How real mice survive: squeezing, climbing and hiding
Tests: 6 of 12 right · Exam: 1 of 4 right · Kind: plain · Understood: 10 of 16 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72
Lesson 120 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 ✗
«saw one mouse in the shed last month, now there's loads, how??» What is the best answer?
- 1. The first mouse called all its friends from town to come and live there — ← Mova's choice · score 10
- 2. Mice split in two like cells — no support
- 3. Mice can have six to eight babies every few weeks — ✓ the right answer · score 5
- 4. They were all hiding there quietly for years — no support
Why: It took the question to ask what something is like. It chose option 1 with score 10, against 5 for the next best. Its support: lesson 120, line 11: «Mice call to each other in sounds too high for people to hear, called ultrasound, and male mice sing tiny songs that scientists record and slow down.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «call» (+5); the same doer «mice» (+5). The right option, 3, scored 5. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 2 · right ✓
«mice are filthy, they never wash» What is right?
- 1. Mice wash only in the bath, when people leave some water in it — no support
- 2. Mice groom many times a day, though wild ones can still carry germs — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 6
- 3. Mice are very clean, so even wild ones never carry any germs at all — score 1
- 4. Yes, mice never clean themselves — score 3
Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 6, against 3 for the next best. Its support: lesson 120, line 14: «Mice groom themselves many times a day, licking their paws and wiping their faces, ears and whiskers, but wild mice can still carry germs that make people ill.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same property (+3); the same action «groom» (+2); the same doer «mice» (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 3 · right ✓
Why should you wash your hands after cleaning a pet mouse's cage?
- 1. Mice and their droppings can carry germs — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 8
- 2. It makes the mouse happy — no support
- 3. The cage is made of poison — score 1
- 4. Mouse fur makes your hands too soft — score 3
Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 1 with score 8, against 3 for the next best. Its support: lesson 31, line 16: «Turtles bask in the sun to warm up and to make vitamin D for strong shells; pet turtles can carry salmonella germs, so wash your hands after touching one.», reached through the cause of the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «carry» (+5); the same thing acted on «salmonella germs» (+4). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 4 · wrong ✗
Lab mice that have never seen a cat still avoid a place that smells of one. Why would this help a wild mouse?
- 1. It does not help at all, because the smell means nothing to it — no support
- 2. It can avoid danger before ever meeting a cat — ✓ the right answer · score 3
- 3. It helps the mouse find the cheese — score -1
- 4. It makes cats like it — ← Mova's choice · score 5
Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 4 with score 5, against 3 for the next best. Its support: lesson 82, line 1: «Every cat in the big cats house is built for its own home: the snow leopard wraps its long furry tail round its face like a scarf, and its wide paws work like…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same circumstance (+3); the same action «build» (+2). The right option, 2, scored 3. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 5 · right ✓
What would happen to barn owls if all the mice in an area disappeared?
- 1. They would start eating grass — score 1
- 2. They would grow bigger — score 1
- 3. They would struggle to find enough food — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 4
- 4. Nothing, owls never eat mice — score -3
Why: It took the question to ask what happens next. It chose option 3 with score 4, against 1 for the next best. Its support: lesson 120, line 15: «Mice use pipes, cables and gaps behind kitchen units as hidden roads, and may visit the same food many times in a night, taking only tiny bits each time.», reached through what followed the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «mice» (+4); the same thing acted on «same food» (+3). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-3). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 6 · right ✓
«Jerry hides in a neat hole with a door, real mice too?» Where does a real mouse escape to?
- 1. Cracks, pipes and gaps behind kitchen units — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 5
- 2. The middle of the kitchen floor — score 5
- 3. A little arched door in the skirting board — no support
- 4. A tiny bed with a quilt — score 5
Why: It took the question to ask where. It chose option 1 with score 5, tied with another option at 5 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 118, line 13: «A cat usually wins if it really hunts a mouse, but mice escape very often, because they are fast and never go far from a hiding place; big brown rats fight bac…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «escape» (+4); the same doer «mice» (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 7 · wrong ✗
«Stuart Little drives a little car and wears clothes» What is a real mouse's way of getting around fast?
