From June 7 to June 9 2016, national higher education entrance exams were held nationwide in China. Every high school senior took part in this once-in-a-year event, and the exams always get a lot of media coverage every single year. Even Dr. Stephen Hawking posted about the exams on weibo.com. Most provinces have the same exams. But a few provinces have the “privilege” of writing their own exams. My hometown Jiangsu province is one of them. However, Jiangsu province is notoriously famous for writing the hardest exams of all, especially in mathematics.

Dr. Stephen Hawking wished students good luck in a post on weibo.com

In Jiangsu province, high school students choose one of two tracks: arts or science. Every student needs to take exams in three required subjects: Chinese, mathematics, English, along with two other elective subjects. Science track students must take physics as one of the electives, while arts track students must take history. The other elective can be chosen from chemistry, biology, political science, and geography. In addition, arts track students need to finish 40 points of extra problems in Chinese, and science track students have 40 points of extra problems in mathematics.

I have translated the mathematics exam into English. I apologize for any typos in advance.

Note: no calculators allowed in any exam.