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International Regions Mathematics League (IRML)

Language and Translations

The contest is generally given in English but we have had some success in getting it translated for those teams that come to the US to take the contest. In 2008, for example, we translated the contest into Chinese and Vietnamese. If the contest is being taken in English, we will email the questions to the coordinator two days before the contest. However, those teams taking IRML offsite and not in English will have to provide their own translation. For those teams we will email the contest to the coordinator 3 weeks before the contest so that a translation can be prepared. A proctor manual in English will also be emailed and it should be translated as well.

Forming a Team

While it is possible to form a team of 15 from the students of just one school, there are relatively few schools that can form a team that will be successful. So we hope that the organizers of a team will seek out the best students in a region. Generally, that will be the best students in a city or province. Teams in America are chosen in a variety of ways. In Massachusetts, the organizers make up a test similar to the Individual round to give to the students. It has 20 questions. Here is a link to a previous year's Massachusetts tryout problems. In other areas students with high scores on the AMC 10 and AMC 12 (the American Mathematics Contest which is given in February) are invited to join the team. A region can form more than one team--it can have a #1 team (its best students), a #2 team (the second best students), and so on.

ARML is designed to bring together mathematically talented students and teachers for the common purposes of developing mathematically and creating a community of inspiring friends. That is why we hope that in IRML new communities will be formed in cities and provinces in countries around the world.

IRML needs someone in each country to take charge. Usually that's a teacher, but, surprisingly, sometimes it has been a student who has heard about the contest and wants to form a team. IRML requires organization and effort, but it is well worth it. Someone must form a team, register, and run practice sessions. To provide practice materials, last year's problems are posted on the ARML website, and ARML has several books of problems from previous contests that can be purchased relatively inexpensively. To order books contact Bryan Sullivan at jbsully@verizon.net. IRML will require practice. Each round has its own challenges. The rounds are described below and at the end some suggestions are given for organizing practices.

Cost and Invoice

Since IRML incurs a variety of expenses connected with teams taking the contest abroad, we must charge for participation. The charge is $100 per team. So, for example, if Istanbul, Turkey has three teams taking it, each would pay $100. If Ankara, Turkey has one team, it would pay $100. Payments can be made using Paypal.

If you have questions about IRML, please contact Don Barry at dbarry@andover.edu or Quan Lam at quan.lam@berkeley.edu.

If you have questions about the registration procedure, please contact Michael Curry at currymath@gmail.com.

Receiving the Questions

If the contest is being taken in English, the questions will be emailed two days before the contest to allow for preparing the materials.

If the contest is not being taken in English, the questions will be emailed three weeks before the contest to allow for the translations to be made.

The day before the contest the questions should be copied. The Individual round question sheets must be cut so that questions are submitted in pairs. The Relay round question sheets must be cut so that students receive their one problem. No student can see the other problems in the Relay.

Receiving the Answers

Answers to the Team, Individual, and Relay rounds will be emailed the morning of the contest. This is true for teams taking the contest in English and for those not taking it in English.

At all times great care must be taken to keep the questions and answers secure.

Contest Procedures

The proctor(s) should use a stopwatch and should supply plenty of paper. Calculators are not allowed on any part of the contest.

The contest is given in this order:

  1. The Team Round. The team of 15 gets 20 minutes to solve 10 problems. They can work together but they cannot use calculators. Only the answer is graded. The proctor should pass out a question sheet for each person face down. When everyone has a question paper the proctor says to begin. The proctor announces when 3 minutes are left and when 1 minute is left. The team writes its answers on the answer sheet. When time is called they must stop. Each right answer is worth 5 points so this round is worth 50 points.

  2. The Power Question. The team gets 60 minutes to solve a series of questions based on one idea. Some problems require just a numerical answer, some problems require proofs. The students work together. Often they divide up the questions and the better students work on the harder questions. Often different groups of students write up the solutions to their part and then all the solutions are put together. In this part the whole solution is graded. Students should show their work when it is called for. The team cannot submit alternate proofs they must choose one. If they happen to submit alternate proofs all will be graded but the one with the fewest points will count. This question is worth 50 points. Partial credit is given. The proctor gives a 10 minute warning and a 3 minute warning. Calculators are not allowed.

