Junior high school and senior high school have different knowledge.

A few senior high school students, junior high school students and senior high school students have made a big leap, and most of them have a big gap. A few people can still maintain this advantage, not to mention that high school competitions are basically to score points for the college entrance examination, and many people participate. Every school basically has set indicators, so it is difficult to rank.

Because there is a college entrance examination, one is a large-scale stepping stone (award level), and the other is a small number of independent enrollment choices (which must be the first at or above the municipal level), and the risks for different purposes are different.

The national college entrance examination policy has basically no preferential treatment for candidates who take part in the competition, so most candidates are more willing to spend their time and energy on the college entrance examination.

After all, there are few people engaged in pure mathematics research, and there are few jobs that have a lot to do with mathematics.

Someone has made a follow-up study on the winners of high school mathematics competitions, and concluded that these people have not achieved much in their careers.

Hu Bingsheng's On the Achievements, Predicament and Outlet of China Mathematics Competition

I. Review of the Course of Mathematics Competition in China Since 1956, China has held mathematics competitions for middle school students for 43 years. Except during the Cultural Revolution, these 40 years can be roughly divided into four stages:

1, primary stage (1956-1965) China middle school students' mathematics competition (hereinafter referred to as "mathematics competition").

The middle school students' mathematics competition started from 1956, initiated by a group of famous mathematicians headed by China, organized by chinese mathematical society and provincial and municipal mathematics societies, held in big cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Han, and gradually extended to provincial capitals and some medium-sized cities.

Although the mathematics competition in China started late (for example, 60 years later than Hungarian and 20 years later than Soviet Union), there was no national competition. However, due to the personal participation and enthusiastic guidance of chinese mathematical society leaders and mathematicians headed by Hua, it gained great momentum and high-level propositions. Many famous mathematicians, such as Hua, Su, etc., have made reports and lectures on mathematics popularization for middle school students, and on this basis, they have written a number of wonderful books on mathematics popularization for middle school students all over the country.

However, due to the influence of the "Great Leap Forward" in 1958, mathematics competitions in various places were intermittent during this period, and there was no standard, no national scale and no contact with IMO. 1966 After the "Cultural Revolution" began, mathematics competitions in various places were suspended.

2. Recovery and development stage (1978-1985)

After the downfall of the Gang of Four, the "Spring of Science" appeared in China, and chinese mathematical society quickly resumed its activities. In May 2007, chinese mathematical society leaders and mathematicians headed by Hua initiated and organized a national mathematics competition for senior high school students in eight provinces and cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Shaanxi, Anhui, Sichuan, Liaoning and Guangdong. Before the national finals, all relevant provinces and cities organized it. The number of participants reached hundreds of thousands, which was unprecedented. After the game, Mr. Hua personally explained the meaning of the topic and announced a set of semi-finals and national finals. The social response is very strong. From 1938 to 1979, the national mathematics competition continued, and the number of participating provinces and cities increased to 25.

Considering the actual situation of a few remote provinces and autonomous regions, starting from 198 1, the national mathematics competition was changed to "league", and the winners were evaluated by provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions. Since then, the national high school mathematics league has been customized and continues to this day.

At the same time, junior high school students' mathematics competitions were held in various places. 1985, the first national junior high school mathematics league was held in April of that year under the organization of teaching and research departments in chinese mathematical society and other places.

Although this stage is a "revival", due to past experience and the fact that old mathematicians are still alive, the scale and momentum of the competition greatly exceeded that of the 1950s from the beginning. However, at present, the mathematics competition is still confined to China, and it is accumulating strength to March into IMO.

3, to the brilliant stage (1986- 1995)

After 1985 sent two middle school students to participate in the 26th IMO as a test, 1986 formally teamed up to participate in the IMO competition, and won 3 gold 1 silver 1 bronze and the fourth place in the total score of the group that year. From then on to 1995, in the middle of 10, China middle school students won 39 gold medals, 17 silver medals and 4 bronze medals on the IMO podium, * * * won the first place in the team's total score five times and the second place three times. This outstanding achievement not only inspired China, but also shocked the whole world. Many mathematics educators came to China to study it in Erdos, and Professor Qiu Zonghu won the "National Mathematics Competition Alliance (WENMC)" for his outstanding achievements in organizing the China Mathematics Competition.

