Harder than Chinese algebra

[Necromagus]

"They encapsulate the challenge facing this country," says Dr Pike.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/6589301.stm

 

 

 

For those of you who can't be bothered clicking the link, here's the Chinese pre-entry test:

 

 

 

 

And here's the English University first-year test:

 

 

 

 

The Chinese problem looks like something I'd expect in my fifth or sixth year of high school, the English one... first year to be honest. Interestingly enough, the second one is something I'd use every day in the field, since the 3:4:5 ratio is perfect to set out a grid over a digsite with a single measuring tape.

[Mr_Putter]

Hah, aside from Part III of the English one, I could do that in grade 8. We just didn't know tangent yet, and even though it's not difficult we don't get that til high school.

 

 

 

As for the Chinese one, it's significantly harder but when you actually read the question it's very doable for a math student. It would just take more time and effort. Probably closer something you'd see on a math competition test.

 

 

 

I've forgotten most of my math and freed up brain space for my current subjects.

[Parabola]

I'd be surprised if the second one came from anywhere but Bognor Regis Polytechnic. I know people who are doing maths at university and that is not the sort of question they get in the slightest... That is the sort of question we do, as people have said, aged 15 and under.

[Pete_the_Viscous]

Yeah... which university is that? That's a SATs question -- not even a GCSE one. I remember doing some diagnostic maths tests at university* and fair enough they were much easier than the rest of the work but they were all still harder than A-level questions. Besides which, pre-entry questions are meant to be thought provoking, and diagnostic tests are meant to show up areas where a student might have forgotten something vital for their course. On top of that, the question at the top is only an (nasty) A-level question anyway.

 

 

 

 

 

*recently; what I say is up-to-date, and not the views of someone who remembers the school system "in the good old days".

[insane]

It's probably just a question off the test and not the entire test. You know, they take the hardest question off the Chinese test, show that, and the easiest question off the English test, and show that.

[Pete_the_Viscous]

Seriously, though -- why would they bother asking the English example in a university test at all? Anyway, from my experience of entrance exams for universities, that's not a hard question. And I didn't even apply for Maths. (Nor did I, aha, get in :) ).

 

 

 

 

 

... not that I've made an effort to actually do the Chinese one, or anything. It could be a trick question for all I know (or care); I'm just saying, if it's all legit, it's not exactly that bad.

[Parabola]

It's probably just a question off the test and not the entire test. You know, they take the hardest question off the Chinese test, show that, and the easiest question off the English test, and show that.

 

 

 

I doubt that question would even be the easiest question on the test - if it's for university level then you have to have done A-level maths, and you won't have even got on the A-level course if you couldn't do that question.

[baron8000]

Key word time - "an English university set this question"

 

 

 

Try sitting the LNAT then you'll see a test

[magekillr]

i don't understand english grading and when they say A-level :(

[Somnambulism]

i don't understand english grading and when they say A-level :(

 

 

 

Age 16-18.

[misterxman]

Well can't really compare, the first example is a national test set for all students, the second test is just from one exam from one university. Not sure how other country's systems work, but in the US the level of how tough a class is can vary a lot and depends mostly on the student's choice rather than what the government sets as the bar.

[magekillr]

Well can't really compare, the first example is a national test set for all students, the second test is just from one exam from one university. Not sure how other country's systems work, but in the US the level of how tough a class is can vary a lot and depends mostly on the student's choice rather than what the government sets as the bar.

 

 

 

agreed. my friends at Christopher Newport University said it's basically just like "grade 13" (US has 12 grades...just clarification for non US residents)...

 

 

 

here at VT...lol...i'd give anything for a course that's as easy as "grade 13"

[menot]

im sure those arnt representative examples really...

 

the english one must be from a rubbish university, or for a non-maths subject (in which some maths knowledge is useful)

 

by the second year of university maths, i'd have loved any question that required the use of formuli less than a line long lol

[anonimu]

They both seem very easy (freshman in high school), and I could do either in under 1 minute.

[ThurinEthir]

Hmm, Chinese people must be smarter than. :D (But yea, I think it's been proven...Asians are indeed better at math or something...)

