I Just Want to Be a Quiet Top Student

"Andrew Wiles, actually, I've heard of this famous name, he's a master in contemporary mathematics." Shen Qi said, his eyes never moved away from Wiles on the rostrum.

Zhou Yu'an took it for granted: "Nonsense, the winner of the Philippine Award, has proved the super difficult Fermat's Last Theorem. Who in mathematics has never heard of Wiles?"

"But we didn't know that this old man was Wiles!" The two said in unison.

"Such a big man still has to go to the supermarket to buy salad dressing himself?" Shen Qi expressed doubts. Small bosses like his father never go to the supermarket, so he just asks his subordinates to do what he wants to buy.

"Hey, Shen Qi, Zhou Yu'an, what are you two talking about? Don't you know Professor Wiles very well?" the deputy team leader asked.

Shen Qi shook his head: "I'm not familiar with it, but I know that Professor Wiles is a master in mathematics, and his skills are quite profound, and he may be the number one master in the local area."

"Do you need to say that? Be quiet and listen to Professor Wiles reading the rules of the competition. It is very rare for the organizing committee to invite him to be the leader of the jury." The deputy team leader put on the earplugs again, and the earplugs are connected to the simultaneous translation equipment.

"I never imagined that in the same city, there would be weak chickens who couldn't do subtraction within 10, and there were also mathematicians who were masters of mathematics. The difference in strength was too great. It was simply the difference between the five scumbags and the God of War." Shen Qidai Put on the earplugs and listen to Wiles read the rules of the contest.

"...the competition rules have been read out, children, and my last word is that where there is number, there is beauty, and we are engaged in a beautiful work, which is worthy of our life's service." Wiles's The last sentence is quoted by the Greek mathematician Proclus, who quoted it at the 1998 Philippine Prize ceremony and quoted it again today.

The auditorium roared with applause. Britons, foreigners, Europeans, Americans, Asians, players from various countries, coaching teams, and security guards who maintained order all paid their highest respect to Wiles.

People seem to forget that Wiles is not the protagonist of this IMO, he is just a judge, reading out the rules of the competition routinely.

But does it matter?

Shen Qi was deeply shocked. It turns out that being the best in learning is what you get in return for the supreme glory and the respect of the world. This kind of glory and respect does not distinguish between nationality, skin color and race.

"I really hope that one day, I can also achieve the great achievement of Professor Wiles. What is Guangzong Yaozu? This is called Guangzong Yaozu to dominate the world."

Shen Qi felt that this time going abroad was very rewarding. Some scenes were not experienced personally, so he couldn't feel the vibration that touched the soul.

Professor Wiles poured a bowl of fierce chicken soup to more than 600 young players from 102 countries. Young talents from Europe, Asia, the United States, Africa, and Australia were gearing up, and the battle was imminent.

On the morning of July 26, the first day of the IMO competition kicked off, and the competition venue was London South Bank University.

Professor Wiles, the leader of the judging panel, has clearly explained the competition rules and schedule. There are six questions in total. Three questions will be tested today and three questions will be tested tomorrow. Each question will get 7 points, and the full score is 42 points.

The competition time on each competition day is 4.5 hours. Any stationery and drawing tools can be brought, and all electronic devices are not allowed to be brought into the competition field.

Because the competition time is long, each contestant can bring food and drink into the arena, and can bring no more than three reference materials.

That's right, this is an open-book exam, and you can turn the pages after eating and drinking.

It looks so relaxed IMO, almost like summer camp.

But is that really the case?

Obviously not.

The food Shen Qi brought was muffins and bear biscuits, the drink was mineral water and Red Bull bought in a local supermarket, and the three reference materials were "Introduction to Analysis", "The Art of Inference", and "Research on Analytical Geometry and Differential Geometry".

When Shen Qi got the test papers for the first day's competition, he found that the three reference books were basically useless, and the most useful ones were Bear Biscuit and Red Bull.

The three questions on the first day's exam paper had been translated into Chinese, and Shen Qi had to solve the first question first, because it was a threshold question.

There is a line of cold Chinese characters printed on the scroll: "The first question, the threshold question. 7 points for a correct answer to this question, and -7 points for a wrong answer or no answer."

The first question, the threshold question, is really insane. You get a maximum of 7 points for a correct answer. Do you think you can get 0 points for a wrong answer or leave it blank? nonexistent.

See clearly, the threshold question is wrongly answered or not answered -7 points.

That is to say, the bottom line of this IMO test paper is not 0 points, but -7 points.

If there is a slight mistake, it will be fatal.

Came all the way to Great Britain, brought home a negative grade, and asked you if you were ashamed?

Zero Duck Eggs is in its early stages, and after waiting for a long time, it finally arrived today.

Shen Qi didn't dare to be careless, he read the threshold question for the third time:

"The professor of mathematics at Oxford University has three bright students, they are Tom, Jerry and Thomas."

"One day, the professor wanted to test who among the three students was the smartest."

"The professor pasted a note on the forehead of each of the three students, with numbers written on the note."

"Tom, Jerry, and Thomas can all see the numbers on the foreheads of the other two students, but they can't see the numbers on their own foreheads."

"The professor said that the numbers on the note on each of your foreheads are all positive integers, and the addition of certain two numbers gives another number. So Tom, let me ask you, what is the number on your forehead?"

"Tom said, I'm sorry Professor, I don't know."

"The professor asked Jerry again, hey, Jerry, how about you, do you know what your number is?"

"Jerry said, I'm sorry Professor, I don't know."

"The professor continued to ask Thomas, dear Thomas, you are the only one left, what is your answer?"

"Thomas said, sorry professor, I don't know."

"It's all right, Tom and Jerry and Thomas, let's do it again," said the professor.

"The second time, Tom and Jerry were equally unable to name their numbers, but Thomas gave his number: 144."

"The professor nodded, congratulations Thomas, your answer is correct."

"If you understand the above short story, may I ask the numbers on Tom and Jerry's foreheads are ( ) and ( ) respectively."

The above is the entire content of the threshold question of the first question, 7 points for a correct answer, -7 points for an incorrect answer or no answer.

Shen Qi knew that before this life-threatening question, real variable functions and Stillches integrals, Cayley transition matrices and Weierstrass quadratic forms, hyperelliptic integrals and Abel's theorem...all profound Mathematical formulas, theorems, and inferences are all invalid.

This is a purely logical derivation question, which is set as a threshold question by the votes of the team leaders from 102 countries.

It doesn't work if you bring any reference books. The most useful ones should be junior high school mathematics textbooks.

The mathematical knowledge reserves that must be possessed are addition, subtraction, multiplication and division within 500, and simple linear equation solutions.

Only two words are left: Brainpower.

The international rules seem to be different from the Chinese rules. Shen Qi knew without thinking that their Chinese team leader must have voted against this threshold logic question, but the minority obeys the majority, and it is useless to vote against.

Chinese students are strong in modeled problem-solving, while the international community pays more attention to the logical thinking ability of young people.

Shen Qi fell into deep thought, only to find out when he came to the international arena that what he is not afraid of playing all over the world is not some esoteric theory, but the nine-nine multiplication table and the simplest one-dimensional equation.

He had some ideas, so he deduced three necessary conditions and listed a linear equation system.

Next, whether to score 7 points or -7 points depends on pure brain burning.