At this stage, the national high school league and junior high school league are gradually standardized, and the mathematics winter camp is changed to "Chinese Mathematical Olympics"; Participating in the selection and training of IMO players has been institutionalized; The math competition extends downward to the first and second grades of junior high school and the senior grades of primary school. 65438-0986 "Huajin Cup" Junior Mathematics Invitational Tournament was held in China. The contestants are teenagers from grade two to grade five in primary school. In addition, there are various levels of mathematics such as Wuyang Cup, Zu Chongzhi Cup, Jinyun Cup and Hope Cup.

4. Cooling and reflection stage (1996 till now)

Since 1996, the temperature of China's mathematics competition upsurge has dropped sharply, and many schools have withdrawn from various mathematics competition sequences. Provincial and municipal competitions and invitational competitions have basically stopped; Most math Olympic schools in China are closed; The national junior high school mathematics league is unsustainable; The number of participants in the senior high school mathematics league dropped sharply. 1996 China team only got the sixth place in IMO, and fell out of the top three for the first time after eight years as champion and runner-up.

Everyone is rethinking and summarizing the mathematics competitions in the past 20 years, in order to find out the countermeasures, so as to get rid of the predicament of the China mathematics competition and strive to create a new situation at the arrival of the new century.

Second, the achievements of China Mathematics Competition in the past 20 years

1, which has created a group of mathematical elites among middle school students. In the highest international mathematical competition IMO,

In the 1986- 1997 (China didn't participate 1998) 12 years, she won 48 gold medals and won the first place in the team's total score six times, winning glory for her country. This brilliant achievement can be compared with China table tennis and women's volleyball. The only difference is that the former is a physical competition, while the latter is an intellectual competition.

2. Among the young students, the extensive development of mathematics competitions has aroused their interest in learning mathematics.

Enthusiasm for learning scientific knowledge. Mathematics is the gymnastics of thinking. Generally speaking, students who are interested in mathematics and learn well are easier to get started in other subjects, and their overall academic performance will not be bad.

3. With the development of mathematics competitions in various schools, mathematics teachers should constantly improve their professional skills.

In recent 20 years, in dozens of middle school mathematics teaching magazines, middle school mathematics teachers have published a large number of teaching and research papers, many of which are about problems in mathematics competitions.

4. Mathematics competitions, especially the excellent achievements in IMO, have publicized mathematics among the general public.

Its significance, value and position as a basic subject in middle schools have also greatly inspired the enthusiasm of the general public to learn science and technology. It is recalled that before and after the arrival of the "spring of science", two things about mathematics had the greatest social impact. One is Goldbach conjecture written by Xu Chi (published in People's Daily). First, the 20th IMO examination questions (published in the reference message 1978-08- 19). The latter, because of the misprint of the third question, caused a whirlwind in the mathematics education circle in China for more than half a year, involving the majority of middle school mathematics teachers and university mathematics professors, which naturally attracted the attention of the whole society.

Third, the cause of the dilemma.

In recent years, the difficulties faced by China Mathematics Competition are caused by many reasons, both external and internal. Analyzing these reasons will help us find a targeted way out.

1. The mathematics competition lacks a unified national organization and leadership. For example, invitational competitions and exchange competitions can be organized by some departments (such as teaching and research institutions, some schools and newspapers) and even some individuals. The organizers of the math contest lack self-discipline. Mathematics "Olympic School" is run at will, remedial classes are run at will, the charging standard is set at will, and students' rest time is occupied at will. The older the students involved, the more. Some school students are overburdened and miserable, while others fish in troubled waters for personal gain. As a result, the reputation of the math contest has been tarnished, and some leaders and the public have misunderstood and accused this originally beneficial activity.

2. There are criticisms about the math contest in the society.

One of the criticisms is that the gold medal of Mathematical Olympics is only the initial achievement of students, and its "gold content" can't be compared with the gold medal of Sports Olympics, because the gold medal of Sports Olympics is the final achievement and the glory for the country.

