The questions went from easy to hard the same way, but the difficulty was not just from the questions. Since the questions were all written in Normese, the answers needed to be in the same language as well. As a foreign language, being able to read it did not mean one could write it, and even if one could write it, it did not mean the grammar was correct.
A lot of students faced the awkward problem of knowing the answer but not knowing how to convey it. As for those questions that exceeded what was taught in class, the words used were often hard to understand phrases, leading to quite a few who could not even understand the questions and just giving up on them.
Xiao Lin still maintained a relatively fast speed of answering. Even though he missed a lot of classes, thanks to him being on Planet Norma for quite some time, his Normese was not bad, and probably better than most of the students in his year. The best way to learn a language was to spend some time overseas where the language was native. That concept applied to Normese as well.
The last question was an essay question. There was only one question, which was very little compared to the hundreds of questions before that. However, after looking at the question, Xiao Lin could only smile bitterly.
The topic: ‘Based on Planet Norma’s history and current climate, what measures of governance should be taken to solidify and elevate the academy’s position, as well as expand the academy’s territories.’
Xiao Lin licked his lips; that question was quite a bomb. The governance of Dawn Academy was something only someone at the rank of the dean could consider. Even the student union would probably grasp as straws, let alone them being first years.
However, it was precisely because they were new students that they could speak without any influence. It could even be because they understood very little, and still lacked understanding of the situation on Planet Norma. Some might even say the students were naive, but it was also possible they could give ideas that no one else thought of.
Xiao Lin saw through the point of the question. It was obviously the result of the military’s struggle with the dean. New students represented the future of the academy; they might want to know what train of thought was more commonly accepted among the new students.
Xiao Lin could not make any headway even after thinking for a while, so he bitterly smiled and shook his head, continuing to place his attention on the question itself. The question was actually easy to answer, but answering it well was hard. Even graduates might not be able to answer it.
Xiao Lin definitely had an advantage for this question. He had been to New Washington and Dawn City. Though he might not have seen the whole world yet, compared to the other students–who could only learn from books and teachers–he definitely had the advantage. However, he did not rush to start, since it was impossible to change his answer after he started.
Xiao Lin closed his eyes and thought, remembering everything he experienced on Planet Norma. After over ten minutes, he opened his eyes and took a deep breath, picking up the specialized pen before he started to write quickly on the screen. Since they were writing in Normese, he was not very fast, but if someone looked at his opening sentences, they would be so shocked their jaws would drop.
‘I believe that there will definitely be a large-scale war in the future on Planet Norma. This war would not only involve every race and native on the New World and every academy, it could even pull our homeland Earth into the mix...”
After writing a few sentences, Xiao Lin paused for a moment with a bitter smile. He could already imagine what sort of reaction the person marking his answer would have. He would definitely be called an alarmist, which was why Xiao Lin had always only dared to think about it, but never share his opinions. Another way of looking at it was that Xiao Lin had no evidence to back his speculation. After all, he had only enrolled over four months ago.
However, since this question was open-ended, Xiao Lin let go of any reservations. He believed his answers in the earlier sections were almost perfect, if not completely perfect, so even if this section had a very high score, it was unlikely it would cause him to fail.
The entire combined test started at eight o’clock, and ended at noon, lasting a long four hours. It was definitely intense for a lot of them who had left school a long time ago. Xiao Lin’s speed of answering the initial questions was quite fast, but since he answered every question while the rest of them chose to give up on quite a few of the questions, coupled with the fact that Xiao Lin had given a lot of thought to the final question, everyone’s pacing was pretty much even.
The computer immediately shut down when the clock hit noon. Those who did not finish answering were not allowed to continue. A wave of anguish could be heard in the hall, but more students walked out calmly. Groups of students gathered outside the hall, and just like on Earth, a lot of them would gather together to discuss the answers and the test in general after the matter.
Since Xiao Lin sat toward the end, he left the hall later, but he was immediately surrounded by a group of people and was greeted warmly.
“Xiao Lin, I didn’t get the chance to talk to you in the cafeteria just now. How do you think you did?”
“I heard you were on Planet Norma for over half a month. You probably missed a lot of classes.”
“You don’t have to worry, I think the student union will definitely put your special circumstances into consideration.”
“Speaking of that, did you bring anything fun back from the New World this time?”
...
There were very few new students who did not recognize Xiao Lin now, but what they envied was the fact that Xiao Lin had already been to the New World twice. They tried to get some news about the New World from Xiao Lin. He had entertained a few questions at the start, but he started to get too tired to respond.
There were also some students who talked about the earlier examination with him on the way back to the dormitory, but they were mostly the other monitors. The freshman year leader had actually not been picked, so the competition between the monitors was still not at an end. They might warmly talk to each other on the surface, but they were actually gaining information about their rivals.
He finally got back to his room, and the unending questions finally stopped. After the test ended in the morning, the academy took their fatigue into consideration and allowed them to rest in the afternoon. However, the tests for the basic combat courses started tomorrow. Those who were not confident in their skills could not help but make full use of the free afternoon to train.
Xiao Lin was completely not worried about the basic combat courses. After the written test, he had already thoroughly relaxed. He believed that it was impossible for him to be held back by mere basic combat courses.
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