摘要
At the 56th International Mathematical Olympiad(IMO)held in Chiangmai,Thailand,in July,the U.S.team won gold while the Chinese team,which had won18 championships in the past quarter of a century,came in at second place.This result soon became a talking point across China,For years,Olympic math has been considered a strong point of China’s
At the 56th International Mathematical Olympiad （IMO） held in Chiangmai, Thailand, in July, the U.S. team won gold while the Chinese team, which had won 18 championships in the past quarter of a century, came in at second place. This result soon became a talking point across China. For years, Olympic math has been consid- ered a strong point of China＇s oft-criticized education system, as the Chinese team could always be relied upon to secure a gold medal. Participation in Olympic math was also once used as an important yardstick in the recruitment of students for top middle schools and universities. Over past decades, students who performed well in Olympic math competitions could attain extra scores which were added to their original score in college entrance examinations, some could even go to prestigious universities without taking entrance exams. This trend, however, saw students struggling with ever-mounting academic pressures. For this reason, the Ministry of Education banned Olympic math courses in primary and middle schools. Chinese students＇ recent IMO performance, however, has triggered fresh debates on wheth- er the decision to put less emphasis on Olympic math was the right one.
