Top student: All my teachers are academic whizzes!

(Look, a randomly dropped update~)

"Teacher Ge, isn't this question a bit too difficult?"

The speaker was a math teacher from Nanjing Normal University Affiliated High School. He looked at the problem on the paper, his brows furrowed, and his tone was full of disbelief and doubt.

He has been working on setting college entrance examination math questions for eight years and has seen countless difficult and strange questions, but this question still made him gasp in surprise.

This is a very complex problem, mainly involving sequence limits and combining them with probability theory. Its complexity is more than enough to make it a challenging final question on a college entrance exam.

He didn't look at the answers on the other two A4 sheets, but just looking at the questions on the draft paper, let alone a high school student, even he, a teacher in the college entrance examination question-setting team, would probably need quite a bit of time to solve them.

In the meeting room, the other teachers in the question-setting group who heard this all looked at the questions on the table, their eyes and faces showing surprise and astonishment, and they started discussing them all at once.

"This is indeed a bit difficult. Even I would be stunned for a few minutes if I saw this kind of question, let alone students."

"Old Ge, where did you get this question from? Was it from your previous question bank?"

"The background of this problem looks familiar. Why does it feel like it's adapted from a physics competition problem?"

"Damn, Lao Ge, do you have a grudge against this year's college entrance exam takers? You even came up with this kind of complicated integrated math and physics problem."

Ge Jun did not answer immediately. He leaned back in his chair, tapped his fingers lightly on the manuscript paper, and kept his gaze on the derivation process of the two questions he had just written down.

After a long while, he finally spoke, his voice low.

"I came up with this question on the spur of the moment today."

Upon hearing this, the people around fell silent for a moment.

Was it something he came up with on the spur of the moment? With only four or five days left before the final draft, while others were doing their final proofreading and minor adjustments, he just came up with a completely new, challenging question?

But then again, didn't he already submit and pass the review for this year's major exam?

Why are there questions again?

In the conference room, Professor Zhou Haitian of the Department of Mathematics at Jinlin University, the head of the math exam question-setting team, walked over from the long table, picked up the A4 paper in front of Ge Jun that was filled with derivations, and carefully read it from beginning to end.

Then, he looked at Ge Jun with interest and asked, "How many ways are there to solve this problem?"

Ge Jun pushed over two more sheets of paper filled with solutions: "I can think of three methods right now, two conventional but relatively complex traditional mathematical problem-solving methods, namely using eigenfunctions plus eigenvalue distributions and combining matrix/vector spaces with random variable distributions."

"The third method is to combine the separation of variables method from physics to decompose the entire problem, calculate the extreme values, and then synthesize them."

"This solution may require students to have a strong grasp of physics and be able to apply it in a comprehensive way to mathematics."

Zhou Haitian picked up the two sheets of paper and slowly moved his index finger along the derivation steps as he read them.

Several members of the question-setting team gathered around, peering over from the left and right.

The two sheets of paper, the left one containing the standard mathematical solution, with eigenfunctions and eigenvalue distributions, progressing step by step, rigorous and substantial, each step expected but requiring extremely solid skills.

The right side presents a completely different approach—borrowing the concept of simple harmonic motion from physics, it compares the probability distribution of a sequence to the composition and decomposition of vibrations, and then directly calculates the displacement by the extreme value of the displacement after the vibrations are superimposed.

The steps were nearly a third fewer than the standard solution on the left, but the ingenious approach and the leaps in thinking stunned everyone present.

"Wow, this problem can actually be solved this way?"

"But isn't this second solution a bit too unconventional?"

"Who in high school would think of using simple harmonic motion to solve sequence limit problems? You need to have a thorough understanding of both mathematics and physics to come up with that idea."

"It is indeed off-topic. But the line of reasoning is sound and logically sound."

"Moreover, if a candidate can actually think of this direction in the exam room, he can finish the question in twenty minutes or even ten minutes, while other candidates may take half an hour or even longer."

Another teacher adjusted his glasses and took over the conversation.

"If this question were included, the differentiation in this year's math exam would likely be significant. Average students would get stuck on the second part, good students could get the third part right but not necessarily all of it, while top students would find the question cleverly designed."

"If this question is placed as the last question, the most challenging one... then the provincial average score this year will probably hit a new low."

Listening to the discussion among the teachers, Ge Jun shook his head and said, "It's unlikely to hit a new low, but it probably won't be too high either."

He paused for a moment, then continued, "And in my opinion, this question isn't really suitable as the final question."

Upon hearing this, many teachers from the question-setting team subconsciously looked over, their faces filled with confusion.

Given the difficulty of this question, let alone using it as the final question in the college entrance examination, it would be a challenging question at the provincial level in a math competition.

Ge Jun ignored the stares of the people around him and explained, "If this problem were solved purely using mathematics, its difficulty, thought process, and techniques would make it a perfect challenge problem."

"But it has a drawback, which is that it incorporates physics. If a candidate is good at both math and physics, then solving this problem will be very easy."

"unless....."

As he spoke, he picked up his pen and added another stroke to the problem—adding a parameter condition that needed to be discussed to the already difficult third question.

Then he put down his pen and said, "Let me add one more condition."

Upon seeing the conditions added by Ge Jun, not only the teachers and professors in the question-setting group, but even the group leader Zhou Haitian twitched his lips.

With this condition added, it would take him quite a while to calculate it.

"Damn, do you have a grudge against this year's college entrance exam takers?! It's already this difficult, and you add more?!"

Ge Jun's expression remained unchanged as he stated matter-of-factly, "If math doesn't test difficulty, what else is it testing? Who can write the fastest? Who can recite the answers correctly?"

"By increasing the difficulty, we can filter out students who truly have mathematical thinking. The three sub-questions of this problem are perfect for this screening."

"A student who can get one question right is a top student, and a student who can get two questions right will have no problem getting 145 points in math."

"Those who can get them all right are the most suitable for a career in mathematics!"

Beside him, group leader Zhou Haitian shook his head and said, "But apart from the competition students, there are probably very few ordinary students who can solve all three sub-questions."

Ge Jun: "Isn't that perfect? ​​If math doesn't drag down the score, what else can?"

Zhou Haitian: "..."

He suddenly realized that the statement "Ge Jun has a grudge against this year's college entrance examination candidates" was absolutely correct.

If this question were actually put on the exam, it would be like putting this year's students through a brutal test.

I truly feel sorry for this year's test takers in Jiangsu Province.

......