THE advent of a beautiful teacher in the school has brought joy and jealousies to the class. The focus of attention has shifted from studies to… well… growing up. To make an impression, sharp boys of the class have started using razors and girls have begun to apply make-up to blunt this attack from the unknown. Everyone's definition of beauty has just changed.

"Everyone smile; She teaches English," a students breaks the news to his class, "We'll ask her to read out Romeo and Juliet to us." All joy breaks loose and it takes the arrival of our heroine to interrupt it. "Good morning children; I am Ms Christie, your new teacher, and I shall be teaching you… mathematics," her opening dialogue stuns them into disbelief.

"Wha… jus… but ma'am, we were told that you would teach us English," "Who told you that?" "Him," many accusing fingers point towards the "messenger" like freshly drawn out flesh-hungry swords. It is here that our heroine makes a daring rescue by declaring: "He is not wrong; I teach English as well, but it seems that no one likes mathematics here." The head boy says with a put-up accent, "We are not scared of that subject ma'am, we are grown up now."

"Sometimes, being grown up is not the same as being wise. Words of wisdom are spoken by children as often as scientists. The term 'googol' was coined by a child (nine-year-old nephew of Dr Edward Kasner) who was asked to think up a name for a very big number, namely, 1 with a hundred zeros after it. He also gave a name for a still larger number - googolplex. One day, when weather was misty, a child asked me: Ms Christie, how is FORTY + TEN + TEN = SIXTY?" "Simple addition," say all. "No. Each of the letters in this equation represents one of the digits from 0 to 9. Determine which digit corresponds to each letter." When the "grown-ups" give up, the "teacher with a kid's curiosity" says: "Write:

FORTY

   TEN

+ TEN

----------

  SIXTY

Column 1: N is either 0 or 5. If N=5, then the carry to column 2 is 1 and there is no possible value for E, so N=0. Column 2: E is ether 0 or 5, but N=0, so E=5, and the carry to column 3 is 1. Column 4: I is either 0 or 1, but N=0, so I=1, O=9, carry from column 3 is 2, and the carry to column 5 is 1. Column 3: For 1+R+T+T >= 20, R and T must be in { 6, 7, 8} . Column 5: F+1=S, so { F, S} is either { 2, 3} or { 3, 4} , so X is not 3. Column 3: 1+R+T+T = 22 or 24, so R is odd and must be 7, 2T=14 or 16, T is 7 or 8, but R=7, so T=8, X=4. Column 5: F=2, S=3. Column 1: Y=6. This gives us: 29786+850+850=31486."

"An 11-year-old girl called Agatha invented this puzzle, so, some times, it pays to be a child. Never try to be what you aren't." The students did not imitate grown-ups ever again as long as they were kids… and enjoyed their childhood. (Dedicated to Agatha Christie, mathematics teacher and mystery-novel writer)