"'Mike'" wrote in
:

I went to a Private School and they were very hot on the 3 x 'R's from
a very early age. Later, and as I had no desire to go into the Hotel
business like my parents, I went for an interview for an
Apprenticeship as a Marine Electrical Engineer During the interview I
was asked 'What are your Maths like?' 'Good I suppose', 'What are 7 x
8's?' and before he had finished I flashed '56'. I always remember
that because I surprised myself as to just how fast I was able to
recall it!!!!

That's arithmetic, not maths. (OK, a small subset of maths)