As a mage, I just want to pursue the truth

Chapter 7 Midterm Examination
"Let's take a look at Zheng Li's test paper first." Liu Gui said to Zhang Jixue, he was very anxious.

Zhang Jixue slowly picked out Zheng Li's test paper from a pile of papers. "Why rush? The test paper I gave this time is more difficult than previous years. Don't have too high expectations."

Liu Gui smiled and said, "Can anything be more difficult than Qiu's competition?"

Zhang Jixue glanced at him without saying anything. Liu Gui smiled awkwardly and said, "Maybe it will be a little more difficult."

The Qiu Ma Exam does not test the difficulty level but the breadth of students’ knowledge of mathematics. The questions are relatively routine.

"Why are you so optimistic about Zheng Li? Is it because he solved two analysis questions?" Zhang Jixue asked while correcting Zheng Li's test paper.

"Not entirely. It's rare for a freshman to master real variable functions and measure theory. It also shows his talent in mathematics."

"More importantly, I can see his love for mathematics through this, and his crazy talk in the group shows that he is extremely confident."

"It's not easy to have both of these points at the same time," Liu Gui explained.

Zhang Jixue asked, "It's not easy to lure such students to study for your doctorate."

Liu Gui smiled and said, "I don't have such an obsession, I just feel happy when I see a good student."

“As a senior, I always hope to give this talented and enthusiastic student some correct guidance.”

"There are too few mathematicians from Jiangcheng University's School of Mathematics. The last time a mathematician from Jiangcheng University gave a report at the International Congress of Mathematicians was 14."

The International Congress of Mathematicians is held every four years and is the most important event in the mathematics world. It is very difficult to give a report at the main venue.

Over the years, only two mathematicians from Jiangcheng University have given reports at the main venue of the International Congress of Mathematicians.

(Note: It is very easy to give a presentation in a branch venue.)
Zhang Jixue: "It's difficult, but at least the goal is visible. I thought you would expect him to take Fields."

"He is indeed talented." Zhang Jixue handed over Zheng Li's test paper, which was full of ticks.

"That's right." Liu Gui said.

Zhang Jixue: "I have always felt that there is something wrong with our training system. What we teach students is too empty."

Liu Gui rarely saw his old friend so talkative, so he asked, "What do you mean?"

Zhang Jixue stood up and walked to the window, taking a deep breath of mountain air: "The edifice of mathematics was built by our predecessors, and then later mathematicians trimmed and pruned it, presenting a very sophisticated structure to people today."

"Each theorem is related to many related theorems, but when we explain it to students, it feels very empty, as if a road appeared out of thin air on the ground, without the muddy road made by countless footprints before, it is just a road."

“Students only learn theorems and proofs, and the proofs they are shown are the optimal proofs, but they are not shown the process of how predecessors continuously optimized them.”

“So most of the people we train have no passion for mathematical research because they don’t feel the beauty of mathematics, the efforts of their predecessors, or the sense of achievement in mathematical research. They just learn mechanically.”

Liu Gui nodded. He completely understood what Zhang Jixue meant. “So Yanda has been using American’s textbooks directly in recent years.”

Zhang Jixue: "Because their textbooks have many relevant examples to explain how theorems came about. In short, they are more in line with the actual research situation."

Liu Gui interrupted, “This is not something we can change, and if we also use all-English textbooks, we need to win the support of the dean.”

Zhang Jixue sighed: "How do you plan to train Zheng Li? He should have a solid foundation, and he should have no problem with the basic courses in his freshman and sophomore years."

Liu Gui: "Just find him a topic to work on and have him attend my graduate student seminar."

Zhang Jixue walked into the classroom in a hurry with a smile on his face:

"Study committee member, come and help me distribute the papers first."

After that, Zhang Jixue handed the stack of papers in his hand to the study committee member, and then he continued: "The difficulty of the midterm exam is indeed set very high. Basically, no one passed. There are only three people who passed, which is still relatively small."

Zhang Jixue is quite old, an old professor, who went to Gaul to study for a doctorate in the 80s. He is very open-minded and looks very happy every day, as if nothing can bother him. If he is an algebra teacher, if he sees that all the students have failed, he should at least teach everyone a lesson with a serious face.

"Song Hanlin, 65 points."

"Li Jinding, 78 points."

"Finally, I want to give special praise to Zheng Li. Is Zheng Li here?" He looked around. "Zheng Li scored 100 points. He got all the answers right. It was not easy."

"Wow!" The students below cheered. The freshman Hongyi class and the base class 1 had classes together. It can be said that Zheng Li's score was the highest in the whole grade.

"He's not here." The study committee member answered after looking around.

Zhang Jixue asked, "I think I only saw him on the first day when we called the roll. Did he not come after that?"

"Not really. It seems he hasn't been here since National Day." The study committee member answered based on his intuition, "He has been studying in the study room on the sixth floor of Lakeside every day during this period."

Zhang Jixue nodded: "I can get full marks on this test, so there is really no need to come to class."

"Most people's scores are not ideal, and may be different from what you expected. If you can be admitted to Jiangcheng University and choose the Department of Mathematics, your math scores in high school must be 140 or 150, and the minimum starting point is 130."

"When I got my first midterm exam after coming to university, I saw that I got 30 points, which was really disappointing."

"I made the questions very difficult on purpose. I want to tell you that college math, especially if you are determined to do mathematical research, is completely different from high school math."

"In previous years, my first midterm exams were always very difficult. When it comes to this year's final exam, you will find it much easier than the midterm exam."

What Zhang Jixue didn't say was that the questions he set this time were more difficult than in previous years. He chose the most difficult questions from Xie Huimin's "Lecture Notes on Mathematical Analysis Exercises" and Pei Liwen's "Typical Problems and Methods in Mathematical Analysis".

There is not a single easy question.

"Although the questions are difficult, we still have to see the difference. When most people can only get more than 30 points, some people can get full marks. The difference is still quite big."

“I hope you can spend more time practicing. Mathematical analysis and algebra will run through your entire university studies, even at the master's and doctoral levels. These two courses are very important.”

"Of course, if you study combinatorics, mathematical analysis will be fine."

Zhang Jixue saw that the students in the audience all looked a little depressed. He smiled and said, "Don't worry, everyone. The midterm exam only accounts for 10% of the total score. We will have two more exams after that, and then the final exam. The final exam accounts for 70%, so if you do well in the final exam, your final total score will not be affected too much."

"Also, because everyone's scores are so low, I will ask the study committee to take the square root of your score and multiply it by ten as everyone's final score."

"Okay, let's get back to the midterm exam. Today we're going to focus on this exam."

Few of the students in the audience were interested in listening to the professor explaining the test papers. Some were looking at why they got such low scores on their own papers, or were chatting in the chat room.

The freshman group exploded:
"God Zheng is so awesome!"

"Full score God"

“I actually got full marks on such a difficult test.”

"God Zheng has gone beyond my comprehension."

Until someone posted a photo of Zheng Li secretly taken in the study room, and captioned it: "God Zheng, please guide me"

After that, the freshman group was flooded with this expression.

In addition, many people really planned to go back and consult Zheng Li after class in the afternoon.

In our math analysis midterm exam, the first place got 90 points, the second place got 60 points, and I got 40 points. Then I calculated the score by taking the square root of 10. I was particularly impressed.
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(End of this chapter)