In July the International Math Olympiad, with its 400-some whiz-kid competitors from 85 countries, is opening amid great fanfare in Taipei. Rather than being content to dwell on the excellent records of past ROC teams, the general public might be better asking themselves if the mathematical abilities of Taiwan's students are really as outstanding as statistics would suggest.
七月間，即將有八十五個國家、四百多名數學頂尖好手與賽的奧林匹亞數學競賽，將在台北熱熱鬧鬧展開，社會大眾在欣喜過去優秀成績之餘，或許也可以有些「另類思考」：台灣學童的數學能力，是否真如統計數字所顯示的這麼風光？