p2!


that's all...

4/27/2007 9:28:54 PM

oops... i misread the question, it's actually not too easy. I've only gotten through part A in 20 mins

[Edited on April 27, 2007 at 9:57 PM. Reason : ]

4/27/2007 9:46:24 PM

Quote :

"WHERE does it say the chinese question is from a MATH exam?"

It doesn't say it in the article, but if you do a little research on the chinese exam itself, it consists of four exams over two days. The four exams are Chinese, English, Math, and a comprehensive exam in liberal arts and natural sciences.

--

Ultimately, my point is not to invalidate the claim that Chinese students are likely better at math than others. I wouldn't doubt that this is true. My point is that the article compares two problems which are from different types of exams with the only commonality being that both are Geometry problems. It is intellectually dishonest to compare a single question from a test and count that as representative of the test as a whole. I would expect this from Fox News or CNN, but you usually don't see this type of sensationalism from the BBC

4/30/2007 10:47:48 AM

i look at this thread and can't help but notice that there is a whole lot of talking and very little solving



[Edited on April 30, 2007 at 10:57 AM. Reason : .]

4/30/2007 10:57:12 AM

there is a huge assumption in all tests that everybody ignores: The desire of the subject to do well on the test. If the chinese applicant's want it more, then the test question has to be a little more complex to fit the curve. They definitely want it more because they don't know how to want anything else.

[Edited on April 30, 2007 at 3:20 PM. Reason : tip0]

4/30/2007 3:20:07 PM

^my wife says there is an old Chinese saying,

"the grapes you cannot eat are sour"

4/30/2007 8:35:55 PM

That's also from Aesop.

4/30/2007 8:57:52 PM

I would guess China would necessarily have to stratify their population more because of their political/economic system. Only allowing the truly talented people to go to college rather than whoever can afford it.

4/30/2007 9:09:38 PM

^that's exactly what's happening right now over there.

5/1/2007 12:21:02 AM

^^^^There's an old English saying.

"Who gives a shit what brainwashed chinese people think"

5/1/2007 7:51:27 AM

aww... someone is jealous!

5/1/2007 7:52:22 AM

no not really.

I've been to china and would never never care to live there. Besides do you really think they are more intelligent, or is it just because they study 14-15 hours per day everyday including weekends? Personally, I couldn't give a shit. I make way more money than them, I enjoy a higher standard of living, and I didn't have to work as hard during high school to answer some pointless questions in order to "beat" other students and land myself in the top 10% of China because it's my only hope to escape poverty and leave the oppressed countryside for a new life.

Like I said they are very good at applying "tricks" and algorithms to solve these difficult problems, what good is that?

5/1/2007 8:02:02 AM

just curious, what was your major?

5/1/2007 8:37:39 AM

the second one is just a long proof, and I dislike proofs, but they are not hard... all you do is figure as many side lengths as possible, prove right angles, prove a parallel of one of the lines is perpendicular to the other, and done....

not that hard...

the difference is how far into geometry they have gotten, the british one is a beginner one and the chinese one is a mid-end level one....

that is all

then again I do think very well in 3-4 dimensions...

[Edited on May 2, 2007 at 12:56 PM. Reason : s]

5/2/2007 12:52:34 PM

Quote :

"Double and triple integrals, and vector calculus is not taught in the US nor in the UK (in HS)."

my high school calculus class taught double and triple integrals, and my high school was an underfunded school out in the sticks of north carolina. It was offered, but I think all of 8 people in my graduating class took that course.

5/2/2007 1:15:12 PM

we didn't have it at my high school, but for those who were at that level, there was separate school that filled in these gaps for all of greensboro (weaver).

hell, i had to take Calculus BC there b/c even that wasn't offered at my HS.

5/2/2007 1:17:57 PM

Three detained for high-tech exam cheating

Quote :

"Fri Jun 8, 2007 1:21 PM ET BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese police have detained three people for running a high-tech cheating scam involving wireless microphones during the national college entrance exam, Xinhua news agency said Friday. A record 10 million Chinese high school students sat for the exam Thursday and Friday, competing for just 5.7 million university places. It means make or break for the students and has spawned a string of cheating scandals in recent years. Police in Jiutai, in the northeastern province of Jilin, became suspicious when a mini-bus remained parked outside a school hosting the exam Thursday, Xinhua said. Inside, they found three people, "two of them staring at a computer screen and talking into a walkie-talkie," Xinhua said. A student in the examination hall used a wireless microphone to read out the questions and received the answers from the van, Xinhua quoted their confessions as saying. The three had charged the student 12,000 yuan ($1,500) for the service, it added. Security for the exam is tight and exam papers are considered state secrets before the tests. Authorities in neighboring Liaoning province spent 100 million yuan fitting over 8,000 exam halls with metal detectors and cameras to prevent tech-savvy students from cheating on national university entrance tests. Police had found some 42 pairs of so-called "cheating shoes" with transmitting and reception ability, selling for about 2,000 yuan each, in a flat in Shenyang, the provincial capital, state media said Thursday, adding that they -- along with "cheating wallets" and hats -- had proved popular this year. Three men in the southwestern province of Sichuan received suspended jail terms of 8-12 months last year for using pinhole cameras to send out images of the entrance exam papers to be worked out by "hired guns" for 19 students. "

6/10/2007 5:09:19 PM