The second episode of The Voice's viewership ratings had slapped many people in the face again!
The people were delighted to see this!
The media scrambled to report on it!
The industry fell silent!
Those who wanted to see Zhang Ye and The Voice made a joke out of themselves, and those who were looking forward to The Voice's second episode's viewership ratings plummeting, had all shut their mouths. Some people even secretly deleted those Weibo posts and comments that questioned Zhang Ye and his new show, acting as if nothing had happened.
Everything went on as usual.
The Earth continued to move.
At this point, the battle between Zhang Ye and some of the industry insiders came to an end.
… …
Noon.
Downstairs of the television tower, at a restaurant north of Bayi Lake. Zhang Ye paid out of his own pocket to treat all the program team's staff to a celebratory feast.
"Director Zhang, a toast to you."
"Alright, let's drink tea in lieu of alcohol."
"It's the weekend tomorrow, do we still have any assignments?"
"No, everyone is on vacation and have a good rest for a few days!"
"Oh!"
"That's great!"
"We can finally rest!"
The Voice was officially on the right track. Whether it was the program's production or the viewership ratings, there was nothing to worry about anymore. Everything was developing in the best direction and everything was under the control of Zhang Ye and his team. At this moment, the entire program team could finally relax. They could finally take a break after being so busy and on edge all this time!
A female editor in the program team smiled and said, "Director Zhang, I have to ask for your permission first. I might have to take two more days off in the next few days. My son is taking his college entrance exam and my wife is too busy, so I'll have to accompany him and help him revise for the final sprint for the college entrance exam. I'll also have to cook for him, so I'll be very busy in the next few days."
Zhang Ye wondered, "You haven't taken the college entrance exam yet?"
"Not yet, it's only the beginning of June," the big sister said.
"What date is the college entrance exam?" Zhang Ye asked curiously.
Assistant Director Zhang Zuo, who was beside him, thought that Zhang Ye was joking and laughed. "The college entrance exam is held in late June every year. Director Zhang must have been too busy."
"Late June?" Zhang Ye said.
Ha Qiqi said, "Yeah, it's still about ten days away."
It wasn't that he had forgotten, nor was he playing dumb. Zhang Ye really didn't know. In his previous world, the college entrance examination had been adjusted to be held on the 7th and 8th of June. It had always been like that. After he was suspended from his duties at Peking University, Zhang Ye had not paid much attention to this news. These days, he had been busy with The Voice's production, so he thought that the college entrance exam was already over. Only now did he realize that the timing of this world's college entrance exam was a little different from his previous world's. He guessed that the types of questions and the order of the exam would probably be different as well.
Wu Yi said, "Sis Li, how's your son's studies?"
The director said, "It's pretty good, but our family isn't from Beijing. Although our children are studying in Beijing, they have to return to their hometown for the exams. That's why I'm worried."
Ha Qiqi said, "It doesn't matter where you take the test, right?"
The female editor waved her hand and said, "It's not the same, it's not the same at all. Nowadays, the questions are set by all the provinces in the country. Beijing's college entrance examination questions are always easy every year, and the admission cutoff is also low, so there's definitely less pressure. The other provinces' college entrance examination questions might not be the same. Some are difficult while others are easy. It all depends on luck."
Ha Qiqi did not know much about it. "Simple in Beijing?"
The female editor chuckled and said, "Yeah, it's a lot simpler."
Zhang Ye smiled and said, "Has he filled in his application yet?"
The female editor nodded and said a little proudly, "His first choice is Peking University."
Ha Qiqi said, "Then your son is doing very well in his studies."
"He's still alright. If he performs exceptionally well, he might stand a chance." The female editor said, "If my child really gets into Peking University, I'll treat everyone to a big meal! It's a deal. "
Zhang Zuo smiled and said, "Sis Li, you should be the one treating our Director Zhang to a big meal. Director Zhang is a bona fide lecturer at Peking University's Chinese Department and an associate professor at Peking University's School of Mathematical Sciences."
