Hedgehogs: spines, hibernation and how to help them

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

Lesson 214 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 ✓

«left the hedgehog a bowl of milk, he'll love it» What is right?

1. Milk is the perfect hedgehog food, especially cold from the fridge — no support
2. Add sugar to the milk for energy — no support
3. Milk makes hedgehogs ill; leave water and meaty cat food instead — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 5
4. Hedgehogs only drink warm milk — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 5, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 154, line 17: «Hedgehogs should not be given milk, which can make them ill; leave out water and meaty cat or dog food instead.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same thing acted on «hedgehogs» (+3); the same action «make» (+1); the same property (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 2 · ★★ · right ✓

Sonic the Hedgehog is blue, runs faster than sound and spins into a ball to attack. What is true of real hedgehogs?

1. They spin into a ball to attack foxes and badgers — no support
2. They are brown, walk a couple of kilometres a night and roll into a ball to defend — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 5
3. They are blue and run faster than cars on a motorway — score 2
4. They roll only to go downhill fast — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 5, against 2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 214, line 5: «A hedgehog has about five thousand brown and cream spines, which are hollow hairs; it cannot shoot or throw them, and a muscle pulls its skin tight to roll it…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same place «ball» (+4); the same action «roll» (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 3 · ★★ · wrong ✗

«hedgehog mum and 4 hoglets under the shed, how many legs»

1. 10 — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. 24 — no support
3. 16 — no support
4. 20 — ✓ 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 4 · ★★ · wrong ✗

«3 hedgehogs and a fox in the garden, how many ears, no tusks no trunks»

1. 6 — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. 4 — no support
3. 16 — no support
4. 8 — ✓ 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 5 · ★★ · wrong ✗

«hedgehog wandering about at lunchtime, looks wobbly, it's fine yeah» What should you do?

1. Chase it back under the hedge — no support
2. Ask a wildlife rescue for advice, as it may be ill — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. Leave it, they love the daytime and come out to sunbathe — ← Mova's choice · score 11
4. Give it a bowl of milk — score 2

Why: It took the question to ask what is done. It chose option 3 with score 11, against 2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 55, line 18: «Waking up from hibernation burns a lot of stored fat that has to last the winter, and there is no food to replace it, so hibernating hedgehogs, bats and tortoi…», 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 (+5); the same action «leave» (+4); the same thing acted on «hibernating hedgehogs» (+2). The right option, 2, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 6 · ★★ · wrong ✗

«dad's had the bonfire pile up for 3 weeks, lighting it tonight» What should he do first?

1. Nothing, hedgehogs never go in piles — no support
2. Pour petrol on it to scare hedgehogs out — no support
3. Check it carefully for hedgehogs, or rebuild it on the day — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. Light it fast so hedgehogs run away — ← Mova's choice · score 5

Why: It took the question to ask what is done. It chose option 4 with score 5, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 92, line 17: «Many deep-sea animals make their own light, called bioluminescence, to find food, lure prey and signal; the anglerfish dangles a glowing lure in front of its m…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+3); the same action «light» (+1); the same doer «animals» (+1). The right option, 3, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 7 · ★★ · wrong ✗

«my mate says hedgehogs fire their spikes at dogs» What is right?

1. Yes, up to three metres — no support
2. No, they cannot throw spines; they roll into a ball — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. No, they bite hard with their spines when a dog comes too close — ← Mova's choice · score 1
4. Yes, but only at cats — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 1, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 61, line 4: «Other plants are strange in different ways: a flower a metre wide with no leaves at all, a flower spike taller than a grown-up that stinks of rotting meat, a d…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «sting» (+1). The right option, 2, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 8 · ★★ · right ✓

What would happen if every garden on a street had a solid fence with no gaps?

