Going for a job interview is nerve-racking at the best of times, but tech giant Google has become notorious for asking fiendishly tough questions.

即便是招聘高峰期，求职面试也会非常伤神费脑，然而科技巨头谷歌的面试题则因其奇葩刁钻而异常出名。

The company used to ask head-scratching questions such as 'How many piano tuners are there in the world?' and 'How many golf balls does it take to fill a school bus?'.

谷歌公司曾问过一些令人头痛不已的面试问题，例如，“世界上有多少位钢琴调音师？”以及“一辆校车里最多能塞多少颗高尔夫球？”。

But some of the riddles² were so tough they have now been banned from the interview process.

但因有些谜题太过于荒谬古怪，谷歌公司现在已不再将其纳入面试流程中。

Recruiter Impact Interview have compiled a list of 140 questions candidates have reported being asked at interviews for various roles at Google, many of which have now been dropped from the process.

招聘面试小册子汇编140道题，依应聘人员所言，在谷歌面试中他们曾以各种角色回答过此类问题。目前其中的许多问题已从面试流程中剔除。

One of the tough teasers that candidates used to be asked was: 'How many piano tuners are there in the entire world?'

应聘者们曾经回答过这样一个令人啼笑皆非的难题：“全世界有多少位钢琴调音师？”

The riddle¹ is known as a Fermi problem, named after the physicist³ Enrico Fermi who was known for his ability to make good calculations with very little information or even none.

这类谜题被称为“费米问题”，命名来自物理学家恩里科·费米，他之所以声名远扬是因为他能够在少量的给定信息甚至没有信息的情况下进行运算。

Its purpose is to test a candidates approximation skills as well as their ability at dimensional analysis.

费米问题意在考察应聘者的估算能力以及量纲分析能力。

The puzzle is solved by multiplying a series of estimates to get to the right answer. So a candidate would have to estimate factors such as how many households have a piano, how often they are tuned⁴ to figure out how many piano tunings take place a year.

解决费米问题的方法在于通过一系列估算而无限接近正确答案。因此，应聘者需要考量一些因素，诸如：拥有钢琴的家庭户数，此类家庭进行钢琴调音的频次等，从而得出每年有多少次的钢琴调音。

They then need to calculate the average working hours of a piano tuners and the number of jobs they carry out.

随后，应聘者们需要估算出钢琴调音师的平均工作时长以及工作量。

The number of piano tunings that take place per year divided by the number per year per piano tuner should yield the answer.

因此，用每年所有家庭需要进行钢琴调音的次数除以每年每位钢琴调音师的工作量，答案就此诞生。

Google candidates going for a role as product manager also used to be asked: 'How many golf balls can fit in a school bus?

申请谷歌公司产品经理职位的应聘者也曾被问到：“一辆校车里能够容纳多少颗高尔夫球？”

To solve it one must calculate the volume of the average golf ball and the the volume of the average school bus, taking into account factors like the seats and other fixtures⁵ taking up space.

为了解决这个问题，应聘者必须估算出一颗正常高尔夫球的体积以及一辆正常校车的体积，同时也需将校车内占据空间的座椅和其他固定装置的体积等因素考虑在内。

The answer is the volume of the bus, divided by the volume of the balls.

这个答案就是校车容量除以高尔夫球体积所得的数字。

As well as questions involving calculation and physics, Google used to ask would-be employees to solve logic⁶ puzzles.

谷歌公司的面试问题不仅提及数学运算与物理学方面，也曾让其潜在雇员们解决逻辑难题。

One of the riddles was: 'Every man in a village of 100 married couples has cheated on his wife.

其中的一个谜题是：在一个村庄里，有100对已婚夫妇，每名男子都曾对自己的配偶不忠。

'Every wife in the village instantly knows when a man other than her husband has cheated but does not know when her own husband has.

