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A school maths question posted on Facebook by a Singaporean TV presenter has stumped thousands, and left many asking if that’s really what is expected of Singaporean students.

一名新加坡電視台主持人在「臉書」上貼出的一道學校數學考題，難倒了數千人，也讓許多人問，這真的是新加坡學生被期待要有的程度嗎？

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The question asks readers to guess the birthday of a girl called Cheryl using the minimal clues she gives to her friends, Albert and Bernard.

這道考題要讀者利用「雪洛」這名女孩給她朋友「亞伯特」和「伯納」非常有限的線索，猜出雪洛的生日。

Cheryl’s Birthday was initially reported to be an examination question for 11-year-olds.

起初的報導稱，「雪洛的生日」是用於測驗11歲學生的題目。

Students stressed by tough examinations is a perennial issue here, and Cheryl’s Birthday reignited concerns that the education system was too challenging.

學生承受艱難考試而備感壓力，在新加坡是存在已久的問題，而「雪洛的生日」這個題目，重新挑起對星國教育制度難度太高的擔心。

But it later emerged it was for students aged about 15 taking part in last week’s Singapore and Asian Schools Math Olympiads （Sasmo）.

但之後消息指出，這個題目是針對新加坡暨亞洲學校數學奧林匹亞競賽的15歲以上參賽者。

Organisers said the test was aimed at the top 40% and aimed to "sift out the better students", adding it was "important to clarify so that Singapore parents will not start to worry so much".

主辦單位說，這項考試是針對前40%的參賽者，以「篩選出較優學生」，還說「澄清很重要，這樣新加坡家長就不會這麼擔心」。

Kenneth Kong, who first posted the problem, told the BBC： "It’s a really difficult question for younger kids, so that’s why people were so shocked at first... but now that people know it’s for older students, they just think it’s quirky."

率先貼出這道問題的江堅文向「英國廣播公司」說，「對於年紀較小的孩子來說，這真是很難的問題，這也是為何人們一開始會感到如此驚訝…但是現在大家知道這是給較大學生做的題目，他們就覺得很奇特。」

新聞辭典：

mind-bending：形容詞，令人難以理解的，複雜的。例如，mind-bending riddles（難解的謎語）。

stump：動詞，難倒。例句：I’m stumped by these mind-bending riddles.（這些難解的謎語難倒我了。）

sift out：動詞片語，篩檢、過濾出某物。例句：The introduction of these tests is to sift out qualified applicants.（採用這些測驗是為了篩選出符合資格的應徵者。）

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