Let me show you readers my feelings after I saw my Sec 3 overall results in my report book, with pictures of my favourite F1 driver, Fernando Alonso.
This was when I first saw my result slips.
This was when I realised that my results are so wonderful.
If I got this for Sec 1,
I'll get this for Sec 3.
If you ask me about my results now, this is what you'll get.Just came across a interesting article on Wikipedia. It's about sexy primes.
What the heck, I hear you say. You mean, we have numbers that are more aesthetically superior to other numbers? That thought seems weird at first glance, but NO! Of course not. Sexy primes are actually pair of primes that differ by 6. So, if we consider the prime numbers 11 and 17, they are sexy primes, because both 11 and 17 are prime, and they differ by 6 (17 - 11 = 6) .
But why 6, now I hear some say. Why not 4, or 8, I hear people argue. The reason the difference between the primes is 6 comes from their names, sexy primes. The term "sexy primes" originates from the latin word for 6: sex.
If you are a mathematician, how would you define sexy primes?
Apparently, we, Secondary 3 students, have this Forward Track Program (FTP). Sidetracking a bit, FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol in HTML lingo. Or maybe it's not sidetracking; the teachers want to transfer to our pathetic brains information, textbook materials and the like through this program, like how files are transferred between computers and servers through FTP.
Because of the tight schedule, our FTP starts on Tuesday; Monday is a holiday for us. That meant that right after the checking of the exam scripts on Wednesday and Thursday, we had only one school day of freedom, or nothingness. And Friday was occupied by a leadership course. 'nuff said, as some would say.
All right, I think we shall all prepare ourself for this FTP by installing FTP clients. Get it?
I'm just going to post some statistics related to the EOY08 today (along with some commentary) . So here they are:
#1. Grades
A1: 7
A2: 1
B3: 0
B4: 1
Can buy 4D with these 4 numbers already. And guess how many permutations are there? 12.
#2. L1R5
In one word (or numeral) , 6. For the record, 6's a perfect number. You can check it out at Wikipedia if you are sceptical about this, that I just happily came up with this idea about perfect numbers.
#3. Other interesting stuff
Number one: I got an A1 for English! I have to say that the discursive writing helped me a lot, and I am surely glad that the examiner liked my essay. With this A1, I figure that that I'm in the top 10 % in terms of the EOY08 results in my class.
Number two: My Additional and Elementary Mathematics marks, when put together, forms my birth date! What a coincidence!
Well, that's all for now. I shall post about some other stuff some other day. Until then, adiós, readers!
Hi all!
In the midst of the flurry of activities, regular readers here should notice the theme change for this blog. If you have any comments on this new design, please feel free to tag at the tagboard (I'm thinking that that last part is redundant -- I mean, where else do you tag?) .
Back to my thoughts, a bombshell has dropped on me this morning. Apparently the deadline for the Robocode and Robodesign is on NEXT MONDAY. OMG, I (and by the same token, my group) haven't really started on the two projects. God wonders how we are going to settle this big bombshell.
Amidst the mess created by the bombshell, I have to say that I'm pleased with my EOY08 results. Especially that of my English! For the first time, it has got an A1 (rounded up, that is) next to it! However, with one side gaining an advantage, another side will lose out, so they say. My Higher Chinese results are hence, by inference with the above "quotation", not that wonderful (a B4 actually).
Anyway I shan't reveal too much of my grades. Any interested parties can come approach me in school to find out more.
(Doesn't that last line seems common in several advertisements?)
Here's some of my upcoming events, and my plans for some of them:
#1: Course on forensics
This course has started yesterday, and will continue for the next few Saturdays. There is an exception, as I also have to attend this course on 31/10/08. which so happens to be the last day of the Forward Track programme. This means that my last day of school would effectively be on 30/10/08. It's an interesting course, and is heavily subsidised by MOE. I'm already beginning to think of working in the forensics industry (or where chemical analysis would be needed). Anyway, it's not just an immersion course, there are tests to be taken, as well as a presentation to present. Hence, it's out of the ordinary, at least, for me.
#2: GCE O Levels Chinese Paper 1 & 2
After the End-Of-Year 08 (EOY08) , the final exam for the year is this. I'm hoping for a smooth ride, so I can get the A1 necessary to continue studying Higher Chinese next year.
#3 : StrITwise Challenge
The competition date for this is 4 weeks away. it composes of 3 segments, Robocode, Robodesign and a quiz on technology. I think I shall leave the coding of the team robot to my other teammates, and do the design of the robot instead, since recent quiz results tell me that I am a very creative person (those results shall be posted soon) .
I shall post about my holiday plans soon, after receiving my EOY08 results.
Let's sidetrack a bit first. Today when I came to school, and I thought of the word "analysis". Then I noted that there is the "lysis" (breaking up) in the "analysis", and I wondered what the "ana" part stood for. Actually "analysis" refers to "a breaking up", as per Wikipedia. So the "ana" refers to "a"? I'm a bit confused.
Anyway, back to the topic at hand. What follows is a preliminary analysis of my performance in this End Of Year exams 08 (EOY08), by subject:
Exam #1: English Language (23/9/08)
Ok, so I had originally decided to do the narrative. But, upon seeing the narrative question (I almost typed "sawing") , I thought I had better do something else. Hence, I went to the discursive question. Just hope that my arguements are good enough for the examiner. Also, for the situational writing, we had to select between 4 choices, when I was expecting 2. Of course, this meant more time for thinking. Not to forget, I could handle the comprehension in Paper 2. It wasn't too difficult, so that was quite a relief.
