The Chinese question requires fundamental geometric laws and basic trigonometry. All the right angles make the problem easy.
The English question is fundamental geometry. That's a problem you'd have to work if you were trying to figure out how much your backyard fencing would cost (or you can just call the guy and pinch off the loaf when he gives you the estimate).
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Persuant to SUBMAN1's post:
"Rote memorization" works outstanding in the military MOS schools. It's something that American universities do very poorly -- teaching the most basic, fundamental law and properties necessary for higher-level problem solving. Gotta start somewhere and doing thousands of simple problems is a damn good place to start. It is an absolute waste of a student's time to ponder over a problem for hours when they are learning the most fundamental equations and concepts necessary for the field of study.
To my understanding, this is how the Chinese are running their schools. Drilling conditional problems (no wind, vertical loads, static attachments, immiscible fluids, constant viscosity, etc)
Learn to drive the boat first -- then learn Great Circle Navigation and sound wave propagation.
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