ActionScript 3.0 :: Creating A Quiz For A2 Module

I have made a start on my quiz, in order to complete the criterions I have to create a project (a quiz in my case) which uses a variety of methods and tools e.g. drag and drop features, user text input and numeric input etc.I had planned on creating 4 topics and 4 questions in each. Having searched the forum it appears that the common consensus for creating a quiz is to set up your questions in a XML file however I have no idea how to use this or what it is. Moreover from my research I found I appear to be doing things slightly different to other people who are doing or did a quiz. This difference is how the answers are input; I will be user input text fields along, multiply choice buttons etc. I also am placing my questions in different places for different sections and I am also required to use video.This may still be able to be done however I only have 29 days to complete the task and the way I'm planning will be quicker as I understand how it works at least. The first problem I am having is how to code for the input text. I plan on allowing for the user to input a word and then to compare that word against the correct answer. This also brings me onto my second problem. Once a section of questions has been completed I plan on taking the user to a screen which displays how many answers they got correct. This would involve tracking their answers and comparing them to a set of correct answers however I have no idea how to do this. (from what i have learnt recently the use of an array maybe?).

The final problem I am having at the moment is setting up a 'barrier of sorts' In my first question i have set up a mask which applies only to the image I have also placed on the stage. The mask is applied to a circle which can be dragged around displaying small sections of the picture at a time. I wish to stop the circle leaving the picture as it falls under the background once it as left the area of the image. This results it in disappearing. I have no idea how to solve this and I could not find information on it. The solution I think would be to stop the masked circle leaving the area of the picture OR to reset it back to original position if it is released outside the images area.My quiz is far from complete at the moment and I have not yet even finished the frames for each of the questions however these problems are fundamental to the quiz's success and so I felt I needed to confront them now.I can upload what I have done so far and send the link in a pm so you can see what I mean (if it is not already clear)