The female editor immediately smiled and said, "Of course I have to treat him. I was still hoping that Director Zhang would take good care of my son after he gets into Peking University."
Zhang Ye shrugged and said with a smile, "I've already been suspended for an entire semester, so I might not even be able to go back to class this year. But if your child applies for the Chinese Department or the Math Department, I do know quite a few of the teachers there. If there's anything, they might be able to take care of him. Let's talk about it later."
"As long as you say that. Director Zhang, let me offer you a toast." The female editor was very happy. She raised her glass of orange juice and clinked it with Zhang Ye.
Zhang Ye said, "I wish your son's wishes come true as well."
Suddenly, the cell phone in his pocket vibrated. He had an incoming call.
Zhang Ye took it out and looked at the caller ID. The caller ID was Pan Yang — Dean of Peking University's School of Mathematical Sciences. He found it a little strange that Dean Pan would call him at this time. He told everyone at the table, "You guys go ahead and eat first." Then he stood up and went outside to answer the call.
Zhang Ye: "Hello?"
Pan Yang: "Hello, Professor Zhang."
Zhang Ye: "Dean Pan, don't call me professor anymore. Just call me Little Zhang."
Pan Yang: "Hur hur, then I'll call you Teacher Zhang. Are you outside?"
Zhang Ye: "I'm eating right now. Is there something you need from me?"
Pan Yang: "There's something, but I can't explain it clearly over the phone. Shall we meet up?"
Zhang Ye: "When?"
Pan Yang: "It'd be best if it's now."
Zhang Ye: "Why the hurry? I might not be able to get off work right now. "
Pan Yang: "Oh, I remember now. You recently made a new show and it seems to be quite popular in the country. Well, when do you think you'll be free? What time do you get off work? "
Zhang Ye: "Why don't you tell me what it's about first? That way, I can be more prepared."
There was a pause on the other end, then Pan Yang said: "Alright then, it's fine to tell you over the phone. I'm mainly looking for you about this year's college entrance exam in Beijing."
Zhang Ye was stunned. "Huh?"
Pan Yang said, "For this year's Beijing College Entrance Examination's question setting team, I am also a member of that team. Actually, the questions have already been prepared. Math, Chinese, English, Literature, Science, and Integrated Sciences have all been prepared. There are also several copies of the supplementary questions, but now there's a sudden problem. This set of questions has not been approved by the higher-ups. Every year, the Beijing College Entrance Examination's questions are not that difficult. This year's questions are about the same as the previous years, but the higher-ups say that it's too easy and want to increase the difficulty. If we had informed them earlier, it would have been fine. Everyone could have discussed it and polished it over and over again, but time is too tight now. The College Entrance Examination will be held in about ten days, so the exam will definitely be done ahead of time. We only have about three days left, and we still need to leave time for the approval and mass printing, so we might not be able to make it in time. That's why the question setting team is recruiting people to help out.
There's strength in numbers, so the first person I thought of for the Math exam is you. "Zhang Ye said in exasperation," Dean Pan, you're a bunch of professors, deans, PhD, and master's question setters. Wouldn't it be easy to increase the difficulty of the exam? "
Pan Yang said: "It's not the same. Of course it's easy to increase the difficulty. Our Math team can just grab a random question setter and come up with a question that even a graduate student would not be able to solve. But the college entrance exam's questions are different. The difficulty is not meant to deliberately make things difficult for the examinees, but rather to classify the examinees into different categories. It's for the purpose of screening the examinees, so not only do the questions have to be of high quality, they also have to be able to be solved with the knowledge and thinking of a high school student. That's why it's not easy, do you understand? If I throw a mathematical conjecture into the exam, the examinees will not be able to answer it and the questions will be difficult. But if I can't even solve it myself, then what's the point? Increasing the difficulty is not the goal. The goal is to screen the examinees. "
"I see," Zhang Ye replied vaguely.
Pan Yang said: "How is it? Is it convenient on your side? "
Zhang Ye said: "But I've never come up with any questions before. You really trust me."
