Chapter 95 of 100
Chapter 95
5 min read1,172 words
(Thank you to the book friends "Muguang Shinshin" and "Piaoling Fengye Wu" for your generous support! Bow! Thank you to those who voted for the book! Bow! Thank you everyone for your blessings! Bow!)
While making copies, Zhang Zhongzhou smiled and said, "These test papers were originally intended for selecting top students in the future. Since the two of you want to take the test, I'll bring them out early. By the way, the difficulty of these papers is on par with the Olympiad exams, so please be mentally prepared."
Chen Mo and Li Xiaofeng nodded in unison. After Zhang Zhongzhou finished making the copies, he waved at Chen Mo and Li Xiaofeng and said, "Please come up to the podium to take the test. To ensure fairness, the two of you will answer the questions under the supervision of the entire class."
As Zhang Zhongzhou spoke, he placed two stools in front of the podium. Chen Mo and Li Xiaofeng had no objections and walked up to the podium. Before Chen Mo left his seat, Xiao Yuxian and Zhu Yuanxiang cheered him on in unison, "Old Chen, go for it!"
Li Xiaofeng's Central Plains faction was not to be outdone; over a dozen students started cheering loudly, urging Li Xiaofeng to show Chen Mo, the country bumpkin, his place.
Seeing the students so divided, Zhang Zhongzhou, as the teacher, did not try to stop them but instead smiled broadly. He was delighted to see this scene. Once Chen Mo and Li Xiaofeng were at the podium, he immediately distributed the copied test papers to them and then looked at his watch, saying, "It's 8:25 AM now. If you're ready, you can start answering the questions."
As soon as Zhang Zhongzhou finished speaking, Chen Mo and Li Xiaofeng quickly opened their test papers and began to read. The classroom immediately fell silent, and no one dared to disturb their concentration.
Chen Mo first skimmed through the test papers. As Teacher Zhang Zhongzhou had said, the questions were indeed very difficult. Some of the question types were new to Chen Mo, especially the chemistry questions, which he found particularly challenging.
Due to the limited resources at his previous school, Chen Mo could only perform the simplest experiments based on the textbook content. Although he had self-studied a lot of theoretical knowledge, chemistry is not just about mastering book knowledge. Without extensive practical experience, one's chemistry skills would be at best mediocre.
One of the questions on the test described a chemical experiment process, requiring the test-taker to write out all the steps of the experiment and describe the results of each stage, such as the chemical reactions during the mixing of reagents and the properties of the resulting solution. Chen Mo had never done this kind of experiment, and there were no experimental tools available, making it difficult for him to answer.
Chen Mo's gaze lingered on this question for a long time, while Li Xiaofeng had already started answering. The students from the Central Plains faction immediately sneered at Chen Mo, thinking he was just talking big and that his first-place ranking in the assessment was just a stroke of luck.
Xiao Yuxian and Zhu Yuanxiang became anxious when they saw Chen Mo staring at the test paper, lost in thought. They had been confident that Chen Mo could handle Li Xiaofeng, but now they were worried. They were anxious, thinking, "Old Chen, start answering the questions! Why are you just staring at the paper?"
Chen Mo had boasted that as long as he was in this class, Li Xiaofeng would only be second. If Chen Mo lost this test, not only would he become the biggest joke in the class, but they, as members of the Linhai faction, would also be ridiculed, and they would never be able to hold their heads up in the class again.
Xiao Yuxian and Zhu Yuanxiang did not want to be laughed at, so they were very anxious. Chen Mo naturally felt the same way. He was not staring at the question because he wanted to give up, but because he wanted to solve this chemistry problem first. He believed this was the most difficult question, and while the other questions were also challenging, they were not as daunting. Chen Mo wanted to tackle the hardest questions first, which was the opposite of the usual advice to start with the easier ones, showing that he was not one to follow conventional wisdom.
At that moment, Chen Mo was mentally simulating the experiment. Although he had never done this experiment, he could still imagine it. Even though he did not recognize some of the chemical formulas, he knew the elements involved. He could use his theoretical knowledge to estimate which elements would react when the reagents were mixed.
Chen Mo carefully simulated the experiment process and had a rough idea of the steps in his mind. However, he could only guess at the phenomena during the chemical reactions and the properties of the resulting solution. The best he could do was to deduce the chemical formula of the final product.
After thinking for a few minutes, Chen Mo was ready to start answering. This question was worth 30 points. If he could accurately deduce the final chemical formula, he would get 15 points. The remaining 15 points were for describing the chemical reactions during the experiment, which he could only guess at. If he was lucky, he might score some points; if not, he would lose those 15 points.
Just as he was about to start writing, Zhang Zhongzhou suddenly said, "Chen Mo, this is an experimental question, and there are no experimental tools here, so you don't have to answer it. It won't be counted in the final score."
Zhang Zhongzhou had noticed Chen Mo's hesitation and, out of curiosity, had come over to look. Seeing that Chen Mo was deep in thought over a chemistry experiment question, he immediately understood and gave the reminder. He then turned to Li Xiaofeng, who was already answering, and said, "Li Xiaofeng, you don't have to answer the last question on the chemistry paper. Do you understand?"
Li Xiaofeng nodded while continuing to answer. Chen Mo smiled bitterly, thinking, "Teacher Zhang, couldn't you have said that earlier? I've been thinking for so long, and just when I had some ideas, you negate them with one sentence. Isn't that just being unfair? Well, regardless of whether this question counts, I'll write down what I've thought of. Otherwise, all this time spent thinking would be wasted."
With that, Chen Mo started writing his answers. Zhang Zhongzhou was taken aback when he saw Chen Mo still answering the question, thinking Chen Mo hadn't heard him. He was about to remind him again but stopped when he saw the chemical formulas Chen Mo was writing. His eyes widened in shock, and he said after a long pause, "Chen... Chen Mo, how do you know these chemical formulas...?"
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