Zoos in Australia and around the world, and the year's myths put right
Tests: 5 of 11 right · Exam: 2 of 4 right · Kind: ★★★ · Understood: 8 of 15 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72
Lesson 117 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 · ★★★ · right ✓
In Dumbo the elephants scream and climb on stools when they see a mouse. What is right?
- 1. Mice live inside elephants' trunks, so elephants are always scared they will crawl up — score 3
- 2. Elephants faint at the smell of mice — no support
- 3. Elephants hunt mice for food and chase them round the savanna, so the film shows it backwards — score 3
- 4. Elephants are not really terrified of mice; they may be startled by any small sudden thing — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 8
Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 8, against 3 for the next best. Its support: lesson 83, line 4: «And the mouse? In cartoons an elephant shrieks and jumps on a stool when a mouse runs past, but real elephants are not afraid of mice; they may just step aside…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «real elephants» (+4); the same circumstance (+3); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 2 · ★★★ · right ✓
«lemmings jump off cliffs on purpose, saw it on telly» What is right?
- 1. Yes, but only male lemmings — no support
- 2. Yes, they do it every spring when there are too many of them in the hills — no support
- 3. They do not; an old film staged it, and lemmings drown only by accident while moving — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 4
- 4. Lemmings can fly a little, like flying squirrels, so they are fine — 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 117, line 16: «The lemming myth was spread by a 1958 nature film in which the film-makers themselves drove lemmings off a cliff; real lemmings sometimes drown by accident whe…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «drown» (+2); the same doer «real lemmings» (+1); the same circumstance (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 3 · ★★★ · wrong ✗
«the corroboree frog's poison comes from eating ants innit, like dart frogs» What is right?
- 1. Yes, it eats poison ants — ← Mova's choice · score 5
- 2. It has no poison at all — no support
- 3. No, it makes its own poison — ✓ the right answer · score 3
- 4. It gets poison from the mud — no support
Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 5, against 3 for the next best. Its support: lesson 3, line 9: «Poison dart frogs warn predators with bright colours, and their poison comes mainly from the ants and mites they eat, so zoo-raised frogs fed on fruit flies ar…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «eat» (+4); the same thing acted on «ants» (+1). The right option, 3, scored 3. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 4 · ★★★ · right ✓
Why must zoos keep corroboree frogs in very clean rooms?
- 1. So the chytrid fungus cannot reach them — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 3
- 2. So the frogs stay small — score 2
- 3. So visitors can see them better — no support
- 4. Because frogs dislike all water — score 1
Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 1 with score 3, against 2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 66, line 9: «The diaphragm, a dome-shaped muscle under the lungs, pulls down when you breathe in, making more room in the chest so air rushes in; a hiccup is a sudden jerk…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «make» (+2); the same thing acted on «more room» (+2). Against it: one says «not», the other does not (counts against) (-1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 5 · ★★★ · wrong ✗
Why would a zoo open only at night?
- 1. Because animals vanish in daylight — no support
- 2. To show nocturnal animals awake and active — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. To save money on tickets — no support
- 4. Because it is cooler for the visitors to sleep — ← Mova's choice · score 2
Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 2, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 93, line 16: «Zoos ask visitors not to pick up feathers, for hygiene and because feathers of some protected birds may not be kept without a permit; birds replace feathers in…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «zoos» (+1); the same circumstance (+1). The right option, 2, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 6 · ★★★ · wrong ✗
«Steve Irwin used to grab crocs on TV, good idea or nah» What is a fair answer?
- 1. It was totally safe for anyone to copy at home or at the zoo, no worries — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. It was bad for animals in every way — no support
- 3. It made millions care about animals, but handling wild animals is risky — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 4. Crocodiles enjoyed being grabbed and would swim up to him to play — 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 a clever zoo visitor do on hearing the next amazing animal «fact»?
- 1. Check it in a good book or with a scientist before repeating it — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 5
- 2. Repeat it to everyone straight away, because amazing facts are always true — no support
- 3. Believe it if it is in a cartoon — no support
- 4. Ignore every fact forever, even ones from good books — no support
Why: It took the question to ask what is done. It chose option 1 with score 5, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 109, line 16: «Some zoos have night staff to check animals that are ill or about to give birth, because births often happen at night, and cameras let keepers watch without di…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+3); the same action «check» (+2); the same thing acted on «animals» (+1). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 8 · ★★★ · right ✓
A zoo has space for one big area or many small cages. Which is a strong reason to choose fewer kinds with more space?
- 1. More kinds of animals always means happier animals — no support
- 2. Visitors prefer small cages — no support
- 3. Animals need space, choice and things to do to stay healthy — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 9
- 4. Small cages are better for breeding — no support
Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 9, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 115, line 7: «In the past many zoos kept animals in small, bare concrete cages, but science has shown that animals need space, choice and things to do.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «need» (+4); the same doer «animals» (+4); the same thing acted on «space» (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 9 · ★★★ · wrong ✗
«Taronga had 6 giraffes but, wait, one's a baby born yesterday so 7. how many legs»
- 1. 14, two legs each for 7 giraffes — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. 28, four legs each for 7 giraffes — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. 24, four legs each for 6 giraffes — no support
- 4. 21, three legs each — 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 10 · ★★★ · wrong ✗
«2 platypuses and 3 koalas at Healesville, how many tails, mate»
- 1. 2, koalas have no tail at all — no support
- 2. 10, two tails each for all five of them — no support
- 3. 5, one tail each, though a koala's is tiny — ✓ the right answer · score -1
- 4. 3, platypuses have no tail, only flat feet — ← Mova's choice · score 6
Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 6, against -1 for the next best. Its support: lesson 117, line 10: «A platypus has a broad flat tail, and a koala has only a tiny stump of a tail hidden in its fur.», 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 «broad flat tail» (+2); the same doer «platypus» (+1). The right option, 3, scored -1. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 11 · ★★★ · wrong ✗
«Manny in Ice Age has one trunk and two massive tusks, real mammoths same?» What is right?
- 1. No, real mammoths had four tusks and no trunk — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. No, real mammoths had two trunks — no support
- 3. No, real mammoths had no tusks at all — no support
- 4. Yes, one trunk and two long curved tusks, like a hairy elephant — ✓ 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
Exam question 1 · formal language · wrong ✗
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises Healesville Sanctuary?
- 1. It exhibits exclusively animals of African origin within extensive open-range enclosures — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. It is the oldest zoological institution in Japan, having been established in the year 1882 — no support
- 3. It is a nocturnal zoo situated in Singapore — no support
- 4. It maintains solely Australian fauna and first bred the platypus in captivity in 1943 — ✓ 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
Exam question 2 · formal language · wrong ✗
Identify the principal cause of the decline of the southern corroboree frog.
- 1. The construction of the Sydney Opera House — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. Excessive collection by tourists — no support
- 3. Infection by chytrid fungus — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 4. Predation by released zoo crocodiles — 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 dissemination of animal myths.
- 1. They are repeated because they constitute agreeable stories and are seldom verified — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. They are invariably correct when depicted in animated films — no support
- 3. They originate exclusively in zoological gardens — no support
- 4. They are disseminated deliberately by scientific institutions — 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 4 · formal language · right ✓
Ascertain the year in which Ueno Zoo, the oldest zoological institution in Japan, was opened to the public.
- 1. Eighteen hundred and eighty-two — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. Eighteen hundred and twenty-eight — no support
- 3. Seventeen hundred and fifty-two — no support
- 4. Nineteen hundred and ninety-four — 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
This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/biology/117-zoos-around-the-world-and-myths-put-right/