diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 8246582..ecd3693 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -2,4 +2,14 @@
 
 This is the sample application for
 [*Ruby on Rails Tutorial: Learn Web Development with Rails*](http://railstutorial.org/)
-by [Michael Hartl](http://michaelhartl.com/).
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+by [Michael Hartl](http://michaelhartl.com/). You can use this reference implementation to help track down errors if you end up having trouble with code in the tutorial. In particular, as a first debugging check I suggest getting the test suite to pass on your local machine:
+
+    $ cd /tmp
+    $ git clone git@github.com:railstutorial/sample_app_2nd_ed.git
+    $ cd sample_app_2nd_ed
+    $ bundle install
+    $ bundle exec rake db:migrate
+    $ bundle exec rake db:test:prepare
+    $ bundle exec rspec spec/
+
+If the tests don't pass, it means there's something wrong with you system. If they do pass, then you can debug your code by comparing it with the reference implementation.
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