1. Hedgehogs could not travel between gardens to find food and mates — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 4
2. Nothing, hedgehogs stay in one garden — score 4
3. Hedgehogs would get bigger — no support
4. Hedgehogs would learn to climb fences — no support

Why: It took the question to ask what happens next. It chose option 1 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 214, line 3: «At night it snuffles and grunts through gardens hunting beetles, worms, caterpillars and slugs, walking a couple of kilometres, and in winter, when food runs o…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «hedgehog» (+3); the same place «gardens» (+2). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 9 · ★★ · wrong ✗

«weird, hedgehog chewing my shoe and frothing all over its back, has it got rabies» What is likely?

1. It has rabies and must be taken away at once — no support
2. It is trying to eat the shoe — score -2
3. It is self-anointing, which hedgehogs often do — ✓ the right answer · score 1
4. It is making a nest with spit and bits of shoe — ← Mova's choice · score 4

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 4, against 1 for the next best. Its support: lesson 214, line 13: «Sometimes a hedgehog chews something with a new smell and spreads foamy spit all over its spines; this is called self-anointing, and scientists are still not s…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «hedgehog» (+2); the same circumstance (+1); a different thing acted on (counts against) (+1). The right option, 3, scored 1. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 10 · ★★ · wrong ✗

What would happen if a hedgehog went into winter thin and hungry?

1. It would stay awake all winter and be fine — score -2
2. It would grow much fatter while asleep — no support
3. It would just hibernate for longer — ← Mova's choice · score 1
4. It might not survive hibernation — ✓ the right answer · score 1

Why: It took the question to ask what happens next. It chose option 3 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 214, line 9: «In winter hedgehogs hibernate: the body cools and the heart slows right down to save energy while food is short, and they must be fat enough in autumn to survi…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «hibernate» (+1). The right option, 4, scored 1. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 11 · ★★ · right ✓

«hedgehog fell in the pond, it'll just drown» What is right?

1. Hedgehogs can swim, but need a ramp or stones to climb out — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 1
2. Hedgehogs sink like stones as soon as they touch the water — no support
3. Hedgehogs never go near water — no support
4. Hedgehogs breathe underwater — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 1, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 214, line 15: «Hedgehogs can swim, but they get stuck in ponds with steep sides, so a ramp or a few stones at the edge lets them climb out.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «swim» (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 1 · formal language · right ✓

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the spines of the hedgehog?

1. They are hollow hairs, some five thousand in number, which cannot be discharged — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 8
2. They are bones which may be projected at an assailant over some distance — score 2
3. They number fewer than fifty — no support
4. They are thorns acquired from hedges — score 2

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 1 with score 8, against 2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 214, line 5: «A hedgehog has about five thousand brown and cream spines, which are hollow hairs; it cannot shoot or throw them, and a muscle pulls its skin tight to roll it…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same thing acted on «hollow hairs» (+3); it fills the role the question asks for (+3); the same doer «thousand brown cream spines» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 2 · formal language · wrong ✗

Identify the principal hazard posed to the hedgehog by a bonfire constructed some weeks before ignition.

1. Hedgehogs are drawn to warmth and will light fires — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. A hedgehog may have made its nest within the pile — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. The pile prevents hedgehogs from hibernating — no support
4. The smoke attracts hedgehogs from afar — no support

Why: Nothing it remembers matched the question, 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 ✗

It is given that a hedgehog is observed abroad in daylight and moving unsteadily. Ascertain the appropriate course of action.

1. No action is warranted, as hedgehogs prefer daylight — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. The animal should be chased back into the hedge — no support
3. Advice should be sought from a wildlife rescue, the animal being probably unwell — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. The animal should be given a saucer of milk — 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 ✓

Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning the hibernation of hedgehogs.

1. The body warms and the heart accelerates throughout the winter — no support
2. The body cools and the heart slows to conserve energy, sufficient fat being required beforehand — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 9
3. Hedgehogs remain fully active throughout the winter — no support
4. Hibernation requires the animal to fast throughout the autumn — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 9, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 214, line 9: «In winter hedgehogs hibernate: the body cools and the heart slows right down to save energy while food is short, and they must be fat enough in autumn to survi…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «slow» (+5); the same doer «heart» (+2); its «because» matches the remembered cause (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

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