"Vernor Vinge - Fast Times at Fairmont High" - читать интересную книгу автора (Vinge Vernor)

attention; mostly, he was looking around the audience. This
was a physical assembly, so almost everybody except Bertie
Todd was really here. Bertie was remote from Chicago, one of
the few commuter students. His parents paid a lot more for
virtual enrollment, but Fairmont Schools did have a good
reputation. Of the truly presentтАФwell, the fresh thirteen-year-
old faces were mostly real. Mr. Alcalde's consensus imagery
didn't allow cosmetics or faked clothes. And yet ... such rules
could not be perfectly enforced. Juan widened his vision,
allowed deviations and defacements in the view. There
couldn't be too much of that or the Alcalde would have
thrown a fit, but there were ghosts and graffiti floating around
the room. The scaredy-cat ones flickered on-and-off in a
fraction of a second, or were super-subtle perversions. But
some of themтАФthe two-headed phantom that danced behind
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 Fast Times at Fairmont High
by Vernor Vinge


the Principal's podiumтАФlasted gloating seconds. Mr. Alcalde
could probably see some of the japery, but his rule seemed to
be that as long as the students didn't appear to see the
disrespect, then he wouldn't either.
Okay, platitudes taken care of, Mr. Alcalde got down to
business: тАЬThis morning, you did the math exam. Most of you
have already received your grades. Ms. Wilson tells me that
she's pleased with your work; the results will make only small
changes in the rest of this week's schedule. Tomorrow
morning will be the vocational exam.тАЭ Oh yeah. Be ready to
learn something dull, but learn it very, very fast. Most kids
hated that, but with the little blue pills, Juan knew he could
whack it. тАЬSoon you'll begin the two concurrent exams. You'll
have the rest of finals week to work on them. I'll make the
details public later in this assembly. In general terms: There
will be an unlimited exam, where you may use any legally
available resourcesтАФтАЭ
тАЬAll right!тАЭ Bertie's voice came softly in Juan's ear. All
across the hall similar sentiments were expressed, a kind of
communal sigh.
Mr. Alcalde's dark features creased in a rare smile. тАЬThat
just means we expect something extraordinarily good from
you.тАЭ To pass the exam, a team had to bring in three times
tuition per team member. So even though they could use any
help they could recruit, most students didn't have the money
to buy their way to a passing grade.
тАЬThe two concurrent exams will overlap the usual testing in
visual communication, language, and unaided skills. Some of
your parents have asked for more concurrency, but all the
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