Blogs at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism

Posts Tagged ‘China’

Yay for Frogs!

December 7th, 2008 by Heather Chin

So Pine Magazine issued a challenge to its readers a couple of weeks ago: take the Frog Leap Test (an exercise they say is used to test spatial reasoning, it seems), pass it, take a screenshot, and send it to them. I did it on the second try.

Now, this program may be used with Chinese students, but I doubt that their ability to solve it at a young age means “smarter than” compared to at least the Pine Mag. editors. It’s probably just a matter of how much training you have in spatial reasoning. Perhaps the students get a focus on this earlier than students with other nation’s curricula.

Still, I cringe at the thought of someone to suggest that my being able to solve the puzzle (see below) is due to my being Chinese American. Paranoia? Perhaps. But this twisted logic is hardly absent from discussion in an American society that seems to be experiencing an upswing in xenophobic thought. As usual, I’ll slough off this thought, though.

In my case, years of learning according to the NYC specialized math and science curriculum probably helped condition me to find this a rather straightforward exercise.

Whatever the case, I’m pleased! Woohoo!

Here’s my screenshot:

S
O
L
U
T
I
O
N
S

The solution is:
Y (yellow)1 – R (red) 1 – R2 – Y1 – Y2 – Y3 – R1 – R2 – R3 – Y1 – Y2 – Y3 – R2 – R3 – Y3

So much to celebrate -all over the world

October 3rd, 2008 by Mirva Lempiainen

Everyone loves holidays and celebrations, no matter what your religion or ethic background is. With the Jewish New Year here and Yom Kippur just around the corner, now is a good time to look at all the different holidays around the world.

Yes, the two main holidays in the USA are Thanksgiving and Christmas. Those are widely known and hugely celebrated. But there are people in this country that celebrate hundreds of other holidays, too. Have you ever heard of Eid? Or Diwali? Do you have any idea of how the people in Georgia (the country) celebrate their holidays? What about the Chinese New Year? Do you know when that takes place and what all goes into the celebrations?

Well, you are in luck. Listen to these interviews that dive into four different cultures, and you will be a little bit smarter next time when someone asks you to come celebrate Diwali with them.


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Yang Liao from Shanghai, China talks about the Chinese New Year.

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Neha Naqvi from Delhi, India and Sonali Mathur from Bombay, India, talk about Eid and Diwali

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Nino Revishili from Tbilisi, Georgia talks about the way Georgian people celebrate holidays

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Romain Leplomb from Lyon, France, talks about the holidays in France