The second criticism: Mathematicians cannot be trained in mathematical competitions. Many winners of mathematics competitions chose other majors instead of mathematics.

The third criticism: the lack of creativity in mathematics competition questions is not conducive to the cultivation of students' creative thinking and ability.

Most of these criticisms come from misunderstandings about math competitions. Although some people in the field of mathematics or education think so, they have never participated in mathematics competitions and their organizations, or they are biased.

3. The topic is deep and difficult, divorced from the reality of middle school.

Due to the lack of unified leadership or centralized management of all kinds of mathematical competitions and the lack of special personnel to study the proposition work, the level of test questions in mathematical competitions in China is uneven. The contents of the National Senior High School League and the China Mathematical Olympiad are deepening year by year, and the difficulty is increasing year by year. Some questions are even about the knowledge and methods of advanced mathematics. This not only discourages ordinary middle school students, but even middle school math teachers dare not intervene.

4. There is no guarantee of funds.

Mathematics competition can't compare with any single sports competition and literature competition in China, and the funds are always pitiful. Because the math contest is "unsightly" and "not fun", there is no advertising effect. Even if there is little financial support, some places have been completely cancelled and have to "pay at their own expense". And students are not allowed to charge fees, otherwise it is "arbitrary charges." This makes the math competition become passive water. Now, no matter what kind of game, let alone chess and ball games, a game can cost hundreds of thousands, millions, tens of millions, but not math competitions. I want to know what is "fairness"?

Fourth, where is the way out?

1 First of all, we should strengthen the centralized and unified leadership of domestic mathematics competition activities.

The main leaders of chinese mathematical society and well-known mathematicians in China should learn from the mathematicians of the older generation, such as Hua, make clear their social responsibilities, and strengthen the guidance of mathematics competitions. They should not only personally participate in the propositions, lectures and awards of the national mathematics competition, but also mobilize the members of the mathematical society to participate in this work. At the same time, it is necessary to publicize the significance of the math contest to leaders at all levels and public opinion, clarify misunderstandings and criticisms about the math contest, and win their support.

Thanks to the enthusiasm and efforts of chinese mathematical society's older generation leaders such as China, the China Mathematics Competition started, developed and prospered. Similarly, with the enthusiasm and efforts of the leaders of the contemporary and future Chinese Mathematical Society, the China Mathematical Competition can get rid of the current predicament and flourish again.

2, strengthen public opinion propaganda, clarify the confusion.

It is necessary to use mathematics newspapers and periodicals to confidently publicize the significance and correct practices of mathematics competitions, criticize all kinds of specious confusion and criticism, put facts, reason and clarify all kinds of misunderstandings.

For example, the gold content of the gold medal mentioned earlier is precisely because of the mathematics (science, chemistry, etc.) of middle school students. ) Olympic gold medalists have announced their initial achievements today, and their more brilliant scientific achievements are yet to come. Their gold medals are more valuable and more worthy of Chinese pride.

Another example is that mathematicians can't be trained in math competitions because they don't understand the purpose of math competitions. Because the main purpose of mathematics competitions (especially at the provincial, municipal and school levels) is not to train mathematicians, but to stimulate students' interest in learning mathematics and science. But in fact, a considerable number of the winners of the mathematics competition chose mathematics as their lifelong career, and many of them became mathematicians or mathematicians, which is beyond doubt. This is the case abroad. So is China. Many young and middle-aged mathematicians in contemporary China are winners of mathematics competitions at all levels. For example, Yang Le and Zhong Jiaqing were both winners of the mathematics competition in the 1950s.

As for the lack of creativity and deep difficulty in the math contest, this can be improved. The creativity of math problems in college entrance examination is not as good as that in math competition, isn't it improved year by year?

3, improve the system, classification guidance, ensure the focus.

In order to make the mathematical competition activities orderly and standardized, we should coordinate relevant parties and improve the national mathematical competition system at all levels on the basis of investigation and research. In the national mathematics competition, it is necessary to do a good job in the proposition, organization and guidance of senior high school leagues, junior high school leagues and "Huajin Cup" juvenile invitational tournament, and the training and selection of middle school students in various places should be entrusted to the leadership and management of provincial and municipal mathematics associations. As for the small math competition between individual schools and several schools, it is unnecessary to interfere. This is like a unit.

