Sometimes test preparation requires memorization. For example, the SAT and GRE require building your vocabulary. Here are some tried and true memory techniques.
The Roman Technique
This technique involves setting what you want to remember to the layout of something you’re very familiar with, like your childhood home or route to school. So imagine, for example, that you want to remember your to-do list. Say your first item was to telephone the GRE board to set your test appointment. You might visualize your front door opening but having tons of phones blocking the passage way. Say your second thing on your to-do list is to buy paper. You could imagine your hallway with paper in the picture frames instead of the portraits that normally went there. The idea is to walk through your home putting what you want to remember along the route. Because our spatial memory is more long term memory versus short term memory, this helps us organize and remember the data.