  3. The Individual Round. On this part the students work separately, no talking is allowed, and no calculators are allowed. The students receive a total of 10 questions in pairs. They have 10 minutes for each pair. Only the answer is graded. After the pair of questions has been passed out face down, the proctor tells the students to turn the questions over. The proctor then reads the question and then says to begin. No work can begin until the proctor finishes the reading and says to begin. We have the problem read to reduce misunderstanding. The proctor gives a 1 minute warning and a 15 second warning. When the proctor says to stop, all work must cease. Only the answer is graded. There is one point per student for each correct answer. With a team of 15 there are 120 points on this round.

  4. The Relay Round. There are two relay rounds. There are 25 points possible for each relay so 50 points for both relays. Each relay round lasts for 6 minutes. The team of 15 is divided into 5 groups of 3. Each group of 3 has a first person, a second person, and a third person. The first person can solve his/her question. The 2nd person needs the first person's answer to solve the problem. The 3rd person needs the 2nd person's answer. Students can only pass answers back. They cannot talk or send any other information. In particular, they cannot send their problem back. Numbers such as 6, 9 18, and 81 can be underlined to show the correct orientation, but otherwise, the slips passed back can contain no additional information. The 3rd person's answer is the only one that is graded.

    A student can pass back only one slip of paper at a time, but the student may pass back more than one slip of paper during the relay. For example, if a student gets an answer, passes it back and then redoes the problem and gets a different answer, the student may then pass the new answer back. If the student redoes the problem and gets the same answer, the student may pass the same answer back as a way of telling the next person that the student is confident of that answer.

    The proctor passes out the first question to each of the 5 first students, the second question to each of the 5 second students, and the third question to each of the 5 third students. The questions are passed out face down. The proctor then says to begin. At 2 minutes 45 seconds the proctor announces that there are 15 seconds to 3 minutes. At 3 minutes the proctor announces that 3 minutes are up. The students can continue working but the proctor will collect any answers that the third person has to submit. At 5 minutes and 45 seconds the proctor announces that there are 15 seconds left. At 6 minutes the proctor says to stop and the third student submits an answer. A team of 3 may submit an answer at 3 minutes and at 6 minutes. The only answer graded for that team of 3 is the last one submitted. A correct answer at 3 minutes is worth 5 points, a correct answer at 6 minutes is worth 3 points.

  5. Relay Round Examples. Suppose the correct answer to the 3rd person's problem is 12.

  • At 3 minutes the 3rd person submits 9 and no answer is submitted at 6 minutes. That team of 3 gets 0 points.
  • At 3 minutes the 3rd person submits 12 and no answer is submitted at 6 minutes. That team of 3 gets 5 points.
  • At 3 minutes the 3rd person submits 9 and at 6 minutes, the person submits 12. That team of 3 gets 3 points.
  • At 3 minutes the 3rd person submits 12 and at 6 minutes, the person submits 9. That team of 3 gets 0 points.
  • At 3 minutes the 3rd person submits 12 and at 6 minutes, the person submits 12. That team of 3 gets 3 points. So students should not submit the same answer twice.
  • At 3 minutes the 3rd person submits 10034 and at 6 minutes, the person submits 3445. That team of 3 gets 0 points.

Grading and Submitting Results

Please use the Excel spreadsheet provided here to record your individual, relay, and team round scores locally. You will then need to do all three of the following steps:

  1. Use the online scoring program to submit your official scores.
  2. Email the Excel spreadsheet containing the result to curryirml@gmail.com.
  3. Fax your results to a (617)934-1744.

