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Twenty Questions is a spoken parlor game which encourages deductive reasoning and creativity. It originated in the United States and was played widely in the 19th century.〔Walsorth, Mansfield Tracy. (''Twenty questions: a short treatise on the game'' ), Holt, 1882〕 It escalated in popularity during the late 1940s when it became the format for a successful weekly radio quiz program. In the traditional game, one player is chosen to be the ''answerer''. That person chooses a subject (object) but does not reveal this to the others. All other players are ''questioners''. They each take turns asking a question which can be answered with a simple "Yes" or "No." In variants of the game, multiple state answers may be included such as the answer "Maybe." The answerer answers each question in turn. Sample questions could be: "Is it bigger than a breadbox?" or "Can I put it in my mouth?" Lying is not allowed in the game. If a questioner guesses the correct answer, that questioner wins and becomes the ''answerer'' for the next round. If 20 questions are asked without a correct guess, then the answerer has stumped the questioners and gets to be the answerer for another round. Careful selection of questions can greatly improve the odds of the ''questioner'' winning the game. For example, a question such as "Does it involve technology for communications, entertainment or work?" can allow the ''questioner'' to cover a broad range of areas using a single question that can be answered with a simple "yes" or "no". If the ''answerer'' responds with "yes," the ''questioner'' can use the next question to narrow down the answer; if the ''answerer'' responds with "no," the ''questioner'' has successfully eliminated a number of possibilities for the answer. ==Popular variants== The most popular variant is called "Animal, Vegetable, Mineral." This is taken from the Linnaean taxonomy of the natural world. In this version, the ''answerer'' tells the ''questioners'' at the start of the game whether the subject belongs to the animal, vegetable or mineral kingdom. These categories can produce odd technicalities, such as a wooden table being classified as a vegetable (since wood comes from trees), or a belt being both animal and mineral (because its leather comes from the hide of an animal unless it is synthetic, and its buckle is made of metal). Though if made of cloth or plant fibers, a belt can also be considered a vegetable. Other versions specify that the item to be guessed should be in a given category, such as actions, occupations, famous people, etc. In Hungary, a similar game is named after Simon bar Kokhba. A version of Twenty Questions called Yes and No is played as a parlour game by characters of Charles Dickens' ''A Christmas Carol''. Similar to the aforementioned, there is another version known to English as a Second Language educators that is played based on a given topic (e.g. peer pressure, social issues, environment, culture, etc.). There are many different ways to play this language game. 20 Questions on "Educate, School, Learn" (Blogger), for example, was developed for the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education and Women's Affairs. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Twenty Questions」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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