cgi quiz script

Right, let's take this step by step.

If possible, this should be outside your web document root.

There's usually a directory on the server that you put all your .html files into. Usually called something like htdocs or public_html. What the instructions are asking is to create your quiztest directory one-level above this. If, when you log-in (via FTP or what not), you're already in the directory where you put your html files, or you don't have access to create a directory one-level above, create the quiztest directory in with your html files.

Creating the directory one level above where the public html files are stored is a security measure. It's helpful to do, but the world won't end if your hosting isn't setup in a way that allows this.

Chmod this folder 777 .

This is setting permissions. 777 means the file can be read, written to, and executed (like an .exe on Windows) by any logged-in user of the system.

Permissions can usually be set using your FTP program. Try right-clicking on the quiztest directory and see what you can change. If you get stuck, tell us what options your FTP program gives you and we can guide from there.