Pan Yang smiled and said: "I've seen your questions before."
"Oh? What questions did I come up with before? "Zhang Ye really couldn't remember.
"Those questions that you came up with at the Experimental Elementary School were all very interesting. They were difficult and philosophical, and there was even a sense of fun in them," Pan Yang said.
Zhang Ye sighed and said: "But those are elementary math questions."
Pan Yang chuckled and said: "Don't look down on that. Elementary math questions are actually the hardest to come up with. If you ask me to come up with a math question that is at my level, I can come up with a very interesting one and design it well because I am at that level. I know what is difficult and what is easy. But if it were elementary math questions, I would really be at my wit's end. To me, those questions are all the same, they are all too simple. So the more it is like that, the more difficult it is for me to differentiate and see clearly. You have an advantage in this area because you are able to lower yourself and place yourself at a lower level than yourself to understand the difficulty of the questions. This is a quality that an excellent question setter must have. So from those few questions, it also shows that you are at a much higher level than us question setter. Otherwise, I wouldn't have come to you for help."
Zhang Ye joked: "You're really praising me to the heavens. I feel that if I don't agree to help, I would be embarrassed."
Pan Yang said: "Then it's settled."
Zhang Ye confirmed: "You mean the more difficult questions, right?"
Pan Yang said yes: "As long as it is within the examinees' capabilities, the more difficult the better!"
"Are you sure? What if the questions are too difficult? Wouldn't people scold me to death? "Zhang Ye had this concern.
Pan Yang was amused: "The college entrance exam's question setter is basically a scapegoat. If you come up with an easy question, the examinees from the other provinces will scold you. They will say that the Beijing question setter's standard is low and that if they came to Beijing to take the exam, then so on and so forth. If you come up with an overly difficult question, the Beijing examinees will scold you and say that you are going against them. So no matter what, you can't escape from that. This is also the reason why many teachers do not like to join the college entrance exam's question setter team."
Zhang Ye nearly fainted: "Then why did you still look for me?"
Pan Yang's next sentence made Zhang Ye laugh: "You're afraid of being scolded? On the internet, television, and in the media, when is there not a group of people scolding you? "
Zhang Ye: "..... You've left me speechless."
Pan Yang said: "Besides, every province sets their own questions and has their own cutoff points. If a province's questions are too difficult, and everyone does not do well, then the next two exams will also have low cutoff points. Relatively speaking, it's all the same and is fair. So we are not deliberately trying to cut off the examinees' path. In the end, it still depends on the examinees' individual standards. The difficulty of the Beijing exam has been criticized for so many years, and this year, the higher-ups are determined to change the question setting style and train of thought. So don't worry about it being too difficult, just not too difficult! I'm also very curious. If you were to come up with the last three big questions of the Math exam, what would your questions be like? "
Zhang Ye thought for a moment and answered: "Alright, then I'll consult the station head first."
Pan Yang said: "It's urgent here, so it's best if you can give me a reply by today."
"Sure," Zhang Ye said.
Actually, Zhang Ye already had a plan in mind!
The qualification to be a college entrance examination question setter was not something that just anyone could have. Pan Yang had mentioned earlier that many teachers were not willing to be a college entrance examination question setter, but he was just saying it casually. If the question setter team really invited him, almost no teacher would reject the invitation. This was because it was an honor and also a very high affirmation of an educator. Zhang Ye did not really care about this affirmation. What he was more concerned about was the popularity that this position would bring to him. Recently, The Voice had brought him a lot of popularity, allowing Zhang Ye to taste the sweetness of a surge in popularity once again. But he knew that if his goal was to get into the A-list celebrity rankings this year, his current popularity was still far from enough. If he wanted to get into the A-list in the shortest time possible, then he couldn't possibly take the usual route. He couldn't just walk on one leg. Having another source of popularity would always be a good thing. His work here was already in a virtuous cycle, so it wouldn't be a bad idea to "have some fun" with the college entrance examination question setter team!
Since he had nothing better to do anyway!
He should go and earn some "extra income"!
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