BBC: Math education in China

marite
Wed, 25 Apr 2007 15:20:57 +0000

Mathematicians set Chinese test
Maths enthusiasts are being challenged to answer a sample question from Chinese university entrance tests.

The tests are set for prospective science undergraduates.

The UK’s Royal Society of Chemistry is offering a £500 prize to one lucky but bright person who answers the question below correctly.

It has also published a test used in a “well known and respected” English university - the society is not naming it - to assess the strength of incoming science undergraduates’ maths skills.

Try the two tests

A glance at the two questions reveals how much more advanced is the maths teaching in China, where children learn the subject up to the age of 18, the society says.