It was interesting to note common trends in responses: for us, emphasis is placed on preparation (studying) whereas for Russian students they think more about the difficulty of the exam rather than what they can do to maximize their success.

I would say that this word association rendered the greatest similarities between ourselves and the Russians in our answers.  I would just add that the Russian answers implied more psychological pressure in studying/preparing for/taking the exams themselves.

I found it interesting that Russians were more pre-occupied with their feelings towards exams, whereas we seemed to focus more on the types of assessments that for us are included in the word "exam," as well as the process of preparing for exams and the results of exams.

I agree with Nat that these answers show large similarity between the US and Russia--I thought it was interesting that the Russian associations ran the gamet between "easy" and "hard".

The American responses seemed preoccupied with the various forms of exams, testing, and evaluation we incounter in our education system.  However, both American and Russian responses explained the various emotional reactions they have to exams.

As has been mentioned, the Russian students' answers were much more emotion-based, while ours were more process-based. Because we both worry about exams, and we both spend a lot of time preparing for exams, it's more a difference of initial reaction to the prompt than actual practice.

I think most American students also feel the way the Russian students do about their exams, but rather than focusing on the difficulty of the exams the Americans tended to associate them with studying. Studying is an inevitable part of the examination process, which may be part of the reason it was so linked to exams in the minds of the American students, but of course Russian students study for exams also, so it's interesting that studying is not as fundamentally connected to exams in the Russian students' minds.

I feel that both American and Russian students feel the pressure of exams to an extreme degree. However, Russian students seem to focus on the difficulty of tests in general, even defining them as a "nightmare," while as Kara has pointed out, American students seem to focus more on the difficulty of studying and preparing for exams.

The American students mentioned grades, stress, and studying, while the Russian answers included nightmare, excitement, and relief after passing exams. The Americans are more concerned with what hardships exam preparation entail, while the Russians mention the result of exam taking.

Я думаю, что у российских и американских студентов схожее представление об экзаменах. И у тех и у других экзамен связан с определенным стрессом, с концом учебы.

Думаю разные ассоциации возникли между Русскими и Американскими студентами. У Русских студентов это (страх, волнение и т.д.) у американцев (studying, etc.)

Есть общая черта в ответах русских и американских студентов - для всех нас это стресс и волнение.

На этот раз наши ответы оказались очень даже похожими. Просто одно замечание: мы, т.е. русские студенты как-то больше запоминаем и обращаем внимание на какие-то детали, предметы, что-то конкретное, а американские студенты больше пишут об абстрактных понятиях, процессах, вообще какой-то деятельности в целом. 

Экзамены - это для всех стресс, волнение, дрожь в коленках, ведь не будешь же радоваться, когда тебе задают вопросы по предмету - тут надо думать. Радость и облегчение наступает потом, после сдачи экзамена.

Думаю, экзамены это обязательно какой-никакой стресс, независимо от нации. Для меня "учеба" и "волнение" две основных ассоциации с экзаменами.

Наши ответы достаточно схожи, т.к. для всех экзамены-это стресс и волнение и бессонные ночи, проведенные над тетрадями и учебниками.

Если совместить ответы русских и американских студентов,то экзамены - это нечто кошмарное и волнующее,трудное и требующее тщательной подготовки,а так же это что-то бумажное и карандашное))

This is definitely the most similar response between all of us! How funny that we all feel the same about exams!

The responses seemed very similar, although the Russian students might have emphasized the stress associated with exams to an even greater extent.