Close

Login here to access/preview our exam papers, or sign up now for your free membership!

# A Mid-Autumn Gathering

(2)
Tuition given in the topic of Miss Loi the Tutor from the desk of at 8:44 pm (Singapore time)

Updated on

UPDATE: A heartfelt Arigato Gozaimasu to all of you for all your lovely Teachers Day presents! Now let’s all work towards the ULTIMATE gift to both you and Miss Loi which is that grin on your faces when you receive your end-of-year / O Level results! #Believe

Feeling bored on a long weekend, 小强 found himself loitering around the neighbourhood night bazaar.

This being the month of the Mid-Autumn Festival, a feast of festive goodies greeted his eyes as he wandered from stall to stall, checking out the ubiquitous mooncakes.

Soon he arrived at the central point of the bazaar, the traditional Lantern Riddle Guessing 猜灯谜 zone, where rows upon rows of lanterns were strung up high in the air, each with a strip of paper containing a brain twister trying its best to confound the crowd gathered below.

It was also here that he met his schoolmate 小明.

Hey 小明! So free to come and view lanterns tonight?

You don’t say! You too!

Eh … what is your answer for this one? *points upwards*

A car is going from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur at a speed of 110 km/h. Another car is traveling from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore at a speed of 100 km/h.   Assuming they both depart at the same time, which one will be closer to Kuala Lumpur when the cars meet?

Immediately, 小强 exclaimed,

HAHAHA! It’s so obvious the answer is [+] (click to find out)

they will be the same distance away when they meet!

Don’t tell me you got it wrong??!

There was a brief silence from 小明, before he (embarrassedly) pointed to the next lantern.

What about this one?

Make a true equation using all and only the numbers 2, 3, 4 and 5 and the symbols + and = , with each number and symbol used exactly once.

Once again, 小强 cried out,

WAHAHAHA! The answer is [+] (click to find out)

32 = 4 + 5

Don’t tell me you don’t know again??!

After another brief period of silence, 小明 retorted angrily,

YA LAH! YA LAH! YOU VERY SMART LAH!

At this very moment, a sudden gust of wind howled through the courtyard, swaying the lanterns and sending an unearthly chill down the spine of everyone present.

When the lanterns settled, they were surprised to discover that the riddles on each strip of paper had been replaced by something distinctly un-riddlelike in nature.

Given cos 30° = 0.866, find cos 150°.

Ha! This should be super easy for you 小强?

Errr … sorry this is AMath. Unlike you, I only take EMath.

But 小强, EMath students should know that [+] (click to find out)

cos (180° − x) = − cos x
Hence cos 150° = cos (180° − 30°) = −cos 30° = −0.866

*silence from 小强*

Given sin 30° = ½, find cos 60°.

Hello?! Why they keep putting up questions that require AMath trigonometric equations???

Errr … 小强 … [+] (click to find out)

you never learn TOA CAH SOH before?

Am I right, 小强? 小强???

By that time, 小强 was already somewhere else making a frantic phone call to …

Hello, is this Miss Loi?

I heard there’s gonna be some intensive tuition classes held at your Temple during this September holiday?

Are you referring to our Mid-Autumn Gathering – the one with the swaying lanterns?

Yes! Can I join? Can I join???

I’ve always thought I’m smart but I think I’ve been too complacent. And now with the final exams coming, I suddenly find myself forgetting the most BASIC of things! Worse of all I just got embarrassed in trigonometry by my friend 小明!

Of course you can, provided you can solve this riddle 😉

Sometimes it seems like I’m born to nag
As I keep breathing down your neck

Sometimes you’ll find me a real pain
But that’s just part of my middle name

Sometimes I feel like “I’m playing piano to a cow”
On occasions when you do not listen
But I’ll still continue somehow
In the hope that someday I’ll make a difference

Your accomplishments shall always be a part of me
And so are your deepest despairs
Sometimes more so than you might care

So if you could “see” this lantern I’m holding to light up your way
What should you say on this very day?

After a brief period of silence, 小强 exclaimed,

Oh! I know I know! The answer is [+] (click to find out)

Happy Teachers Day!

### Revision Exercise

To show that you have understood what Miss Loi just taught you from the centre, you must:

Comments & Reactions

### 2 Comments

1. mathslover commented in tuition class

2014
Sep
5
Fri
10:49pm
• ### Latest News

Once again, with the current COVID-19 situation, all joss sticks sessions have been ZOOM-ed away from Novena and are currently held online.

Please check our 2021 secondary / O level maths group tuition schedule for updates throughout this lockdown "heightened alert" period. *sigh*

Meanwhile, stay safe everyone!

The 2021 Maths Exam Papers are here! The 2021 Maths Exam Papers ARE FINALLY HERE!

Sign up or login now to access the latest set of Preview Papers!

... and join our ever-growing list of 18955 members

* Please refer to the relevant Ten-Year Series for the questions of these suggested solutions.

• ### About Miss Loi

Miss Loi is a full-time private tutor in Singapore specializing in O-Level Maths tuition. Her life's calling is to eradicate the terrifying LMBFH Syndrome off the face of this planet. For over 30 years she has been a savior to countless students ... [read more]
• ### Gratitudes

Ever since I started attending Joss Sticks, algebra and everything else seems so much easier! Everyone was pretty shocked when they found out I got an A1 for both A-Math and E-Math ... [read more]

Fiona Leong
Methodist Girls' School