Rules and Scoring
The test consists of two parts, a multiple choice section and an essay section.
The multiple choice section consists of 40 questions. The questions may be answered in any order; there is no penalty for skipping questions.
The essay section follows, which may include a quote or two and a prompt. The contestant must write an informative essay explaining the issue, while answering any questions in the prompt.
Both sections must be completed in one hour; students who do not attempt the essay section are immediately disqualified. No time warning is given during the test; at the end of 60 minutes contestants must cease writing.
The multiple choice section is scored first. Contestants are given one point for each question answered correctly, with no points being deducted for incorrect answers.
After the multiple choice section is scored, the top eight students will have their essays scored. The essays are judged based on a holistic grading criteria of ten points. The rubric can be found here
The multiple choice section and the essay section make up the student's individual points. For the team competition, the top three individual multiple choice scores from a school are added together.
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