In order to ensure that high-level athletes in China participate in IMO every year without increasing the burden on most school students, it is necessary to give classified guidance according to different situations.

From 1985, two players were sent to participate in the 25th IMO, and from 1998, the national team was ready to participate in the 39th IMO (China players did not participate in this competition for some reason), and 80 players (including 1 players who participated twice) were selected for the national team. These 80 students are distributed in 18. According to the author's incomplete statistics, they come from 40 middle schools, including 9 affiliated middle schools of Peking University, 8 affiliated middle schools of WISCO, 6 affiliated middle schools of Huanggang, 4 affiliated middle schools of high school attached to hunan normal university, 4 affiliated middle schools of Harbin Normal University, 3 affiliated middle schools of affiliated high school of south china normal university and 3 affiliated middle schools of Fudan University.

There are 37 students in these seven schools, accounting for almost half of the total. In addition, among the other 43 students, 8 are from the science experimental class of Peking University and 3 are from the science experimental class of Tsinghua. Together, these students account for about 60% of the total.

In addition to these seven middle schools, Shanghai Xiangming Middle School, Qingdao No.2 Middle School, Jinan Shandong Experimental Middle School, Fujian Fuan No.1 Middle School and Shenyang Yucai Middle School have trained two IMO players.

Of course, these 80 students do not necessarily attend these 40 middle schools. However, according to the above statistics, the source of IMO players is still relatively concentrated.

This provides us with a basis for classification guidance. For qualified schools, we can choose several schools and establish several national training bases for mathematical olympians. Especially the two science experimental classes of Peking University and Tsinghua, we should stick to it and run it well.

4. Strive to establish a mathematical competition fund.

Just like all kinds of sports and literary competitions, if you want to persist for a long time and win an international gold medal, you must have financial guarantee. The source of competition funds is nothing more than * * * funding, payment by participating units and social sponsorship; In the past, it was mainly funded by * * *. With the social and economic changes, * * * funding is getting less and less, and fees are suspected of "arbitrary charges". Social sponsorship has not opened up the situation, and it is urgent to solve the problem of financial support for mathematics competitions. An alternative way is to establish the China Mathematical Competition Fund, which is divided into two levels: national and provincial, and the Chinese Mathematical Society and local mathematical associations are responsible for raising, managing and using it. "Huajin Cup" Youth Invitational Tournament.

The source of the fund, in addition to the * * * grant, is mainly collected from relevant universities (universities that recruit students from IMO training teams), relevant scholarship foundations and the public. Sponsors can get the "naming right" of the contest and the "naming right" of the fund trophy.

As long as our propaganda work is done well, the wish of establishing the China Mathematics Competition Fund will surely come true.

5, combined with quality education in primary and secondary schools.

Mathematics competition was originally an auxiliary part of school mathematics education and a supplement to school classroom teaching, and it was in the position of "second classroom". For most schools, the counseling and training activities of math competitions can only be carried out among a few math enthusiasts, and the principle of students' voluntariness should be strictly followed.

The content of mathematics competition activities should be coordinated with the content of classroom teaching. The topic of mathematics competition should be moderate in difficulty, full of "new, strange, clever and interesting" creativity, and pay attention to the connection between mathematics and life. Of course, the topics of the national competition and the China Mathematical Olympiad should have a certain depth and difficulty, but we should mainly work hard to infiltrate modern mathematical ideas and methods, rather than making them more mathematical and complicated. We can learn from Canada in this respect.

In order to ensure the combination of mathematics competition activities at all levels with quality education, the organization department should study and formulate the rules of mathematics competition and the self-discipline criteria of organizers; There should be experts to collect and study the test questions of mathematics competition and evaluate the excellent test questions. In addition, a feasible incentive mechanism should be established to reward Olympic gold medal winners and relevant coaches. In a word, as long as everyone works hard, the prospect of China Mathematics Competition is bright and promising. The above is just a personal review and reflection on China's mathematics competition in the past 20 years, and I would like to discuss it with the members of the majority of mathematics associations and middle school mathematics teachers.