushed to distinguish them, and as I looked up in dictionaries, revise=review, hence I was puzzled, didn't know which was the best choice.
Therefore, I want to ask you guys for helps. Ms Ip, ngoc_diem, Mr. Bear Lac Loi, Help me!.
Thank you so much.

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[iPropose]

For the purpose of your multiple choice sentence:
- To "go through" is the same as "doing the exam", an equivalent to "practice". Think about this, when I say "to go through the exam", I would have already had the exam in my hand and would examine it, study it, maybe even analyzing it. Think of go through as review in a detailed and sequential manner, line by line, question by question, top to bottom, start to finish.

- To "revise" would mean to look at the exam and reconsider, and very possibly alter or make additional changes to it. It has an implication of "making it better" or "improve". However, when you "revise FOR something", you study or reread work done previously again and again with the intention to improve what's already been known to you, or to improve your knowledge of a subject.

- To "review" would mean to think through, remember or go over in one's mind again. The key here is to think of it as to view or inspect visually for the second time. If using "review" correctly as a verb, you'd "review tomorrow's exam". Think about this, you cannot review the tomorrow's exam if you have not seen it. You have to review something FOR some purpose. Only when used as a noun, for example, that I can say "I prepared a review FOR tomorrow's exam." Colloquially, we usually just say "I'm reviewing (my notes) for tomorrow's exam." In speaking, we tend to omit the "my notes" because it is implicitly understood. However, strict grammarians would consider that in writing as incorrect or misuse, if not misleading.

Having gone through that, I think I'd pick (c) as the answer. Hopefully I've made same choice as your answer key did. Else, I hope some other instructors could help shedding some light on the issue.

Regards,
K

[Bear Lac Loi]

Since I’m more familiar with US English, I would rather choose the answer (d): Would you help me to [Sic] review for the exam?

According to Cambridge Dictionary, revise has two different meanings:
1. [T] to look at or consider again an idea, piece of writing, etc. in order to correct or improve it
Example: His helpfulness today has made me revise my original opinion/impression of him.

2. [I or T] UK (US: review) to study again something you have already learned, in preparation for an examination
Example: We're revising (algebra) for the test tomorrow.

In the US, according to American Heritage Dictionary, revise means reconsider and change or modify. It also means correct.
Example: Please revise the grammatical mistakes before sending your email. See Synonyms at correct

Since the “change” meaning matches both UK and US, I would rather consider Revise as “change” and Review as “study”. Thus, if I had to guess, I would guess (d) – Review as the answer.

I think the answer may depend on whether the test was generated in UK or US. However, if we write our own sentence, I suggest using revise to refer to change and review when talking about looking over or studying.

Sorry, FormalBoy. Between Miss IP's and my answers, it is highly likely that you are now officially confused! It’s time to check the answer sheet.

:-)

[formalboy]

First, thank Ms Ip and Mr.Bear Lac Loi for answering my question.
In the answer key, they chose D-review. However, I am still confused, why don't we choose C-revise. That makes me so puzzled. Is it true that whenever I and other students do EL tests, we have to consider whether these tests are generated in UK or US. Review and revise, as I looked up in Oxford dictionary and Long man dictionary, all I found meant these word could be used interchangeably. To be honest, I still don't really grasp all things Mr. Bear Lac Loi explained. Oh my goddess!
Alas, English is so complicated!

[Bear Lac Loi]

Formalboy, if I had to take the test, I would probably get all confused as well.

However, it’s easier for me since I only have to worry about American English. When I write, I use MS Word, which sometimes cannot recognize British English.

For example, when I use spelling check from Microsoft Word, the built-in dictionary cannot recognize realise. It recommends using realize. When looking up the word realize in Cambridge Dictionary, we see a note saying [UK usually realise]. What that means is that people in UK usually use realise instead of realize.

Similarly, when we look up the word revise in Cambridge Dictionary, we’ll see this: “[I or T]UK(US review) to study again something you have already learned, in preparation for an examination”. The note UK tells us that this is specifically for UK only. The note (US review) tells us that in the US, people use review instead.

If you look up the word in Longman Dictionary Online, you’ll see this: “[intransitive and transitive] British English to study facts again, in order to learn them before an examination [= review, study American English]” That states the same thing: In British English, revise means study facts again. The equivalent word in American English is review or study.

When answering the question, I automatically considered review because I only know American English.

If I were to take the test, I use the common meaning between UK and US. In this case, the common meaning of revise is change, and the common meaning of review is study.