14-Year-Old ‘Human Calculator’ breaks records

Share to Google Classroom

Aaryan Shukla, a 14-year-old from Maharashtra, India, amazed the world by breaking six Guinness World Records in mental math in a single day.

Shukla, known as the “Human Calculator,” was invited to Dubai by Guinness World Records to take on the challenge. He had previously set a world record for the fastest time to mentally add 50 five-digit numbers.

In one day, Shukla set new records in several categories, including adding, multiplying, and dividing large numbers. He added 100 four-digit numbers in just 30.9 seconds and 200 four-digit numbers in 1 minute, 9.68 seconds.

He also broke his own record for adding 50 five-digit numbers, lowering the time to 18.71 seconds. Other records included dividing a 20-digit number by a 10-digit number in 5 minutes, 42 seconds, and multiplying two five-digit numbers in 51.69 seconds.

Shukla, who practices math for five to six hours daily, has amazed many with his extraordinary ability. His father said their family has no history of such skills but believes Aaryan is “one in a billion.”

How did this story make you feel?

SMART Prep | Quick Question 210654

Our school should start later.

Every morning, many Year 8 students arrive tired, distracted, and unready to learn. Some have caught the early bus, helped with younger siblings, or stayed up completing homework. A later start would not solve every problem, but it could improve concentration during the first lessons. In fact, several schools in New Zealand have changed their start times and reported that students were more settled in class. If the goal of school is learning, then giving students a slightly later start makes sense.

Of course, a change would need planning. Bus timetables, sport practices, and before-school clubs would all need to be considered.

What is the author mainly trying to do in this column?

  

Vocabulary

Click on the words in the article. See if you can find them all.

Thinking Question