不科學！美國21年後擊敗中國 奧數奪冠
The United States last week ended a 21-year drought when its team took home first place in the annual International Mathematical Olympiad. The U.S. win broke a long stretch dominated by China, which placed lower than second only once during that period (China took second this year). China has been participating since only 1985, which makes its record all the more impressive: It has won almost two-thirds of the Olympiads it has competed in.
上週，美國隊終於結束在一年一度的國際數學奧林匹克競賽上連續21年顆粒無收的慘況——迎來了他們的第一座冠軍獎盃。美國隊的這次獲勝打破了長久以來由中國隊佔據的主導地位，在此期間中國隊僅有一次位於第二名之後（今年中國隊爲第二名）。直到1985年中國隊才首次參與國際數學奧林匹克競賽，所以創下的記錄是令人印象深刻的：中國隊幾乎贏了三分之二參加過的比賽。
The International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) is a competition for high schoolers around the world. The U.S. ranks 36 of 65 countries and economies on math proficiency among 15-year-olds, according to the 2012 Programme for International Student Assessment, but those rankings are based on populationwide statistics; the IMO pits countries’ very top tier against one another. The U.S. picks its six-person team through a series of tests. These aren’t the standardized tests students take at the end of the year. U.S. students take three tests: the AMC (multiple choice), the AIME (all answers are integers between 0 and 999) and the USAMO (six questions, all proof-based). Any student in eighth through 12th grade can choose to take the AMC, but to take any subsequent tests, students must score high on the preceding one. The students who do best on the USAMO are invited to a summer camp for training, and the final squad is chosen from among the attendees.
國際數學奧林匹克競賽(IMO)是一個面向全世界中學生的競賽。根據2012年的國際學生能力評估項目可知，美國15歲中學生的數學能力在65個國家和地區中排名第36，但是這些排名是基於羣體範圍的統計數據的；國際數學奧林匹克競賽使得國家之間爲了排名而激烈競爭。美國隊的六名隊員經過了一系列的測驗。這可不是一般學生們年末的標準化測試。美國學生總共參加三次考試：美國數學競賽（多種選擇）、美國數學邀請賽（所有答案都是0到999之間的整數）和美國數學奧林匹克（六道都是證明題）。任何八到十二年級的學生都可以選擇參加AMC，但是隻有在這場考試中獲得高分纔能有資格參加後兩場考試。在USAMO考試中表現最爲優異的學生們將會受邀參加一個暑期訓練營，而最後參加競賽的隊員就是在這些參與者中選出。
More and more countries are participating in the IMO — 104 this year — but top places are dominated by a small number of countries. While formerly competitive countries such as Hungary and Romania have fallen behind, China, Russia and the U.S. have held the top three slots in a third of the competitions since the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
越來越多的國家正前來參加國際數學奧林匹克競賽——今年已經達到了104個國家——但是前幾名往往是被一小部分的國家所佔領。但是以前那些極具競爭力的國家：比如匈牙利和羅馬尼亞現在已經遠遠落後，而在蘇聯解體之後，中國、俄羅斯和美國已經在三分之一的比賽中佔據了前三名的寶座。
Although the U.S. had been mostly shut out from the top prize, the Americans have put up incredible individual results. The IMO awards gold medals to contestants whose scores place them in approximately the top 8 percent of competitors.3 Since the U.S. began competing in 1974, it has won 109 gold medals, putting it in second place overall. The U.S. ties the USSR for the third-highest rate of gold medals won per competition participated in (2.7 medals), behind China (4.6) and Russia (3.6).
雖然美國幾乎一直在冠軍門外徘徊，但是美國人有着令人難以置信的個人成果。國際數學奧林匹克競賽將金牌頒給那些成績能夠進入大約前8%的參賽選手。美國自1974年開始參加國際數學奧林匹克競賽，如今已經獲得109塊金牌，總數而言位居第二。美國與蘇聯並列爲獲得金牌第三多的國家——每場比賽獲得2.7塊金牌——位於每場比賽獲得4.6塊金牌的中國和3.6塊的俄羅斯之後。
