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Gaokao (CN)
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分科攻略 · By subject · 5 min

Math: probability and statistics on the gaokao

The formulas are short. The reading is what trips students up.

Probability is one of the most read-carefully sections on the paper. The math is not hard. Deciding which formula applies is the hard part, and it is almost always a reading problem.

Two questions to ask first: is this with or without replacement, and is order relevant? These two answers determine whether you are counting combinations, permutations, or something else entirely.

For conditional probability, write out P(A|B) = P(A∩B) / P(B) explicitly before plugging numbers. Half the mistakes on this topic come from computing P(A∩B) and calling it P(A|B).

Expected value questions on the gaokao almost always reduce to E(X) = Σ xᵢ · pᵢ. Build the distribution table before writing the formula.

For the normal-distribution question at the end of the section, memorize the three intervals (μ±σ ≈ 68.3%, μ±2σ ≈ 95.4%, μ±3σ ≈ 99.7%). The question tests whether you can read a table, not integrate.

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