Ethics - set of moral principles: a theory or system of moral values (Websters).
Throwing out the term “Ethical practice exam” is easy to do…but what does it mean? Here’s how I define it:
1. If you are going through a practice exam trying to memorize questions and answers (“If I see this question, the answer is…”), it’s not an ethical practice exam.
2. If you are studying from a practice exam that is literally THE questions and answers from the real exam, it’s not an ethical practice exam.
3. If you find yourself justifying taking a practice exam that has THE questions and answers from the real exam with comments like, “I’m not going to waste my brain space studying questions like THAT.” or “I really know this stuff, I’m just not a good test taker.” or “I have the knowledge, I just don’t have the time to study.” you’re not taking an ethical practice exam and you’re fighting your own conscience.
4. If you are using a practice exam that has similar styles and topics as the real exam, but not actual questions, it is an ethical practice exam. Study away!
With that in mind, here are some practice exam resources I highly recommend for the CCNA:
CCNA Practice Questions, Third Edition ($16.49 Amazon) I’m sure you could see this one coming – seriously, I put a lot of time into this book and for the price, it blows away any other practice exam you could buy.
Boson CCNA Practice Exam ($149.00) Expensive, but good / guaranteed practice exam
Simulation Exams.com CCNA Practice Exam ($29.00) Hit and miss questions, but cheap way to test your overall knowledge of CCNA topics
Cisco CCNA Prep Center (FREE) Some questions are cheesy, but others are very good
Jeremy D. Cioara, CCIE No. 11727, is the owner of AdTEC Networks, an IT consulting firm. Jeremy also teaches on topics ranging from Cisco certification to IP telephony. Jeremy is also the author of books and official curriculums.
We've got 15 copies of his new book CCNA Practice Questions (Exam 640-802), 3rd Edition, up for grabs. Go here for details on how to win a copy. Go here for a sneak peek of a chapter.
|
|
thanks jer. thanks 4 the
thanks jer.
thanks 4 the useful piece of info...
The purpose of practice tests
It's funny what justifications people come up with to cheat by procuring the actual test questions. I always wonder if they are trying to convince us or themselves that it's OK with those lame excuses.
Anyways... I see 3 main purposes for practice tests.
1) It gets you used to the testing environment. So you can be prepared for the different types and formats of questions.
2) It should allow you to accurately access your knowledge level in all areas of the certification. This will let you know the areas that you need to study more, and should let you know when you are ready to attempt the actual exam.
3) As you go through the practice tests multiple times, it will help to reinforce the knowledge that you have already gained elsewhere.
Unfortunately, we will never be rid of brain dump sites. And people who want to get the actual test questions will always be able to get them. While it does bug me that there are tons of posers out there who have the same letters after their name as I do, I do have some comforting thoughts.
1) Since I'm putting in the effort to really learn the material and not just memorize questions, I'll have the skills to back up my certifications. That's what employers want anyways.
2) Eventually I'll get to the certifications where braindumps are useless.
Test exam advice
I'm pleased to say I've just passed my CCENT then my CCNA. There are many people at work who take MS exams and use brain dumps but I feel that it would be harder to do this with Cisco content, which I'm pleased about! It feels so good knowing I passed on my own merits and it wasn't just given to me. Well done Cisco on challenging exams.
The course/books/exams I used are listed here and I can recommend them all especially CBTnuggets for learning it all in the first place.
Most importantly the Boson exam that Jeremey mentions comes with the last title, which cost something like £20 in the UK - bargain! This updates from the web and was excellent for the CCENT exam and pretty good for the CCNA.
Good luck and stay ethical!
Matt
Practice questions.
Thanks Jeremy. I just passed the CCNA exam over the long weekend and scored a 920. I did this by 1st studying 2 books cover to cover. Second taking tons of notes. Third practicing what I learned on my home lab. Then finally using the test questions from the 2 books. I have seen time and time anf again people getting there paper CCNA and not knowing how to configure a router. I did not want to purchase any test exams from websites. Two months of studying and practice earned me my CCNA. CCNP here I come.