 

But yeah...The English one, I could've figured that out in 4th grade (About age 9-10...) (I was/am a weird kid, I read a math textbook for fun and learned the trig ratios before my sister, who's 3 years older than me.)

 

Now the Chinese one...If I tried, I could probably figure have figured it out in 4th grade as well, but since I'm fairly bad at 3D geometry and proving stuff, I don't feel like doing it even now.

[ROBOSRUS]

Not to stereotype, but Asian countries tend to have higher education standards and expectations.

[warren211]

Don't forget that chinese students have a 32% higher iq on average than american/english and many moer students. That means that they have more honor students than we have students :-k

[magekillr]

Not to stereotype, but Asian countries tend to have higher education standards and expectations.

 

 

 

i agree. one Asian Physics professor here at Tech can do trigonometry in his head...it's actually fun to do when you see him:

 

 

 

"Professor Chang...what's the cosine of pi over 17?"

 

 

 

10 seconds later: ".98297"

 

 

 

he's insane lol

 

 

 

he said he had to study tables of trigonometric outputs for a long time to do this...and it was required at the university he went to

[ROBOSRUS]

Not to stereotype, but Asian countries tend to have higher education standards and expectations.

 

 

 

i agree. one Asian Physics professor here at Tech can do trigonometry in his head...it's actually fun to do when you see him:

 

 

 

"Professor Chang...what's the cosine of pi over 17?"

 

 

 

10 seconds later: ".98297"

 

 

 

he's insane lol

 

 

 

he said he had to study tables of trigonometric outputs for a long time to do this...and it was required at the university he went to

 

 

 

Asian teachers are stricter though. My math teacher would be a good example of that..

[eyehawk78]

No doubt in my mind that the Chinese one is probably the last question on the hardest exam paper they could find. The English one is probably the first question on the easiest paper they could find. Its hardly a full comparison.

[antonwhy]

For those of you who can't be bothered clicking the link, here's the Chinese pre-entry test:

 

 

 

 

Seems like a Year 11-12 Maths 3-Specalist (16-18 year olds) in Australia... Not super hard, thing is others are better at it then others. These take some skill but mainly rely on luck and the ability to see the different geometic relationships within the shape. Personally never liked it myself, I wasn't one of those 'Gifted Ones'

 

 

 

And here's the English University first-year test:

 

 

 

 

Year 9-10 in Australia (14-15 year olds) , although might appear in very easy Year 12 maths, (maths apps).

[ThurinEthir]

Not to stereotype, but Asian countries tend to have higher education standards and expectations.

 

 

 

i agree. one Asian Physics professor here at Tech can do trigonometry in his head...it's actually fun to do when you see him:

 

 

 

"Professor Chang...what's the cosine of pi over 17?"

 

 

 

10 seconds later: ".98297"

 

 

 

he's insane lol

 

 

 

he said he had to study tables of trigonometric outputs for a long time to do this...and it was required at the university he went to

 

 

 

Asian teachers are stricter though. My math teacher would be a good example of that..

 

My math teacher isn't. He's Asian. But I still get easy 100%s.

 

Anyways, about the whole Asians are stricter thing, it's true. My friends and I have all been forced to do SAT practice and stuff like that for a while now. None of our non-Asian classmates do.

 

Although my dad is tired of A's, he find F's a little more interesting. Still, I once nearly got yelled at for getting 102/100. (Max was 105)

 

But I usually punish myself more than my parents punish me for bad grades...

 

And if you come up to my lunch table (All Asians), you can probably ask us any math problem up to college level and at least one of us will get it right.

 

Stupid Asians. Sarcasm, sarcasm, sarcasm.

 

(And what if the Chinese are trying to get dumb people to leave their country because they couldn't answer that question? It'd help their overpopulation problem. : )

[ROBOSRUS]

(And what if the Chinese are trying to get dumb people to leave their country because they couldn't answer that question? It'd help their overpopulation problem. ^-^ )

 

 

 

That made me giggle.

[assassin_696]

Ha, both are terrible examples. If they'd shown something equivalent to a STEP question I might have been impressed, or examples of the first year mathematics exams at Cambridge for physics or maths students.

 

 

 

Examples of STEP questions, if you're curious

 

Quantum mechanics exam in first term.