When this blog was started, Miss Loi had harboured a grandiose vision of the day she clocked her first 100 posts.
will never get to see the likes of this
In her mind she pictured a glorious day of great celebration and festivities, a day of receiving homages from dignitaries around the world, a day of fireworks lighting up the skies and endless processions of performers flooding the streets around Novena!
Hence when a casual glance at the blog stats today revealed that this IS the 100th post, posted on a day less than two weeks away from the O-Levels, anti-climatic was probably too mild a word to describe the magical moment.
With no time to engage street performers or call the fireworks company at such short notice, Miss Loi will just have to make do with a polynomial question (that has frequently appeared in the past three years) to mark this joyous occasion:
The cubic polynomial f(x) is such that the coefficient of x3 is 1 and the roots of f(x) = 0 are -2, 1+√3 and 1-√3.
- Express f(x) as a cubic polynomial in x with integer coefficients.
- Find the remainder when f(x) is divided by x-3.
- Solve the equation f(-x)=0.
If you’ve been following the recent series of questions here, you would’ve noticed the trend: they’re all pretty straightforward once you know how to start. That’s what O-Level maths questions are all about – basically testing your ability to choose the best approach from your collection of approaches.
Given the high standards of Jφss Sticks commentators these days, no relevant equations shall be put up this time to spoil the fun, as a simple hint should be enough for you to yell “Orrrhhh! So simple!”.
And when you eventually solve the question, do sit back, enjoy the imaginary fireworks and wonder how on earth could so many students contrive to get zero marks for this!
