The polar zone: arctic foxes, snowy owls, lemmings and reindeer

Tests: 5 of 11 right · Exam: 2 of 4 right · Kind: plain · Understood: 10 of 15 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72

Lesson 106 of the biology course of Mova's primary school, as Mova's small model took its tests: it had read this lesson and the ones before it and learned from their exercises. Each test shows the options in the order the student saw them, its choice, the right answer, the score of every option and why it chose. The lesson itself, sentence by sentence with trees and pragmatics: the lesson in the corpora.

Every question of this lesson and each of its options parsed by Mova, with trees and pragmatics: the lesson's questions in the corpora.

Test 1 · wrong ✗

«Rudolph's nose literally glows, it's science» What is true?

1. No, reindeer have no noses at all — no support
2. Yes, but only on Christmas Eve — no support
3. Yes, reindeer noses really do glow bright red in the dark, just like a lamp — ← Mova's choice · score 4
4. Real reindeer noses are full of warm blood vessels, but they do not glow — ✓ the right answer · no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 4, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 106, line 13: «A reindeer's nose is packed with tiny blood vessels that warm the cold air it breathes, and scientists once wrote a joke-serious study on why Rudolph's nose co…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same property (+3); the same doer «nose» (+1). The right option, 4, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 2 · wrong ✗

Santa's 9 reindeer all have antlers at Christmas. How many antlers is that?

1. 9 — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. 18 — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. 27 — no support
4. 36 — no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 3 · wrong ✗

Adult male reindeer usually drop their antlers in early winter. What does this suggest about reindeer with antlers at Christmas?

1. They must be moose — ← Mova's choice · score 6
2. Many of them are probably females — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. They are all babies — score 6
4. They are all very old males — score 6

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 1 with score 6, tied with another option at 6 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 6, line 18: «Reindeer are the only deer in which both males and females usually grow antlers.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+3); the same doer «reindeer» (+2); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+1). The right option, 2, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 4 · right ✓

In an old Disney film lemmings throw themselves off a cliff. What really happened?

1. Lemmings really do it every year in spring when food runs out — score 4
2. It was a cartoon, and real lemmings fly — no support
3. The film makers pushed them; real lemmings do not do that — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 6
4. They jump to fly to the sea — score 3

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 6, against 4 for the next best. Its support: lesson 106, line 9: «The cliff-jumping lemming myth was spread by a 1958 Disney film in which the film makers pushed lemmings over a cliff.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same thing acted on «lemmings» (+5); the same action «push» (+2). Against it: the same doer «film makers» (-1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 5 · wrong ✗

«Hedwig's a girl owl, so it was a girl owl in the film, yeah?» What is true?

1. It was a white pigeon painted to look like an owl — ← Mova's choice · score 3
2. Yes, only female owls were used — score 1
3. It was a robot, never a real owl — no support
4. The film used whiter male snowy owls to play her — ✓ the right answer · no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 3, against 1 for the next best. Its support: lesson 51, line 2: «Camouflage means looking like the things around you: a stick insect looks like a twig, a polar bear looks like snow, a flounder looks like the sandy seabed, a…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «look» (+2); the same doer «tawny owl» (+1). The right option, 4, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 6 · wrong ✗

2 arctic foxes and 3 snowy owls in the polar zone. How many legs?

1. 20 — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. 10 — no support
3. 12 — no support
4. 14 — ✓ the right answer · no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 7 · right ✓

What would happen to snowy owls in a year with very few lemmings?

1. Nothing, they only eat Arctic fish — no support
2. They would raise fewer chicks — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 4
3. They would turn brown to hide better — no support
4. They would raise more chicks than ever — score 4

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 4, tied with another option at 4 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 106, line 7: «Snowy owls hunt in daylight in the Arctic summer, when the sun never sets, and eat mostly lemmings, raising many more chicks in good lemming years; Hedwig in H…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same thing acted on «many more chicks» (+5); the same action «raise» (+2). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-3). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 8 · right ✓

«arctic fox is basically a fennec fox in a white coat» What is right?

