Track quiz

Seven moves, one rule each. Keep the table open beside the quiz.

The seven rules, kept in one place
Move	The rule
What you actually asked	Count the readings a request leaves open. One reading means everyone agrees what was asked. Several readings mean the answer may follow any one. It may not tell you which.
Who it is for	Say who it is for, how long, and what shape. Each switch rules out answers that fail it. The readout counts what survives.
Give it the material	Work from material you supply. Make every claim hop back to a sentence in it. A claim with no sentence behind it stays unchecked. Do not use it until you check it somewhere else.
Change one thing	Change one thing between two attempts. Then a difference can point at that thing. Ask each attempt more than once. One tool can answer the same request differently.
Check it against the thing	A check helps if it has what it needs. The cost check says what to check first. It never says what is true. The material check shows if an answer follows your page.
What it cannot know	Ask two questions about the request. For some requests, wording alone cannot help. Then, if you have the fact, add it. If not, go and look, or ask someone who knows.
A request worth keeping	A saved request is a function. Its changing parts are parameters. One call assembles the whole request. Write it so other values can fill the blanks.

A request can be read two ways. What can the answer do?

It must follow the reading you meant
It may pick one and not say so
It always asks you which one you meant

"What is 12 + 8?" How many readings does it leave open?

Two
Three
One

Which three switches are worth setting before you send a request?

Who it is for, how long, and what shape
The topic, the day, and the tool
Word count, fact count, and example count

A long request never says who the answer is for. What is missing?

More length, so it feels full
Context. Who the answer is for
Nothing. It is already long enough

You paste a page in. The answer sounds calm. What do you do with each claim?

Trust it, because the whole answer sounds calm and sure
Delete every claim that you happen to dislike
Trace it to a line. If it has none, check it elsewhere

The answer says the fine is five rupees. The page says two. What did you find?

A claim whose line says something else
A claim with no line at all
Two numbers that are close enough to ignore

A claim has no line anywhere in your page. What is true of it?

It must be true, since it sounds sure
It must be false
It did not come from what you gave

You changed three parts between two attempts. The answers differ. What have you learned?

That all three changes helped
Nothing about which change did what
That asking the tool twice was wrong

You gave a page, and every claim traces to a line. Which check was that?

The material check
The cost check
The check of what I remember

What does the cost check say about truth?

That a costly answer must be the true one
That a cheap answer is always the false one
Nothing. It only orders what to check first

The bus timetable changed last week. What can fix the answer?

Asking the same thing over again, in fancier words
Giving it the new timetable, or going to look
Asking it to be sure before it answers

Wording alone cannot help. What is the move?

Add the fact, look it up, or ask someone
Reword it once more, with extra detail
Give up, because the tool has failed you

In function ask(topic, who, howLong), what is who?

An argument
A parameter
A return value

Why must ask use return and not print?

Because print cannot join text together
Because return is faster
So the calling line can use the text

You send one request twice. The two answers differ. What does that show?

One tool can vary its answers
The request was wrong the first time
The second answer must be the right one

This was the last computing track of Class 9. Read a request like a program. Count what it leaves open. Check an answer against the thing it is about.

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