Ms. Acheson took out a book from the drawer and handed it to Sophia, "This is a review of the Mathematical Olympiad. Take a look at it. There will be a lot of experts from all over the country. You can't be careless!"
Sophia wasn't going to take it, but she didn't want to fail Ms. Acheson. She took over the book and said, "Thank you, Ms. Acheson!"
With the book, she left the office.
Ms. Acheson picked up her pen and was about to do her work when her cell phone rang.
"Director Bull… Okay. I'm coming!"
Ms. Acheson was rather surprised that Director Bull asked her to go to his office without telling her anything.
When she came to the office, she saw Director Bull talking with Mrs. Lee.
The school had just set up a senior three (49) class that week, the legendary top science class. Mrs. Lee was the headteacher of that class. The class managed by her last year got a good grade, so the school asked her to take a new class this year.
Ms. Acheson was not familiar with Mrs. Lee. One was in charge of the art class and the other the science class. There was no competition or teaching interactions between them. She was surprised that Director Bull asked them here together.
"What's wrong? Director," asked Ms. Acheson.
Director Bull coughed and said, "Well, a student named Sophia Green in your class got a full mark in the Mathematical Olympiad exam this time. But... Mrs. Lee says Kurt Weller in her class is more suitable for the competition. After all, he is a science student, and his math grades are very stable. And he actually did quite well in the exam this time, ninety-five points. There is just a small mistake."
That set of papers was different from the school test paper, with a full score of one hundred marks.
Immediately, Ms. Acheson immediately understood what he meant. "I have seen the exam result. Sophia is number one. She should go to the competition. Otherwise, the selection exam is just a show, isn't it? Or have you already made a decision?" Angrily she said.
"Here is the thing." Mrs. Lee said, "I heard from Weller that Green handed in her paper in less than an hour. We didn't do a good job of keeping the test paper confidential this time. It was actually a mock test paper of another province last year. Sophia may have done this paper coincidently so that she can get full marks, I guess. While, in terms of the stability of grades, Kurt Weller is better!"
Naturally, Ms. Acheson would not accept her argument. "Why do you think Green is inferior to Weller? She obviously did quite well in this exam. She should go!"
Mrs. Lee picked up a file from the desk, "Look, here is the monthly report card. Weller got a perfect score of one hundred and fifty in math and Sophia Green? One hundred and thirty! Besides, the paper difficulties in liberal arts and science are not the same. That means Kurt Weller is better!"
"Don't think only science students can do math! It's unfair. I protest!" Ms. Acheson was very upset, "If that's the case, there is no need to hold the tryout. You can just let him go. It's just a waste of time!"
Seeing Ms. Acheson was unhappy, Director Bull hurriedly said, "Ms. Acheson, I didn't mean that. After all, Olympic mathematics is a big game. And only one student can attend the match. So, it's better to choose a student with stable grades. I'm not saying we have to choose Weller... How about this? Let's have an extra round of the competition and test the top three candidates. Then we take an average of the two grades, is that okay?"
"Green should be the one to attend the contest. Why should she take the exam again? This is so unfair to her!" Ms. Acheson frowned.
"We never say that it must be based on the result of this trial to determine the final list! It's normal to have one more round of tests. The Mathematical Olympiad also has two rounds, right? Besides, Weller is five points lower than Sophia in the first round, and we take an average of the two grades this time. Sophia takes advantage of it!" Replied Mrs. Lee.
Ms. Acheson was very angry, but Director Bull was the school leader, she had no choice but to agree, "Fine. You can have an additional test! But this is the last time. You can't have another one anymore!"
When she walked out of the Director's office, the more she thought about it, the more she felt suffocated.
In the Director's office
Director Bull sighed, "I must have offended Ms. Acheson. She's stubborn! She must be pissed at me."
"Mathematical Olympiad is a big thing for school. She has to understand that," Mrs. Lee said. "In fact, I suspect that Sophia Green has already got the test paper secretly. I just didn't say that in front of Ms. Acheson. You know, Mr. Cromwell, who is in charge of this exam, is chasing Ms. Acheson, isn't he? "
Ms. Acheson got divorced years before and then lived with her kid. The PE teacher, Mr. Cromwell, had the same condition, divorced, and had kids. He has always been nice to her. Sometimes, Ms. Acheson was too busy to pick up the kid, and he would help. Everyone considered him chasing her.
For fear that the person in charge of the Olympiad exam would tell their students the test questions, Director Bull specially asked the PE teacher who had nothing to do with the grades of each class to take charge. He didn't think of the relationship between Mr. Cromwell and Ms. Acheson.
If Mr. Cromwell wants to please Ms. Acheson, he might leak questions deliberately to make her student be qualified for the Mathematical Olympiad contest.
If Sophia gets a prize, Ms. Acheson will get a bonus in addition to the honorary certificate for the instructor.
After Ms.. Acheson got back, she had been hesitant and didn't know how to tell Sophia about it.