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Comment by ashot | Hacker News Reader

the geometry section is much harder:

http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/exhibits/exam/geometry.htm...

Not really

1. Construct a triangle ABC. Construct a line parellel to AB through C. Alternate angles and angle sum of triangle shows it is 180 degrees

2. Use congruent triangles

3. A number of ways doing this. I would cut it into two triangles

4. 360/6 = 60 degrees. Thus each sector is a equilateral triangle.

5. 100 pi

6. Basic algebra, let x be the length of the perpendicular. x = 12, solve for sides using Pythagoras. 20 and 15

7. x : x^2

Would expect to be year 7 or year 8 level.

Yep, the algebra was frankly also elementary school level IMO.

Algebra isn't normally taught at the elementary school level. Now, I'd argue that it SHOULD be, so students can choose to study some interesting fields of mathematics after grade 5, but that's a different argument entirely.

If I remember correctly, my school district didn't offer true algebra until 8th grade, for honors students only, in a class that started an hour before any regular class. Hardly elementary.

When I was in middle school (5 years ago), algebra was standard 8th grade math. Honor students got 2 years of algebra from 7th to 8th grade.

At least, my year was given two years of algebra.

I'll grant you my elementary school math was better than most, but I think the point that this isn't very advanced stands.

The geometry section looks like something I could have passed after taking high school geometry. i.e. an American or Canadian 14-15 year-old could probably do it easily.

The English section is much harder.

It wouldn't be for a modern American high school student in an advanced English (wouldn't even have to be AP/IB) class. At least, I'm confident that 75% of the people in my AP English class would have known 85%+ of the answers. Dating myself slightly, that would've been back in '94.

Geometry is only harder to you because we teach more Algebra than Geometry in schools. They really are elementary.

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