- 1. Flying with its ears — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. Running along walls, climbing and jumping — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. Driving tiny cars along the skirting board — no support
- 4. Riding on cats — 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 8 · wrong ✗
How is a wood mouse like a gardener without knowing it?
- 1. It waters the plants with its long tail every night — score 4
- 2. It digs neat flower beds on purpose and plants bulbs in rows — no support
- 3. Seeds it forgets in its stores can grow into new plants — ✓ the right answer · score 2
- 4. It cuts the grass with its teeth — ← Mova's choice · score 7
Why: It took the question to ask what something is like. It chose option 4 with score 7, against 4 for the next best. Its support: lesson 120, line 9: «Mice have four front teeth, the incisors, which keep growing all their lives and are worn down by gnawing; mice can gnaw wood, plastic and even electric cables…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «mice» (+5); the same circumstance (+3). Against it: a different thing acted on (counts against) (-1). The right option, 3, scored 2. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 9 · wrong ✗
Why do scientists slow down their recordings of mouse songs?
- 1. The songs are too high for people to hear at normal speed — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. The mice sing far too fast for any scientist to write down — ← Mova's choice · score 4
- 3. To make the mice sing better — score -1
- 4. Slow songs keep the mice warm — no support
Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 2 with score 4, against -1 for the next best. Its support: lesson 120, line 11: «Mice call to each other in sounds too high for people to hear, called ultrasound, and male mice sing tiny songs that scientists record and slow down.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «sing» (+3); the same doer «male mice» (+1). The right option, 1, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 10 · right ✓
What other animals have front teeth that never stop growing, like mice?
- 1. Rats, squirrels, beavers and rabbits — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 3
- 2. Snakes and lizards — no support
- 3. Owls and hawks — no support
- 4. Cats, dogs and lions — score 2
Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 with score 3, against 2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 114, line 14: «Some British zoos breed native animals like water voles (small river animals, not rats, that have vanished from much of Britain), sand lizards and pool frogs f…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «small river animals» (+2); it fills the role the question asks for (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 11 · right ✓
«mouse fell in the tall bucket, it's stuck lol» Is it?
- 1. No, mice can fly out — no support
- 2. Maybe not, a mouse can jump about 30 centimetres straight up — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 3
- 3. Yes, mice can never jump at all, not even a few centimetres — score 1
- 4. Yes, mice are too heavy to climb, so it will stay there — score 3
Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 3, tied with another option at 3 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 120, line 6: «A house mouse can jump about 30 centimetres straight up, many times its own height, and can climb rough walls and run along thin wires using its tail for balan…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «jump about» (+2); the same thing acted on «30 centimetres» (+2); the same doer «house mouse» (+1). Against it: one says «not», the other does not (counts against) (-2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 12 · wrong ✗
«5 mice in the cage, how many tails and how many legs, my sis says 5 and 10»
- 1. 5 tails and 10 legs — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. 10 tails and 20 legs — no support
- 3. 0 tails and 20 legs — no support
- 4. 5 tails and 20 legs — ✓ 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 ✗
Identify the principal function of the continuous gnawing behaviour exhibited by mice.
- 1. It serves to communicate with other rodents — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. It wears down incisors which grow throughout life — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. It sharpens the claws of the forelimbs — no support
- 4. It is a manifestation of illness — 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 ✗
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the reproductive capacity of the house mouse?
- 1. The house mouse reproduces solely by division — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. Young mice are independent from the moment of birth — no support
- 3. A female may produce litters of approximately six to eight young every few weeks — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 4. A female produces a single offspring once in her lifetime, after a long pregnancy of a year — 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 · wrong ✗
Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning the vocal communication of mice.
- 1. Mice imitate the vocalisations of cats — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. Mice communicate in part by ultrasound, inaudible to the human ear — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. Mice are entirely silent creatures — no support
- 4. Mice communicate solely by loud low-frequency calls that humans hear easily — 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 ✓
Determine the reason for which pest controllers position traps along walls rather than in open areas.
- 1. Mice habitually travel along walls and avoid open spaces — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. Walls emit a scent attractive to rodents — no support
- 3. Traps are prohibited in the centre of rooms — no support
- 4. Mice are incapable of crossing open floors — 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/120-how-real-mice-survive/