Exam #2: Social Studies (24/9/08)
Pure mugging, this one. Given a choice between a topic with only 2 types of questions and a topic with 7 types of questions, which one whould you want to study? Of course, the former, since you can get away with memorising 2 model essays, while for the latter, there are 7. Hence, I did Q2 in 40 mins, thanks to my memorising. The inference question was okay, but I busted my C&C and left barely any time to complete the reliability question. So that was a lesson learnt.
Exam #3: Higher Chinese (3/10/08)
The letter was okay, but I'm not so sure about the compo. Just hope it doesn't fail. And Paper 2 was relatively easy, true to Ms Qin's words!
Exam #4: Elementary Mathematics (6/10/08)
This is like riding a bike up a rather hilly terrain, before descending down gentle slopes. But it;s okay.
Exam #5: Chemistry (7/10/08)
This left me with time to sleep, but Mr Osgodby woke me up, so I decided to run through the Fahrenheit 451 quotes I'd memorised instead.
Exam #6: Literature (Elective) (7/10/08)
I was expecting a thematic question, but that was about censorship by the dystopian government in Fahrenheit 451. I had prepared for other themes, setting and style, so I could not do the Beatty and Montag question and did the Faber question instead. And I wanted to do poem, but it's tough to me, so I did the prose. I hope I can get good grades, since I have 3 personal feelings (a personal best) !
Exam #7: Geography (8/10/08)
Having prepared for plate tectonics (my bet was the questions would weigh heavily on volcanoes) , weather and climate and natural vegetation only (rivers and coasts had quite a lot to memorise) , I did Q1 and Q2. I'm feeling confident about this paper.
Exam #8: Additional Mathematics (9/10/08)
Stumped at the first question! Fooled by a +/- sign! I have to find a way to reduce the occurence of such errors that have to be corrected by checking the answers throughly.
Exam #9: Biology (9/10/08)
I would say that this paper is definitely for someone who did not study in depth. Also, I had hinged on an enzyme question to come out. it did not disappoint, but it brought along a fresh twist to it. I look forward to such questions that allow me to learn new things from exam papers.
Exam #10:Physics (10/10/08)
A killer, I admit. I thought the paper (specifically Section B) could be improved. So little space to do any calulations! Also, there are questions where a question is at the end of a page, with lines at the next page. Darn, I wrote under the question itself, and so I had to happily copy the answers onto the lines. (The "happily" was a sarcastic remark, if you do not get it.)
Ok, a detailed look through of the papers and my results will be done after I receive the marked scripts. For a summary, I am giving Tuan, Duc and the other ASEAN scholars the liberty of getting the best in {Subject} prizes. My hands are in the air (paraphrased from a song I am hearing as I type this out) , so to speak. Hopes of me attending the Speech Day next year are rather limited.
Oh well, let's not think so much, and adios while I take a break from the stress of exams.
What are practical numbers? Are they defined by housewife-like mathematicians as numbers are useful for every purpose? Of course not, else they would really be housewives. Practical numbers are really numbers such that numbers smaller than it can be represented as sums of different divisors of that number.
What do you mean, I hear, right from my desktop. To illustrate, let me use my index number, 28. Its divisors are 1, 2, 4, 7, 14 and 28. Hence, to show that 28 is indeed a practical number, we have to show that by adding up some of the numbers from the set {1, 2, 4, 7, 14, 28} , we can get any number we like from 1 to 27. Let's say I want numbers from 10 to 20. Let's see how it can be done:
10 = 1 + 2 + 7
11 = 4 + 7
12 = 1 + 4 + 7
13 = 2 + 4 + 7
14 = 1 + 2 + 4 + 7 (alternatively you can just put 14 = 14 )
15 = 1 + 14
16 = 2 + 14
17 = 1+ 2 + 14
18 = 4 + 14
19 = 1 + 4 + 14
20 = 2 + 4 + 14
If we continue the list both ways, we find out that we can represent numbers from 1 to 27 as sums of the divisors of 28. Hence, we can conclude that 28 is indeed a practical number. Well, 28 might not practical to you, but it is to me!
In the midst of preparing for the exams, I'm here to just pray towards the Internet gods for excellence in my End-Of-Years. Yes, I'm so devoted/committed towards them. Maybe I should publicise such a religion?
Just here after all my revision, to remind you readers that the episode featuring our school (BPGHS) , along with me and my teammates Pratyusha and Wei Lun, will be shown tomorrow. [Spoiler starts (highlight to see the spoiler)] Though we lost in that episode (it was the questions that killed us, not the teams), [Spoiler ends] I think that we (including Qing Yu and Shao Huan, who are the behind-the-scenes members) , as the participants of the National Science Challenge 2008, gained immensely from the experience. From the audition round to the written round to the televised round, from the research institutes to the studios, I believe that the experiences gained during the National Science Challenge would serve as valuable experiences for me, for my teammates, and for all the rest of the people involved, including Mr Lim, who (kinda) begged me to be a part of the team early on, and later prepared us for the written round by giving us tons of practice papers, and Mdm Eio, who kindly transported me and my teammates (5 of us) to the various research institutes on her car. Both these teachers have guided the 5 of us for the presentation rounds, and before this slips off my mind, Mrs Joseph and Ms Chow have also gave us advice for the presentation round that will premiere tomorrow.
Anyway, here are some photos (that I have right now) of the BPGHS team at the Mediacorp studios:
The team in the limelight. The members (or rather, the contestants) are (from left) me, Pratyusha and Wei Lun.
The team (including Qing Yu and Shao Huan who are beside Mr Lim) and the spectators that came and cheered for the team in the quarter-finals.
All right, now just remember to watch the National Science Challenge tomorrow, at 7.30 p.m. on Channel 5!
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