Myth check: are elephants scared of mice?
Tests: 4 of 11 right · Exam: 1 of 4 right · Kind: ★★ · Understood: 10 of 15 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72
Lesson 149 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 elephants at the waterhole, how many ears and trunks altogether»
- 1. 3 — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. 9 — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. 12 — no support
- 4. 6 — 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 · ★★ · wrong ✗
In Dumbo, the elephant ladies shriek and climb on each other when Timothy the mouse appears. What is real?
- 1. Real elephants faint at the sight of mice, which is why zoos keep mice out of their enclosures — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. Real elephants climb trees to escape mice — no support
- 3. Elephants may startle at any sudden small thing; there is no good evidence of a special fear of mice — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 4. Real elephants chase mice to eat them — 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 ✗
«saw it on telly, elephant backed off from a mouse, so it's proven» What is right?
- 1. Yes, one test proves it forever — score 4
- 2. No, the elephant was really scared of the camera and the people filming it — no support
- 3. Yes, and all elephants do it — ← Mova's choice · score 5
- 4. One test is not proof; it may just have been startled by the movement — ✓ the right answer · score 4
Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 5, against 4 for the next best. Its support: lesson 149, line 5: «There is no good evidence that elephants fear mice in particular; a TV test once showed an elephant stepping back from a mouse, but one test is not proof.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same thing acted on «mice» (+3); the same doer «elephants» (+2). The right option, 4, scored 4. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 4 · ★★ · wrong ✗
What would happen if a farmer replaced her beehive fence with a fence of pet mice?
- 1. The elephants would bring honey — score 1
- 2. The mice would chase the elephants — no support
- 3. The elephants would run away screaming — ← Mova's choice · score 3
- 4. The elephants would probably walk right in — ✓ the right answer · score 1
Why: It took the question to ask what happens next. It chose option 3 with score 3, against 1 for the next best. Its support: lesson 149, line 4: «What elephants really fear is the buzzing of angry bees, which can sting the soft skin inside the trunk and round the eyes. In Kenya, farmers hang beehives alo…», reached through what followed the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «elephants» (+4); the same property (+2). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-3). The right option, 4, scored 1. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 5 · ★★ · wrong ✗
«why'd the herd suddenly turn and leave, there was just some buzzing» What is the most likely reason?
- 1. They heard rain coming — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. They heard angry bees and warned each other with a rumble — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. They heard a mouse and panicked — no support
- 4. They heard the farmer's radio — 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 6 · ★★ · right ✓
«elephant's charging, ears out, we're dead, run!!» What is useful to know?
- 1. Elephants never charge at anything — score 3
- 2. Many charges are bluffs, and spreading ears makes it look bigger — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 9
- 3. Elephants charge only when they are happy and want to play with you — score 6
- 4. Spreading ears means it is about to sleep — score 5
Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 9, against 6 for the next best. Its support: lesson 149, line 13: «An elephant spreads its ears to look bigger and charges to scare a threat, but many charges are bluffs that stop before contact; flapping ears also cools it.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «look» (+4); the same property (+3); the same doer «elephant» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 7 · ★★ · wrong ✗
«4 elephant families, 2 babies each, babies hide under mums, how many babies hiding»
- 1. 6 — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. 8 — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. 16 — 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 ✗
A mouse crawls into a sleeping elephant's trunk in a cartoon and the elephant goes mad. What would really happen?
- 1. The elephant could never breathe through its trunk again — score 3
- 2. The mouse would live happily in the trunk for years — ← Mova's choice · score 4
- 3. The elephant would blow it out with one huge snort — ✓ the right answer · score 3
- 4. The mouse would climb up the trunk into the elephant's head and stay there — 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 1, line 19: «House mice live in and around buildings and mainly eat seeds, grain and crumbs; the cartoon idea that mice love cheese above everything is not true.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «live» (+2); the same doer «house mice» (+2). The right option, 3, scored 3. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 9 · ★★ · right ✓
«just a stupid bag, why'd the elephant freak out» Why might any big animal shy at a bag?
