Shrek's dragon: real «dragons» and lizards, and why nothing breathes fire

Tests: 6 of 11 right · Exam: 3 of 4 right · Kind: ★★ · Understood: 9 of 15 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72

Lesson 146 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 ✗

«3 lizards in the tank, one dropped its tail yesterday, how many tails still attached»

1. 4 — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. 3 — no support
3. 2 — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. 1 — 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 2 · ★★ · right ✓

«dragons in Shrek breathe fire so some real lizard probably does too, right?» What is right?

1. Yes, the bearded dragon puffs out smoke — no support
2. Yes, but only at night when it is cold — no support
3. No real animal breathes fire; its own mouth would burn — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 8
4. Yes, the Komodo dragon breathes small flames when it is hunting — score 6

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 8, against 6 for the next best. Its support: lesson 146, line 2: «Breathing fire would need a store of fuel and a spark, and the animal's own soft, wet mouth would burn; the bombardier beetle comes closest, firing a nearly bo…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «burn» (+5); the same doer «own soft wet mouth» (+3). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 3 · ★★ · right ✓

In a cartoon a lizard loses its tail and screams in agony with blood everywhere. What is real?

1. The tail can never grow back — score 6
2. The lizard picks the tail up later and sticks it back on with spit — score 2
3. Losing a tail always kills a lizard — no support
4. The tail breaks at weak points and muscles close the vessels, so little blood is lost — ← 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 6 for the next best. Its support: lesson 146, line 13: «Many lizards drop their tails when grabbed: the tail breaks at weak points and muscles close the blood vessels, so little blood is lost; the tail wriggles to k…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «break» (+5); the same doer «tail» (+3); the same place «weak points» (+3). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 4 · ★★ · wrong ✗

What would happen if a bearded dragon were kept in a cold tank with no warm rock?

1. It would move faster to keep warm — ← Mova's choice · score 0
2. It would make its own heat and be fine — no support
3. It would be slow and sluggish, because reptiles warm up from outside — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. It would grow thick fur to stay warm, like a bear in the snow — score 0

Why: It took the question to ask what happens next. It chose option 1 with score 0, tied with another option at 0 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 146, line 4: «Yet real «dragons» exist: the Komodo dragon flicking its forked yellow tongue on an Indonesian beach, the tiny flying dragon gliding between trees, and the bea…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same property (+1). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-1). The right option, 3, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 5 · ★★ · right ✓

«magpie nicked my mum's ring, they're shiny thieves» What is right?

1. Yes, magpies build gold nests — no support
2. Tests found magpies are wary of shiny objects; the story is mostly a myth — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 7
3. Yes, magpies steal every shiny thing they see, like rings and keys and spoons — score 6
4. No, magpies collect only blue things — score 2

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 7, against 6 for the next best. Its support: lesson 146, line 15: «No animal collects gold; bowerbirds decorate their display areas with blue or shiny objects, and the idea that magpies steal shiny things is mostly a myth, as…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same property (+3); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+3); the same circumstance (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 6 · ★★ · wrong ✗

A Komodo dragon on an island with no wolves or big cats. Why did it become the top hunter?

1. Its fire breath scared off all rivals — score 3
2. No bigger meat-eaters lived there to compete with it — ✓ the right answer · score 2
3. It is the fastest animal on Earth — ← Mova's choice · score 5
4. It ate all the wolves long ago — score 3

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 3 with score 5, against 3 for the next best. Its support: lesson 146, line 12: «The Australian frilled lizard opens a huge neck frill and hisses to startle predators, and if that fails it runs off on its back legs.», reached through the cause of the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same thing acted on «predators» (+3); the same doer «australian frilled lizard» (+2). The right option, 2, scored 2. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 7 · ★★ · right ✓

«a lizard's tongue split in 2 at the end, how many tips have 4 Komodos got between them»

1. 8 — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. 16 — no support
3. 2 — no support
4. 4 — 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 ✗

Why might parthenogenesis help a lone female Komodo that reaches an empty island?

1. She could turn into a male later and find a female — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. She would never need to eat again, living off the sun — no support
3. She could start a new group without a male — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. She could fly back to her old island to find a husband and lay eggs there — 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 9 · ★★ · wrong ✗

«crap, the beardie's waving one arm at me, is it angry» What is it most likely saying?

1. It is waving goodbye before running — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. It wants to shake hands like a person — no support
3. It is about to attack whoever is near — no support
4. It is signalling that it gives in — ✓ 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 10 · ★★ · right ✓

A Draco lizard leaps from one tree trunk and lands on another 10 metres away. How?

1. It flaps feathered wings like a bird — score -1
2. It glides on skin flaps spread out on its long ribs — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 1
3. The wind blows it across like a leaf — no support
4. It jumps with very strong back legs — score 1

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 1, tied with another option at 1 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 146, line 11: «Draco lizards of South-East Asia, called flying dragons, glide over 10 metres on flaps of skin held out on long ribs.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «glide» (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 11 · ★★ · right ✓

«Komodo just bites and lets go, why'd it bother» Why is one bite often enough?

1. Its venom stops blood clotting and weakens the prey — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. Its teeth fall out after one bite, so it has to wait for new ones to grow — no support
3. It is just tasting the animal — no support
4. It is too tired to hold on — 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 reason for which no living animal is capable of breathing fire.

1. Such capacity is prohibited by the laws of the countries concerned — no support
2. The production of flame would require stored fuel and ignition, and the soft tissues of the mouth would be destroyed — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. All such animals became extinct within recent memory — ← Mova's choice · score 1
4. The production of flame requires a quantity of water no animal can store, and the throat would be extinguished — score -2

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 1, against -2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 113, line 1: «If only a few snow leopards are left in zoos, they could soon all be cousins, and when close relatives have babies together, hidden illnesses in the family sho…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «become» (+1). The right option, 2, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 2 · formal language · right ✓

Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning the size of the largest flying animals known.

1. Certain pterosaurs attained a wingspan of approximately ten metres, their bones being hollow and light — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. Certain pterosaurs attained a wingspan of one hundred metres, their bones being solid and exceedingly heavy — no support
3. Certain dragons attained the dimensions of a castle — no support
4. No flying animal has exceeded the dimensions of a pigeon — 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 ✓

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the reproduction observed in female Komodo dragons in British zoos?

1. Eggs were laid and hatched in the absence of any male, by parthenogenesis — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 2
2. No eggs were produced in the absence of a male — no support
3. Eggs were laid by a male and incubated by a female — score 2
4. The eggs were subsequently found to be those of crocodiles, introduced into the enclosure in error — no support

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 1 with score 2, tied with another option at 2 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 146, line 10: «Female Komodo dragons in British zoos laid eggs that hatched with no father, a rare virgin birth called parthenogenesis.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «lay» (+2); the same thing acted on «eggs» (+1). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 4 · formal language · right ✓

Ascertain the function of the forked tongue of the Komodo dragon.

1. It gathers scent for an organ in the roof of the mouth and distinguishes direction — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 3
2. It serves for the lowering of the body temperature — no support
3. It serves principally for the tasting of food already bitten, and for testing whether it is safe to eat — no support
4. It serves for the capture of flying insects — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 3, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 30, line 6: «Snakes smell with their forked tongue, which carries scent to a special organ in the roof of the mouth and tells which side a smell is stronger on.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same circumstance (+3); the same thing acted on «scent» (+1). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

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