<p>It wasn’t cheating, you did what a lot of people do, sought out sample tests and such to test your knowledge. The teacher was lazy (it is one thing to ‘borrow’ questions from other tests, another to use a test that is out there, I don’t think taking questions out of texts is lazy, I think taking the sample test out of one book is lazy. Profs of mine in physics used to assign problems in class, but the tests were from the problems they didn’t assign along with new stuff…myself and a couple of friends of mine in a study group used to do all the problems, assigned and not, and we all ended up acing the class. I talked to the grad assistant in the class, and he said the fact that we put that kind of effort into it, figured out how to answer any of the questions, meant we were properly prepared, the test was a formality…). </p>
<p>On the other hand I had a grad school teacher whose midterms and finals were literally the same questions we had on homework, one of the most wasted courses I ever took (I could have taught the course a lot better, guarantee it)…</p>
<p>" So you see, it’s pretty unanimous: What you did, as you described it, is not cheating. But notice that many also found fault with your teacher. Unfortunately, it would be very risky for you to tell your teacher what you did, even though that is what you want to do to clear your conscience. Your teacher might penalize you and call it cheating because you have exposed your teacher’s mistake potentially embarrassing her/him.</p>
<p>Bingo. What you did was intelligent, and took additional effort. Absolutely not cheating. </p>
<p>If, after listening to all these opinions, you decide to tell your teacher and you get penalized…first, you would be kind of an idiot, and second, you would learn the rule that CYA (cover your … trumps all, for most people). Zero guilt for being intelligent. If your teacher was lazy, why would that be your burden to bear? Eat well, and enjoy your dinner.</p>
<p>What you were doing is actually a pretty good studying technique. </p>
<p>Just reviewing the material in your own text gets stale, and that makes it hard to pay attention. If you can find curriculum materials that are posted online by another teacher who’s teaching the same course, that gives you an opportunity to see something new and stay actively engaged with the material. Active engagement is key to successful studying.</p>
<p>With a little luck, the same questions may be on the AP test, too. Enjoy.</p>
<p>Teachers in AP courses often use old exams for their students prep. In some subjects, the instructors have figured out the “likely cycle” for questions and will prepare students accordingly (i.e. in AP American, this could be the year for essay questions about the Vietnam War or Korean Conflict,etc). Using them for test prep is helpful. In this case, the teacher took the easy route and decided to use one for an actual test for a grade-the student got lucky! I hope dinner is great.</p>
<p>The “classic” way to study for the CPA exam is to do old exams. You would be surprised how many times you can make the same mistake on retaking the same exam if you don’t understand the answers when you practiced. </p>
<p>I believe you “learned” from taking the practice AP exam and therefore remembered and did well. Congratulations to you on such thorough prep!!!</p>
<p>To add to what peacefulmom said, the US Patent Office has links to old patent bar exams on its site and recommends using them as study materials. You would be surprised that even with many old questions “recycled” in the “open book” exam the passing rate is still well below 100%.</p>
<p>In my opinion what you did is called studying. Do you still know the answers to the questions? In other words, did you learn the material thoroughly? If you were to take the test again today would you still earn an A? If so, then what did was use the internet to study and learn.</p>