Submitting Team, Individual, and Relay Round Scores via the Internet:

Please use this *Scoring Website* to submit the results of the Team, Individual, and Relay portions of the contest of your IRML "Offsite" Team. You must create a new email and password in order to enter your team's scores. After you log in, you will need to:

  1. *VERY IMPORTANT: Be sure to choose "IRML OFF SITE" as your site after you login for the first time. This is very important. If you do not do this, you will not be able to create any teams or enter any scores. This same website is used in the United States to score our ARML contest which is running simultaneously. By choosing "IRML OFF SITE" you are indicating that you are entering scores from outside the US. If you make a mistake, you must create a new usename in order to enter your scores.
  2. create your teams,
  3. enter your student's names,
  4. assign your student's to their teams,
  5. and then enter the student's scores into the website.
  6. **You will not be entering the Power Question Results into the website or on the spreadsheet. An IRML official will do this once the Power Question has been graded in the US.

You scores will instantly be available for all to see at www.arml.com/score2012.php under the "ARML 2012 Team Scores." There is a link under this tab for the IRML scores.

Submitting Power Question Solutions:

The Power Round will be graded in the United States by our official Power Round Graders. The responses to the Power Round should be completed on 8 1/2 inch by 11 inch (or A4) paper with a 1/2 inch margin. Please use a dark black felt pen to write your answers. This will ensure that the fax transition is readable by our graders. The name of the team should appear at the top of every page along with a clear indication of the sequence of the pages. If there are four pages, please label each with 1 of 4, 2 or 4, 3 or 4, and 4 of 4. Once completed, the results of the Power Round should be faxed to (617) 934-1744. Please be sure to apply the United States "country code" when dialing this number. This code is different for each country where the call originates so please check with your phone company for the correct code to use.

Reason for the Redundancy:

This redundancy is necessary to ensure that your scores are received and counted as official. In the past, when we have relied on one particular mode of submission (internet, email, or fax) we have encountered instances when the results were not received and thus not counted in the original posted results. The institution of this redundancy represents our effort to be certain that the results are received and counted properly by the deadline.

Points are awarded as follows:

Team Round: Each correct answer is worth 5 points. A perfect score is 50 points.

Individual Round: Each correct is worth 1 point. A perfect score is 15 points per individual student for a total possible score of 150 points.

Relay Round: A perfect team score on both Relay Rounds combined is 50 points.

Please familiarize yourself with all of the sections above. Please be certain that you understand all of the rules regarding the various parts of the contest.

Relay Rounds

The second or third person's problem usually starts "Let T = TNYWR". TNYWR is an abbreviation for The Number You Will Receive, so the problem "Let T = TNYWR. Compute (5)(T)" is to be read as "Let T be the number you will receive. Compute 5 times T."

It is important to realize that on the relay races there can be no communication forward. Suppose that the second person's question reads: "Let T = TNYWR. Compute the sum of the interior angles of a T-sided polygon." Person #2 knows that he or she will receive an integer greater than or equal to 3. But suppose person #1 passes back 2/3, clearly the wrong answer. Person #2 can't say anything, groan loudly or softly, or crumple up person #1's answer and throw it on the ground. Person #2 must not give any indication that person #1 made a mistake. Person #1 can, of course, continue to work on the problem and if #1 finds a mistake, #1 can pass back a different answer. Not all is lost if 2/3 is passed back. Person #2 may gamble that the first problem asked for the sum of the numerator and denominator and so guess that T = 5.

It is also important to realize that there is no communication backwards except for the answer. For example, when person #1 passes an answer back, #1 cannot write "I'm not sure" or "I'm positive" or "the answer could be one of 3, 5, or 6" on the slip passed back. Just the answer. Numbers such as 6 or 9 can be underlined to prevent confusion, but other than that nothing can be added to the answer. The second person only passes back his or her answer--the third person does not receive the first person's answer as well. Person #1 can redo the problem and if he/she gets the same answer, he/she can pass that back, and that is a legitimate way of indicating to Person #2 that the answer is thought to be correct.

Not all is lost if person #3 doesn't receive an answer. Suppose that the third problem reads: "Let T = TNYWR. Compute the number of numbers in the following sequence that are divisible by 4: 1, 2, 3, . . . , 45T where T is a digit between 0 and 9." In this case the third person can quickly determine that the answer is either 112, 113, or 114 and can guess one of those if all else fails.

Relay Round Examples: Click here for a some examples of the Relay Round. An analysis of the rounds is provided at very end of the document.