Stories that change Lesson 449 of the everyday course of Mova's primary school: 42 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: the lesson at school .
0 Josh came home with a bump on his head. 2 She didn't shout; she asked gently, «What really happened, love?» Josh had been in a scuffle and was scared to say. 3 A true story stays more or less the same each time it's told. 4 A made-up one has to be built again every time, and it comes out a bit different. 5 Stories can also patch themselves when they're challenged. 7 His teacher had seen him walking. 8 «Oh — he dropped me at the corner.» New details that appear only after a problem are a clue. 10 Mum asked, «What time does it close?» «Er… 6?» It closes at 5. 11 One fact that can be looked up — opening times, bus times, the weather — can test a whole story. 12 A gentle question can show whether someone was really there. 13 Emma's friend said she'd seen the new Pixar film. 14 Emma said «I saw it too — wasn't the ending sad?» «Yeah, so sad.» The ending was happy. 16 In Cork, a teacher asked two boys separately where they'd been at lunch. 17 Both said «the library, together». 18 She asked what book. 19 One said «a dinosaur one», the other «a football one». 20 They'd been behind the bike shed, and laughed about the detention later. 21 Two kids with a plan agree on the big things but not on the small ones. 22 Some stories just don't fit the world. 23 Tom's little brother said the dog ate the cake — but the dog was locked in the garden, and the brother had chocolate on his chin. 24 Everyone laughed; the dog looked insulted. 25 Ollie said he'd read every night; his log was all ticked in the same pen at the same angle, done in one go on Friday morning. 26 Real life is messy; things done over days look different. 27 And Grace's friend said «I didn't eat your sweets, I swear on my mum's life, I'd never, honestly, I promise» — then Grace found the wrapper in her bag. 29 Not every changing story is a lie. 30 Kai's mate swore he'd seen a shark at the beach. 31 Then it was a dolphin. 32 Then «a big fish thingy». 34 His mate wasn't lying; he just wasn't sure what he'd seen. 35 When two kids blamed each other for a push — «by the gate!», «by the bins!» — the teacher asked a third kid: «They both pushed, by the bench.» When stories clash, ask what people are sure of, and find someone else who saw. 36 A true story usually stays much the same each time it is told; a made-up one often changes. 37 Details that appear only after someone is challenged can be a sign that a story is being patched. 38 One simple checkable fact, like opening times, can test a whole story. 39 A gentle question about a detail can show whether someone was really there. 40 Asking two people the same small questions separately shows whether their stories really match. 41 Ask whether a story could have happened that way; if it couldn't, it didn't. 42 Evidence that looks too neat, all done at once, can show something was faked at the last minute. 43 Too much swearing and promising about a small thing can be a sign of lying; truthful people often simply say «No». 44 Not every changing story is a lie; people can be unsure, and their story shrinks when they are doubted. 45 When two stories clash, a witness who saw it from outside can help settle it. 46 Checking a story works best done kindly and calmly, not to embarrass someone. 47 «Yeah nah» (Australia, New Zealand) means no; «cracked up» means burst out laughing; a «scuffle» is a small fight. ← previous The magician's trick explainednext → Too many details, too few↑ back to Everyday This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/449-stories-that-change/