一旦有男子在外偷吃，村庄里的妇人们便会立刻得知，但是如果这名男子是自己的丈夫，妇人将不会得到消息。

'The village has a law that does not allow for adultery. Any wife who can prove that her husband is unfaithful must kill him that very day.

这个村庄的法律严禁婚外情。任何妇人一旦证实丈夫有婚外情，就必须当日杀了他。

'The women of the village would never disobey this law. One day, the queen of the village visits and announces that at least one husband has been unfaithful. What happens?'

村里的妇人们从来没有违背过该法规。有一天，村庄里的女王来访并宣称村里至少有一名丈夫背着妻子有婚外情。接下来究竟会发生什么？

Although opinion varies as to the correct answer, a popular solution is to assume that all the cheating husbands will be executed 100 days after the queen's announcement.

尽管关于正确答案，众人各持己见，但仍存有一个广为流行的解答，即所有背情忘义的丈夫将会在女王宣布消息之后的第100天被执以死刑。

Every wife in the village instantly knows when a man other than her husband has cheated, so if there's only one unfaithful man she will know it's her husband and will kill him that day.

一旦有男子出轨，村庄里的所有妇人便会即刻得知消息，除非这名男子是自己的丈夫。因此，如果只有一个不忠的男子，那么妇人便得知此人就是自己的丈夫，便会在当日使其命丧黄泉。

Bearing in mind that the queen has said that at least one man has cheated, there could be more than a single adulterer.

我们必须记住女王提到，至少有一名男子背叛妻子，这也就意味着该数目可能大于等于一。

If there are two cheaters, 98 women will know who they are. The next day when the wives who have been cheated on see that nobody has been executed they will realise the only explanation is that their husbands are the culprits, and will kill them.

如果村里有两名男子背叛妻子，那便有98位妇人知道他们的身份。次日，他们的妻子没有发现有人被处以死刑，那么妇人就会明白，唯一的可能就是自己丈夫，随后杀之。

By that logic, 100 cheating husbands will be executed on the 100th day, as the riddle states that every man in the village has cheated on his wife.

依逻辑推断，那100名有婚外情的男子会在第100天时通通被处死，正如谜题所述，村庄里的每个男人都曾背叛过自己的妻子。

A riddle about pirates sounds complicated but the answer is in fact quite simple.

有一个关于海盗的谜题看似玄乎复杂，但事实上答案十分简单。

You're the captain of a pirate ship, and your crew gets to vote on how the gold is divided up.

假设你是一艘海盗船的船长，你的船员们就如何分配黄金的问题进行投票。

'If fewer than half of the pirates agree with you, you die. How do you recommend apportioning⁷ the gold in such a way that you get a good share of the booty, but still survive?

如果你的分配方案得不到半数支持，你就会被杀死。在自己可以活命的前提下，你如何分配才能拿到最多的财宝？

The solution is to share 51 percent of the treasure.

答案是分掉51%的黄金。

Another logic puzzled candidates were given to solve was: 'How many times a day do the hands of a clock overlap⁸?'

“一天中，时钟的时针和分针会重合几次？”这是应聘者们被要求回答的又一个逻辑难题。

The hands overlap once an hour, but 11 times in 12 hours and 22 times in a day. This is because the overlap at 12 has already been accounted for.

时针和分针每小时重叠一次，但在12小时内会重叠11次，一天之内重叠22次。这是因为在12时位置的指针重合已经计算在内。

The overlaps⁹ occur at 12, 1.05, 2.11, 3:16, 4:22, 5:27, 6:33, 7:38, 8:44, 9:49 and 10:55 in the morning and after midday at 12, 1.05, 2:11, 3:16, 4:22, 5:27, 6:33, 7:38, 8:44, 9:49 and 10:55.

重合时间点分别是上午12:00，1:05，2:11，3:16，4:22，5:27，6:33，7:38，8:44，9:49，10:55以及下午12:00，1:05，2:11，3:16，4:22，5:27，6:33，7:38，8:44，9:49，10:55。