Chen Yang looked at the questions, which were clearly similar to those that had appeared on college entrance examination papers in the past two years, with only minor modifications to the data or wording by teachers like Liu Shiyun.
For Chen Yang, who had been through the rigorous training of "three years of college entrance exams, five years of simulated exams," and "a thousand past college entrance examination papers" in his later life, these were not difficult problems.
Although he couldn't recall the specific questions for the 1979 college entrance examination, he vaguely remembered that some question types were similar to those from the previous two years.
Therefore, Chen Yang had long ago found ways to obtain the examination papers from those two years and studied them at home. In his previous life, studying past college entrance examination papers was the most basic approach.
Not only did students pore over past papers and mock tests, but in later generations, renowned college entrance examination teachers could even devise more innovative methods.
However, for students of this era, the "sea of practice questions" strategy was still a relatively unfamiliar concept.
This was because the learning materials available to them were extremely limited. The students' conditions were poor, and so were the teachers'.
In many impoverished areas, teachers had to hand-copy exam papers for their students. There was no talk of producing supplementary books or the "three years of college entrance exams, five years of simulated exams."
It had only been three years since the resumption of the college entrance examination, and most students could only rely on the limited exercises in their textbooks to consolidate their knowledge.
Teachers were also still exploring methods for setting questions, as their experience in this regard was far inferior to that of teachers in later generations who had gone through countless examination tests.
In a small county like Liuhe, which lacked a printing factory, it took a long time for teachers to prepare for a student examination. Su Dan Novel Network
From creating the questions to compiling them into a complete examination paper, and then having them reviewed by other teachers before they could be sent to the city's printing factory for printing.
In Liuhe County First High School, the second-year grade had only five classes: four arts classes and one science class, with fewer than two hundred students in total.
There were five subjects in total, and the entire school printed only a little over a thousand copies of the examination papers, including all grades.
For the city's printing factory, printing over a thousand copies of exam papers required changing the printing plates five times, which was not a cost-effective endeavor.
As soon as the machine started, it would have to adjust the printing plates before it had run for long. Therefore, the principal of the school had to expend considerable effort to persuade people whenever they went to print exam papers.
As a result, the cost and time spent persuading people eventually far exceeded the school's expectations. Out of necessity, the principal had to ask teachers to hand-copy the exam papers one by one.
On a large white sheet of paper, teachers would use rulers to carefully copy the template papers line by line.
The exam paper that Chen Yang was taking this time was handwritten by these teachers from Liuhe County First High School, stroke by stroke.
There was no aroma of ink, only the sweat of teachers who had stayed up late, copying by the oil lamp.
Even under such arduous conditions, both teachers and students remained full of fighting spirit for the college entrance examination.
Those who were unwilling to study would not have persisted in this classroom. Basically, everyone was diligently answering the questions.
Chen Yang finished writing one set of exam papers. The first subject was mathematics. His math skills weren't particularly strong, but whether it was due to living two lives or other factors,
Now, looking at the formulas in these math problems, he could substitute them and calculate some simple questions, which was much better than his performance in the college entrance examination in his previous life.
He recalled that the mathematics portion of the 1979 college entrance examination was considered difficult. Chen Yang didn't expect to score very high; as long as it was higher than the 27 points he got in his previous life, that would suffice.
Then came Chinese, Politics, and History. With the experience and insights from two lifetimes, coupled with his recent cramming of these knowledge points, Chen Yang found it relatively easy to answer the questions.
Geography was the only subject that gave Chen Yang a bit of a headache. Things like latitude and longitude divisions, ocean currents, and climates in the Northern and Southern hemispheres... Chen Yang had no problem with rote memorization of knowledge points.
However, when it came to understanding and calculating geographical knowledge, Chen Yang was somewhat at a loss because he didn't fully understand many of the concepts himself, let alone be able to calculate them.
After two consecutive days of examinations, Chen Yang, through this test, summarized some problems he didn't understand. After all, studying in isolation could not compare to having a teacher guide him in school.
Chen Yang planned to ask the teachers at Liuhe County First High School about his problems after the exams were over.
Of course, he wouldn't ask for free. Chen Yang had already decided to find a way to help the school purchase a printing press from Jiangsu Province.
With a printing press, the school's teachers would no longer have to hand-copy exam papers for their students. In later generations, many larger high schools with more students actually had their own printing factories.
For high schools with thousands of students, even a weekly or monthly exam would require thousands of copies of exam papers.
If they had to contact printing factories outside every time, it would be quite troublesome, and the cost would not be a small sum. With their own printing factory, they could print as they pleased.
All they would need to buy would be printing paper and ink. Although the initial purchase of a printing machine would require a significant amount of money, over time, the printing fees saved would definitely allow them to recoup the investment.
Chen Yang wasn't driven by profit. He just hoped that the teachers in Liuhe County would no longer have to work so hard to hand-copy exam papers for their students.
He also hoped that the students in Liuhe County could have a better learning environment and cultivate more talents in the future.
Since the number of students wasn't very large, on the day the exams finished, the invigilating teachers began to grade the exams that had already been taken.
The teachers worked overtime to grade the papers. Compared to the students, they were more eager to know how well they had taught and how well the students had learned.
Therefore, after two days of examinations, the papers for the subjects examined on the first day were all graded by the third day.
Chen Yang looked at his mathematics paper, which scored sixty-one points, and fell into deep thought.
Considering he hadn't touched a book in years, he had actually passed the high school mathematics exam!
Moreover, he ranked fifth in mathematics in Liu Shiyun's class. The first place, as expected, was Shen Pandi. The second place was an older educated youth who had failed the exam twice.
The third place was Chen Yang's sister-in-law, Shen Rong. This girl, following Shen Pandi's lead and with the help of her intelligent companion, had seen her academic performance improve rapidly, scoring 81 points.
The fourth place was a quiet boy who scored 72 points and wore large black-rimmed glasses. Chen Yang was fifth with 61 points.
Don't think it's strange to rank fifth with 61 points. Mathematics was generally difficult at this time, and many people had not systematically studied mathematics, leading to gaps in their knowledge.
In the early years of the college entrance examination, many people found it difficult to pass mathematics, and some even gave up on it entirely.
Seeing Chen Yang's score, the most shocked person wasn't himself, but Liu Shiyun.
If Chen Yang could score 61 in mathematics, which was his most difficult subject, how could he have failed the exam twice? It didn't make sense!