E-Book: Crack Any Exam with E = MC²

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Secret 5/59:
Always Start Your Study With a Question
SECRET 5/59.
“Always Start Your Study With a Question.”

By Dr. Sujendra Prakash

Most students begin their study by opening the book.
That is the most inefficient way to study.

A professional learner never starts with a book.
A professional student begins with a question.

Why?

Because the brain needs a container before it can hold information.

1. The Brain Needs a Container

Imagine trying to collect a bucket of water by pouring it on a flat floor.
It will flow everywhere, and nothing will remain.

Your brain is the same.
If you pour information onto a “flat surface,” nothing gets stored.

A question is the container.
When you ask a question, the mind creates a space where information can sit, stay, and connect.

No question = no container = no retention

A question = a container = learning with meaning

So always ask a question before you study, not after.

2. The Container Comes First, Not the Content

If you pour water into a bucket, the bucket holds it.
If you pour water on a table, the table doesn’t hold it.

So when information enters the brain and you haven’t prepared a container, it goes in… and flows out.

Nothing stays.

If you forget your lessons easily, it’s not the fault of the lesson.
It’s the absence of a mental container.

A question is the simplest and strongest container you can create.

3. Never Begin Studying Without Asking Yourself: “Why?”

Don’t ask your teacher.
Don’t ask your parents.
Ask yourself:

Why should I study this?

What am I supposed to learn?

How will this help me later?

What is the purpose of this topic?

Your teacher may not show you the connection.
Your textbook won’t show the connection.
You must find it.

Everything in your textbook exists for a reason.
Your job is to discover that reason.

4. What Kind of Questions Should You Ask? (Bloom’s Taxonomy)

Most students have never been trained in questioning,
yet questioning determines everything you understand.

In 1956, Bloom’s Taxonomy classified the six levels of thinking:

Knowledge - Do I know this?

Comprehension - Do I understand this?

Application - Can I use this?

Analysis - Can I examine and break this down?

Synthesis - Can I connect ideas and create something new?

Evaluation - Can I judge, compare, and make decisions?

These six types of questions are the basis of every exam in the world.

If you prepare for all six, no exam question can surprise you.

5. Knowledge-Level Questions (1–2 marks)

These ask simple things:

What?

Where?

When?

Define

List

Name

State

Label

If you ask these questions while studying, the exam will not shock you.

Students get stressed in the exam because they never asked these questions beforehand.

6. Comprehension-Level Questions (2–5 marks)

Here, the examiner wants to know:

Can you explain?

Can you summarize?

Can you interpret?

Can you describe in your own words?

When you study, don’t only memorize—
try to explain the concept as if teaching someone.

This builds comprehension.

7. Application-Level Questions (5+ marks)

Here, you must use what you learned:

Solve

Calculate

Demonstrate

Apply

Examine

Use in a new context

Most math problems fall here.
Don’t waste time writing definitions when asked for applications.

8. Analysis, Synthesis, Evaluation

(These determine higher-level intelligence)

Analysis

Break the idea into parts, compare, contrast, examine strengths and weaknesses.

Synthesis

Create, design, invent, propose, reorganize —
show innovative use of knowledge.

This is the highest skill students should develop,
but the education system rarely encourages it.

Evaluation

Judge, justify, critique, assess value, recommend solutions.

Every competitive exam, interview, and real-life task depends on these.

9. If You Ask These Questions Before Studying…

Then:

Your reading becomes meaningful

You remember for a long time

You become exam-proof

You stop fearing unexpected questions

Questions create thinking.
Thinking creates understanding.
Understanding creates memory.

That is why you remember movies, cricket matches, or thrillers —
because while watching them, you constantly ask questions:

What will happen next?

Who will win?

Why did he do that?

What is going to change now?

Questions make everything interesting.

10. Apply This Same Curiosity to Your Textbook

You read books without asking questions.
But when you visit a new place, travel, hike, or watch a movie,
you ask questions naturally.

That is why you remember them.

If you start asking questions while studying,
your entire academic life will change.

Studying will stop being boring.
It will become interactive, engaging, and intelligent.

Your interest goes up.
Your memory improves automatically.
Your concentration follows naturally.

Final Message

Before you open any book,
before you watch any lesson,
before you start any chapter

Always start with a question.
The question prepares your mind,
and the mind prepares your success.
This is Secret 5.
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