Question format and reading order

This page lists the question text the app understands, what it cleans up, the order it reads each part in, and every pause.

Parts of a question

The parser looks for these parts. A question needs a stem or choices, and the app drops one that has neither.

Part	What the parser accepts
Header	TOSS-UP, TOSSUP, TOSS UP, or BONUS. In capitals it always counts. In another letter case it counts only alone on its line or before a number.
Number	N), or N. followed by a space, with 1 to 4 digits and an optional * in front. A bare number counts only before a format label.
Category	Capital words before the format label, as in EARTH SCIENCE Multiple Choice. After a header or number, title-case words before the label count, and so does a known category word followed by a dash. A category glued to its label, as in ENERGYMultiple Choice, is split.
Format	Multiple Choice or Short Answer, in any letter case, hyphenated as in multiple-choice, or glued as in ShortAnswer. The misspelling Mutliple Choice also counts.
Stem	The question text before the choices.
Choice markers	W), X), Y), and Z). The markers W. and W: work when a space follows. Capital, lower-case, and mixed-case markers work, and the choices can share one line.
Choice order	The last W that is followed by X, Y, and Z in order starts the choices. Stem initials such as W. H. Bragg do not count. Four ) markers at line starts in swapped order, as in W Y X Z, are read in the printed order. A wrong first label among such markers, as in Y X Y Z, becomes W.
Answer line	A line that starts with the word answer and a colon, in any letter case, as in ANSWER: or Answer:. The misspelling ANWER: also counts, and so does ANSWER in capitals with no colon. The app also finds ANSWER: and Answer: inside a line, but not Short Answer:. Every line after it belongs to the answer.

A paste needs none of the optional parts. The text Which gas is released when NaHCO3 reacts with acetic acid? alone becomes the spoken script Which gas is released when N A H C O three reacts with acetic acid?.

What the app cleans up

The app cleans the pasted text before it looks for the parts.

Pasted text	What the app does
Invisible characters	Removes byte-order marks, zero-width characters, and soft hyphens.
Math-italic letters	Turns them into plain letters.
PDF symbol-font glyphs	Turns five glyphs into °, θ, −, √, and →. Every other private-use glyph and the replacement character U+FFFD become a space.
Rule lines	Drops a line made of three or more ~, *, _, or =, or of five or more -.
Round titles	Drops lines such as ROUND ROBIN 2, Middle School, and High School.
Page footers	Drops lines such as PAGE 4.
Omission notes	Drops a note that a toss-up or bonus was omitted, removed, or deleted.
Hard wraps	Joins wrapped lines. Rejoins a word split by a hyphen, unless the part before the hyphen is half, self, well, high, low, long, short, cross, first, second, third, or a number word from one to ten.

Reading order and pauses

The app speaks the parts in the order of this table. It skips a part that the paste does not have, and it inserts each pause as exact silence.

Part	What is spoken	Pause after (ms)
Header	Toss-up number two., Bonus number twelve., or Question number one. With no number: Toss-up. or Bonus. With neither, nothing.	400
Category	The category in title case, such as Earth Science.	300
Format	Multiple choice. or Short answer.	500
Stem	The question text.	700 when choices follow, otherwise 0
Choice letter	W., X., Y., or Z.	300, or 400 when the choice has no text
Choice text	The text of the choice.	400
Answer line	Answer. and the answer text, only when Read answer line is on.	0

With Read answer line on, the pause before Answer. is 5 seconds. It replaces the pause after the last part. Between two questions the pause is 1.5 seconds, and it replaces the last pause of the question before.

Example with one question

This paste is a sample question written for this manual.

TOSS-UP
1) CHEMISTRY Multiple Choice Which gas forms when sodium bicarbonate, NaHCO3, reacts with acetic acid?
W) Oxygen
X) Hydrogen
Y) Carbon dioxide
Z) Nitrogen
ANSWER: Y) CARBON DIOXIDE

With Read answer line off, the app speaks these segments, each followed by its pause.

Spoken text	Pause after (ms)
Toss-up number one.	400
Chemistry.	300
Multiple choice.	500
Which gas forms when sodium bicarbonate, N A H C O three, reacts with acetic acid?	700
W.	300
Oxygen	400
X.	300
Hydrogen	400
Y.	300
Carbon dioxide	400
Z.	300
Nitrogen	400

With Read answer line on, the pause after “Nitrogen” is 5 seconds, and the script ends with “Answer. Y. Carbon Dioxide.”

Voice padding

Some voices add their own silence around each line. The app trims that silence beside a choice letter, so the pause after a letter is about 0.3 to 0.4 seconds. The other pauses keep the voice’s own silence. See Voices and voice engines for how voices differ.

The answer line

The app speaks the answer line only when Read answer line is on. It then speaks the primary answer and drops the judge notes.

In the answer line	What the app does
A note that starts with (ACCEPT, (ALSO ACCEPT, (DO NOT ACCEPT, (PROMPT, (DO NOT PROMPT, (SOLUTION, (NOTE, (MUST, (STUDENT, or (STUDENTS, or one of those words followed by a colon	Drops it and everything after it, in any letter case.
A bracketed note such as [NOTE …], [MUST …], [DO NOT …], [ACCEPT …], [PROMPT …], [STUDENT …], or [STUDENTS …]	Drops it.
A choice marker x), X., or X: at the start	Turns it into X., so Answer: x) 4 is read Answer. X. 4.
An answer in capitals	Title-cases each word, so Y) CARBON DIOXIDE is read Y. Carbon Dioxide.
No final period	Adds .

Several questions in one paste

A paste can hold one question or a whole round. The app reads the questions in the order you pasted them, with 1.5 seconds between them.

The app starts the next question at each header. It also starts one at a numbered line that carries a format label. A numbered line can start the next question after a question that already has its choices or its answer line.

This paste holds a toss-up and a bonus.

TOSS-UP
2) PHYSICS Short Answer A cart moves 90 meters in 6 seconds at a constant speed. What is its speed in m/s?
ANSWER: 15

BONUS
2) PHYSICS Short Answer What is the kinetic energy, in joules, of a 2 kg cart that moves at 3 m/s?
ANSWER: 9

With Read answer line off, the spoken script is the text below. The pause after the toss-up stem is 1.5 seconds.

Toss-up number two. Physics. Short answer. A cart moves 90 meters in 6 seconds at a constant speed. What is its speed in meters per second? Bonus number two. Physics. Short answer. What is the kinetic energy, in joules, of a 2 kilograms cart that moves at 3 meters per second?

With Read answer line on, the script adds Answer. 15. and Answer. 9.. Each follows a pause of 5 seconds after its stem, and 1.5 seconds follows Answer. 15..

Limits

The parser has these limits.

Limit	What happens
Four choices	All four letters W, X, Y, and Z must be present. With three choices the app does not split the choices, and it reads the markers as text.
Category without a label	Without a printed format label, capital words count as the category only when each one is a known category word: BIOLOGY, CHEMISTRY, PHYSICS, MATH, MATHEMATICS, ENERGY, EARTH, SPACE, SCIENCE, SCIENCES, GENERAL, LIFE, PHYSICAL, AND, &, COMPUTER, or ASTRONOMY.
Plain text	The question box takes plain text only.
Nothing to read	A paste with no stem and no choices shows “Error: nothing to read” in the status bar. A bare TOSS-UP and a paste of only round titles and page footers do the same. See The app finds nothing to read.
Length	The app sets no limit on the length of a paste. See Built-in limits.

For the steps to paste from a PDF, see Paste questions from a PDF or web page. For how the app says formulas and symbols, see Pronunciation examples.