2017-02-18

【Aiden in English】

        MathCounts is probably one of the last places in school where being the know-it-all student is actually beneficial. Being smart no longer means being liked, so it’s good to feel free to blab out random bits of knowledge. Nevertheless, Pennbrook MS is not famous for having the smartest Mathletes. Although last year there was a rare case of holding one of the top ten at the Valley Forge Chapter Regional Competition, it was quite the surprise. This year, because of the experience and the past year’s gained intelligence, I believe I have a legit shot at something here.

        MathCounts, if you don’t already know, is a math competition between the 6^th and 8^th graders. In other words, the people who sign up for MathCounts are agreeing to grueling tests to determine winners and losers. Math problems, to a normal student, are nothing fun. But for those who like a good challenge, MathCounts can certainly provide it. Granted, you should be good at math to try.

        Today was the regional competition. What it means is that the winners will move onto the Pennsylvania State later. It is an enormous jump, but when you get older, the difficulty increases as well. To be the best, you must prove it in front of the audience. There is a countdown round after both sprint and target testing sessions, which is the true determining of who advances to the next round. But the challenge comes before that. I know I’m quite fast at doing the countdown problems. Yet give me time and a hard problem and I struggle greatly. Although I have speed, MathCounts always takes correctness over speed. Therefore, it is a slight disadvantage to me. The sprint, target, and team rounds were pretty much all the same as last year, just easier. The difficulty of the test bounces around a bit, the questions change every year, and so this year, it was quite easy. Well, at least compared to the latter year. However, this means the best mathletes with be all grouped together, the only differences will be determined by the hardest problems. Those are always at the back of the sprint rounds and end of team rounds. The target questions are just generally hard. It takes around two hours to complete the entire written competition. So by the end, my brain is dead.

        And guess what? I didn’t make the countdown round. It’s quite depressing, really, that I, as a Chinese boy, am not smart, but I think I tried my best. However, there is always that nagging feeling which you could’ve gotten one more correct problem; one more to put you in the top ten. In fact, I immediately knew two problems I got wrong on the target round because of what my friends had. This feeling was the worst.

        However, I cannot be mad at the results. My final place will be revealed later by my teacher, and hopefully, I’ve improved. Last year’s score was terrible, so I guess I should see great progress.

【红霞译文】

        学校活跃分子并非能从初中数学竞赛中真正受益，毕竟聪明的学生未必爱好数学，充其量把它当成茶余饭后的调侃谈资。不管怎样，宾溪中学十分罕见出色的数学尖子，虽说去年偶有一位选手鹤立鸡群，独自闯入福吉谷分区初中数学竞赛前十名，但那是千年铁树开的花。话至今年，无论从经验和实力上来看，我相信本人确有长足进步。

        也许你有所不知，初中数学竞赛是针对初中一至三年级的学生，换句话说，参赛者愿意经历几轮拼杀决出胜负输赢。对于常人而言，数学题有失生活情趣；但对于奇才来讲，数学竞赛无疑能够激发高昂的斗志，当然前提是你有能耐接受挑战。

        今天是分区赛，优胜者将晋级参加全宾州角逐，考题水平参差不齐，但年级越高难度越大，要想摘取桂冠，你必须勇于向现场观众展示过硬本领。经过速算题和思考题两轮笔试之后，口头抢答题将排出地区名次进而定夺州级参赛资格，可见自始自终挑战从未间断过。我抢答速度很快，短时间内即能摸出解题思路，不过初中数学竞赛笔试成绩主控抢答入场卷，因此本人优势并不能充分发挥出来。广度速算和深度思考以及四人组成的团体竞争形式与去年类似，只是今年考题比较容易，难度系数略显差异，每年题目稍有变化，总之本次试卷非常简单，当然这仅仅同上一年度相比。这么说来，顶级数学尖子分散在各支代表队伍当中，直到关键时刻方显英雄本色，他们要么是个人速算部分的大拿，要么是团体赛上负责突击后面几道分量较重考题的行家，堪称高精专能手。整个笔试前后持续两个钟头之久，末了我脑袋瓜早已僵得不听使唤。

        你猜怎么着？我无缘口试抢答比赛，着实让人失望，身为华人子弟，我算不上聪明之辈，好在自己已经付出最大努力，但事后人们难免会为考场误失一题甚感惋惜，而这道题恰好对你挤进前十名至关重要。其实在与朋友互对答案时，我骤然意识到思考题中有两道题出糗，心情一落千丈。

        然而我没啥好抓狂的，老师很快就会公布个人名次，届时但愿结果有所改观。去年成绩惨不忍睹，想必今年进步相当显著。

Today in History(历史上的今天):

2015: Chinese New Year Eve @ Lai Lai Garden(来来花园春节年夜饭)

Crosslinks(相关博文):

Sixth Grade Reading Olympics(初一阅读奥林匹克赛)

MontCo Sci Research Contest(蒙哥马利郡科研竞赛)

Academic Challenge(学术知识竞赛)