Preparation of Questions

All questions will be based on the New International Version of the Bible (New York International Bible Society, 1984a).  For the International Finals, questions must be written covering the entire material for the quiz year.

Questions for the International Finals will be the responsibility of the Life Impact Ministries Office. The head answer judge is responsible for the correctness of questions.

I.  TYPES OF QUESTIONS

A. Interrogative Questions (INT)

1. Questions should not be overly long and should be clear and precise.
2. An Interrogative Question must be worded exactly as it appears in the text and must contain a completed key word or phrase in the first five words.

a. A key word is a word that appears only once in the material.

b. A key phrase is two or three words – the sequence of which distinguishes them from the rest of the material.

3. Interrogative Questions drawing from the context of Scripture without a direct key word or key phrase are invalid.
4. The seven permissible interrogatives are who (or a form of it), what, why, where, when, which, and how.  One of these interrogatives must be in each Interrogative Question, either at the beginning or end.

There shall be a minimum of eight and a maximum of twelve Interrogative Questions in each quiz.

B. Finish-The-Verse Questions

1. Will be direct quotes from Scripture and must be quoted word-perfect.

2. Must be strong enough to stand on its own without requiring additional verses to explain it.

3. Must be of spiritual value or be significant to the chapter.

4. The quizmaster may give no more than five words of the verse.

5. Quizzers may go back and correct their answers if done in the 30-second time limit. The quizzer may not quote from any but the required verse or verses.

6. There are four forms of Finish the Verse questions.

a. Finish the Verse (FTV) – begins at the beginning of a single verse and finishes at the end of that verse.

b. Finish-This (FT) - begins in the middle of a verse and finishes at the end of the verse. A FT must start at the beginning of a sentence or the beginning of a quotation.

c. Finish these two verses (FT2V) – begins at the beginning of a verse and continues to the end of the next verse.

d. Finish-This and the next (FTN) – begins in the middle of a verse and finishes at the end of the next verse. A FTN must start at the beginning of a sentence or the beginning of a quotation.

There shall be no less than two and no more than three FTV or FT in each quiz.

C. Quote Questions (QT)

1. Quote Questions are questions in which the quizmaster gives only the book, chapter, and verse reference for the verse. It must be quoted directly from Scripture. The quizzers will answer this question as they would answer a Finish-The-Verse Question.
2. Will be direct quotes from Scripture and must be quoted word-perfect.
3. Must be strong enough to stand on its own without requiring additional verses to explain it.
4. Must be spiritually significant.
5. Quote Questions should be read:
“Quote (book name), chapter (number), verse (number)”, i.e., “Quote John chapter 1 verse 12.”
6.   A second form of Quote Questions is “Quote these two verses (Q2V). The reference will be given for two consecutive verses. The quizzer will have to give the reference to both verses and quote from the beginning of the first verse to the end of the second verse. ‘Quote these two verse’ should be verses that make more sense when quoted together. Example: Gal 5:22-23

There shall be one or two Quote Questions in each quiz.

D. Reference Questions – used to distinguish similar words from different passages.

1. All Reference Questions should be read:  “According to (book name), chapter (number), verse (number)” i.e., “According to John chapter 12 verse 6.”
2. Reference Questions may refer to chapter and verse or chapter only.
3. The quizmaster shall specify whether chapter and verse (CVR) or chapter only (CR) are required.
4. Chapter-Only and Chapter-Verse Reference Questions: A question is requiredif a jump is made prior to the complete reading of the question. The questiongiven must be a similar question to the one on the card and fulfill the requirements of the question and answer on the card. The quizzer must stay with-in the context on a chapter-only reference question and may not change to another verse on a chapter-verse reference question.

There shall be no less than three and no more than five Reference Questions per quiz.

They may be selected from any of these types:

a. Chapter Reference:  similar material appearing only once in a chapter.
b. Chapter and Verse Reference:  similar material appearing more than once in a chapter.
c. Multiple-Answer Reference.

E. Multiple-Answer Questions (MA)

1. Must have more than one answer to the interrogative.
2. The clarification of a single answer is not a multiple answer question.
3. Multiple-Answer Questions must be worded exactly as they appear in the text and must contain a completed key word or phrase in the first five words.

There shall no less than two and no more than seven Multiple Answer (MA) Questions in a quiz (MA Questions may also be Reference Questions.)

F. Situation Questions

1. Used only when narrative material is available (Four Gospels and Acts).
2. Must be a direct quote from Scripture by a person or an entity within a two-verse context.
3. The quote must be reasonable in length, not exceeding two consecutive verses.  The quizzer is not required to repeat the quotation word-perfect but must be substantially close without leaving out key components of the quotation.
4. Asks for who said it, to whom, how, why, when, where, or about whom.  No other interrogatives are permissible. A maximum of three situation questions may be asked about the quote.
5. Must start at the beginning of a quotation or the beginning of a sentence within          the quotation.  When a Situation question comes from a quotation that runs for more than 2 verses, the beginning of the Situation question must start within the first 2 verses of the quotation. 
6. The answer to the Situation Question must be in context.

There shall be no less than two and no more than four Situation Questions in a quiz when covering narrative material (Gospels and Acts).

II. INVALID QUESTIONS

A. Invalid Questions – Questions may be declared invalid by the quizmaster or answer judges if:

1. The answer requires interpretation by the quizzer.
2. The question can be answered, "yes" or "no," "true" or "false."
3. A Multiple-Answer, Reference, Finish-The-Verse, Situation, or Quote Question is not preceded by a statement to that effect.
4. The question is ambiguous, tricky, or misleading.
5. The question might have two different or conflicting answers.
6. The question is multiple-choice.
7. A synonym is used for a key word in the NIV in either the question or answer.
8. The question is not preceded by the quizmaster calling, "Question."
9. The question is a Cross-Reference Question (meaning the question and answer or, in the case of a Multiple-Answer Question, both answers must come from the same verse or consecutive verses).
10. An Interrogative or Multiple-Answer Question does not contain a key word or complete key phrase within the first five words of the question.
11. A Finish-The-Verse or Finish-This Question begins with the same first five words as another Finish-The-Verse or Finish-This Question, or if a Situation Question begins with the same first five words as another Question.
12. When a question is deemed invalid and thrown out, it must be replaced with the same type of question.  (i.e.  Interrogative replaced with Interrogative, CVRMA replaced with CVRMA, etc.)