- 1. A sudden strange movement near the feet could be a danger — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. Elephants want to eat plastic — no support
- 3. Elephants hate the colour white — no support
- 4. The bag smelled of bees — 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 ✓
«that baby elephant sucks its trunk like my little bro sucks his thumb» Is that real?
- 1. Yes, baby elephants suck their trunks for comfort — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 5
- 2. No, it is trying to blow its nose after a dusty walk — score 5
- 3. No, elephants cannot bend their trunks that far round — score 5
- 4. Yes, but only when it sees a mouse and wants to feel safe again — score 4
Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. 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 149, line 15: «Baby elephants stay close to mothers and aunts, who circle them when lions or hyenas come; babies suck their trunks for comfort.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same thing acted on «trunks» (+3); the same action «suck» (+2); the same circumstance (+1). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 11 · ★★ · right ✓
Why do elephants leave some acacia trees alone even when they are hungry?
- 1. The trees have no leaves — score 0
- 2. Mice live in those trees — no support
- 3. Ants inside the thorns bite the soft inside of their trunks — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 10
- 4. The trees are too tall for them — score 3
Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 3 with score 10, against 3 for the next best. Its support: lesson 149, line 16: «Ants living inside the thorns of some acacia trees swarm and bite the soft inside of an elephant's trunk, so elephants leave those trees alone.», reached through the cause of the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «bite» (+4); the same doer «ants» (+3); the same thing acted on «soft inside» (+3). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Exam question 1 · formal language · wrong ✗
Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning the alleged fear of mice in elephants.
- 1. It is established beyond doubt that elephants fear mice above all other creatures, having been bitten by them — ← Mova's choice · score 7
- 2. No sound evidence exists of a particular fear; elephants are startled by any sudden small movement near the feet — ✓ the right answer · score 3
- 3. Elephants are attracted to mice and pursue them — no support
- 4. Elephants are incapable of perceiving mice — score 3
Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 7, against 3 for the next best. Its support: lesson 149, line 5: «There is no good evidence that elephants fear mice in particular; a TV test once showed an elephant stepping back from a mouse, but one test is not proof.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same thing acted on «mice» (+3); the same action «fear» (+2); the same doer «elephants» (+2). The right option, 2, scored 3. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Exam question 2 · formal language · wrong ✗
Identify the principal reason for which elephants avoid the swarming of bees.
- 1. Bees are able to sting the soft skin within the trunk and about the eyes — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. Bees consume the vegetation upon which elephants feed — ← Mova's choice · score 4
- 3. Bees are able to penetrate the thick skin upon any part of the elephant's body — score 4
- 4. Bees convey mice upon their bodies — no support
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 83, line 9: «Hay nets hung high make elephants stretch and pick as they would from trees; wild elephants feed for up to 16 hours a day.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «feed» (+2); the same doer «wild elephants» (+2). The right option, 1, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Exam question 3 · formal language · wrong ✗
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the charge of an elephant with ears extended?
- 1. It is an expression of contentment — score 6
- 2. It is frequently a display which terminates before contact — ✓ the right answer · score 6
- 3. It precedes a period of sleep — score 6
- 4. It invariably concludes in physical contact — ← Mova's choice · score 7
Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 4 with score 7, against 6 for the next best. Its support: lesson 149, line 13: «An elephant spreads its ears to look bigger and charges to scare a threat, but many charges are bluffs that stop before contact; flapping ears also cools it.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+4); the same doer «many charges» (+3). The right option, 2, scored 6. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Exam question 4 · formal language · right ✓
Ascertain the means by which certain acacia trees are protected against browsing elephants.
- 1. Ants inhabiting the thorns attack the soft interior of the trunk — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 6
- 2. Mice inhabiting the branches frighten the elephants — no support
- 3. The trees are surrounded by tall fences erected around them by the ants — no support
- 4. The trees emit a smoke of chilli — no support
Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 6, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 149, line 16: «Ants living inside the thorns of some acacia trees swarm and bite the soft inside of an elephant's trunk, so elephants leave those trees alone.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «live» (+4); the same doer «ants» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
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