1. The arctic fox has small ears to save heat; the fennec has huge ears to lose it — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 8
2. No, the arctic fox has bigger ears — score 6
3. Yes, they have the same huge ears that let heat escape — score 4
4. Yes, both live in the desert — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 8, against 6 for the next best. Its support: lesson 106, line 1: «The polar zone shows how animals beat the cold: the arctic fox has small ears, short legs and a short nose, because small body parts lose less heat, and its wi…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+3); the same thing acted on «small ears» (+2); its «because» matches the remembered cause (+2); the same doer «arctic fox» (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 9 · right ✓

A cartoon shows penguins and an arctic fox playing on the same ice. What is wrong?

1. Penguins only live in zoos — score 8
2. Nothing, they share the Arctic — no support
3. Foxes are scared of all birds, so they would never play with them — score 2
4. Wild penguins live in the south and arctic foxes in the north — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 11

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 11, against 8 for the next best. Its support: lesson 99, line 4: «Cartoons and Christmas cards put penguins next to polar bears, but the two never meet, because penguins live in the south and polar bears in the far north.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «live» (+4); the same doer «penguins» (+4); the same place «south» (+3). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 10 · right ✓

«why's that penguin a soldier?» says your cousin at Edinburgh Zoo. What is the story?

1. All Scottish penguins join the army — no support
2. King penguin Sir Nils Olav is an honorary officer of the Norwegian army — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 8
3. It is a real Scottish soldier dressed up in a penguin suit for the zoo parade — no support
4. The penguin won a war against seals — no support

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 2 with score 8, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 106, line 15: «Some zoos keep Antarctic penguins such as king and gentoo penguins in chilled rooms with artificial snow and lights that copy Antarctic days and nights; Edinbu…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+4); it fills the role the question asks for (+2); the same doer «king penguin» (+1); the same circumstance (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 11 · wrong ✗

What would happen if a wolf pack met a circle of musk oxen?

1. The musk oxen would run away in all directions and leave the calves — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. The musk oxen would climb trees — no support
3. The wolves would face horns, with the calves safe inside — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. The calves would run out to fight — no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 1 · formal language · wrong ✗

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the arctic fox?

1. Its coat remains white throughout the year — no support
2. Its large ears dissipate heat, as do those of the fennec fox — ← Mova's choice · score 9
3. It shivers whenever the temperature falls below freezing — score 5
4. Its small ears and short muzzle limit the loss of heat, and its coat changes colour with the seasons — ✓ the right answer · score 7

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 2 with score 9, against 7 for the next best. Its support: lesson 106, line 6: «Arctic foxes have small ears, short legs and short noses that lose little heat, while the desert fennec fox has huge ears that give off heat to keep it cool.», reached through a sentence linked to the one the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+5); the same doer «huge ears» (+4); the same thing acted on «heat» (+3). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-3). The right option, 4, scored 7. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 2 · formal language · right ✓

Identify the origin of the belief that lemmings deliberately leap from cliffs.

1. A film of 1958 in which the film makers themselves drove the animals over a cliff — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. The annual migration of lemmings to the sea — no support
3. An ancient Norwegian law concerning rodents — no support
4. Careful observations made by Arctic scientists — no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 3 · formal language · right ✓

Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning the antlers of the reindeer.

1. Both sexes grow antlers, and the females retain theirs through the winter — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 8
2. Only the males grow antlers, which they retain throughout the whole of the year — score 6
3. Only the young of either sex grow antlers — score 4
4. Neither sex grows antlers in captivity — score 4

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 8, against 6 for the next best. Its support: lesson 106, line 10: «Reindeer, called caribou in North America, are the only deer in which both males and females grow antlers; females keep theirs in winter to defend food they di…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same property (+3); the same action «keep» (+2); the same thing acted on «antlers» (+2); the same doer «females» (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 4 · formal language · wrong ✗

State the principal difference between the Arctic and the Antarctic.

1. The Arctic is land, whereas the Antarctic is open water — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Both regions are inhabited by land mammals such as the fox and the bear — no support
3. The Arctic is a frozen ocean surrounded by land, whereas Antarctica is ice-covered land surrounded by ocean — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. Both regions are frozen oceans surrounded by land — no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

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