Gulls: chip thieves, rain dances and salty water

Tests: 6 of 11 right · Exam: 2 of 4 right · Kind: ★ · Understood: 9 of 15 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72

Lesson 223 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 ✓

«gull just nicked my chips right outta my hand, cheeky sod» What explains this?

1. The gull was trying to save the child from salt — score 3
2. Gulls are bold and learn that people carry food — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 10
3. Gulls are always starving at the seaside — score 3
4. Gulls only steal on Sundays — score 3

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 2 with score 10, against 3 for the next best. Its support: lesson 14, line 12: «Herring gulls learn that people carry food and swoop to grab it; scientists in England found gulls were slower to grab food when a person stared straight at th…», 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 (+4); the same action «learn» (+3); the same doer «herring gulls» (+3). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 2 · ★ · right ✓

In an animated fish film the gulls all scream «Mine! Mine!» and grab everything. What is true about real gulls?

1. They are bold and quick to grab food, but they use many different calls — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 6
2. They never steal food from anybody — score 2
3. They only eat seaweed and never touch chips — score 5
4. They can really speak human words — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 6, against 5 for the next best. Its support: lesson 134, line 15: «Gulls are bold, noisy birds that eat almost anything, steal food from each other and from people, and are more likely to grab food that a person is holding or…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «grab» (+2); the same doer «gulls» (+2); the same thing acted on «food» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 3 · ★ · right ✓

«gull's doing a funny tap dance on the footy pitch» What is it most likely doing?

1. Trying to break the grass — no support
2. Dancing to music from a car — no support
3. Stamping to bring worms up, like rain — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 16
4. Waiting for the ball to land so it can peck it — no support

Why: It took the question to ask what is done. It chose option 3 with score 16, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 223, line 7: «A gull stamps its feet on grass to imitate rain, which makes worms come up to the surface where the gull can catch them.», 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 «stamp» (+4); the same doer «gull» (+4); its «because» matches the remembered cause (+3). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 4 · ★ · right ✓

What would happen if a gull chick could not see any red spot on its parent's beak?

1. It would slowly turn red itself to make up for it — score 1
2. It would not know where to peck to ask for food — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 6
3. It would fly off to the sea — no support
4. It would find food by itself at once — no support

Why: It took the question to ask what happens next. It chose option 2 with score 6, against 1 for the next best. Its support: lesson 223, line 10: «A herring gull chick pecks the red spot on its parent's beak to ask for food, and the pecking makes the parent bring up food for it.», reached through a sentence linked to the one the question matched. What matched: the same action «ask» (+2); the same doer «gull chick» (+2); the same circumstance (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 5 · ★ · wrong ✗

«my dad says there's no such bird as a seagull lol is he mad»

1. He is wrong; gulls live only out in the sea — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. He is right; all gulls are really ducks — no support
3. He is wrong; the seagull is the only kind of gull — no support
4. He is right; there are many kinds of gull, and seagull is a nickname — ✓ 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 6 · ★ · wrong ✗

Count them: 5 gulls stand on a lamppost and 3 more land. How many legs now?

1. 8 — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. 32 — no support
3. 16 — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. 10 — 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 · ★ · wrong ✗

A boy sees a brown speckled gull next to a grey and white one and says they are different birds. What is right?

1. He is right, brown gulls never turn grey — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. The brown one has been in a fire and its feathers got burnt — no support
3. The brown one is probably a young gull of the same kind — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. The grey one is 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

Test 8 · ★ · wrong ✗

What would a gull do if it found a mussel, a shellfish, too hard to open with its beak?

1. Fly up and drop it onto rocks — ✓ the right answer · score 9
2. Wait for the shell to open by itself — score 3
3. Swallow it whole and spit out the shell — no support
4. Give up eating shellfish for good — ← Mova's choice · score 13

Why: It took the question to ask what is done. It chose option 4 with score 13, against 9 for the next best. Its support: lesson 223, line 2: «On a park lawn a gull may stamp its feet up and down like a little dance; the drumming feels like rain to the worms, they come up, and the gull eats them.», 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 «eat» (+4); the same doer «gull» (+4). The right option, 1, scored 9. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 9 · ★ · right ✓

«gulls everywhere in my town, why's anyone protect them» What is true?

1. In the wild, herring gull numbers have fallen — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 9
2. Gulls are protected because they are rare in towns — score 6
3. Gulls protect themselves, not people — score 5
4. Nobody protects gulls anywhere — no support

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 1 with score 9, against 6 for the next best. Its support: lesson 223, line 15: «Herring gulls seem to be everywhere in towns, but in the wild their numbers have fallen, and in Britain they are a protected species.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same place «wild» (+4); the same action «fall» (+3); the same doer «numbers» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 10 · ★ · wrong ✗

Count them: a gull family on a roof has 2 parents and 3 chicks. How many wings altogether?

1. 20 — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. 10 — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. 6 — no support
4. 5 — 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 11 · ★ · right ✓

«why's the gull drinking from the sea, won't it get sick??»

1. Yes, so it spits it all back out — no support
2. No, glands above its eyes take the salt out — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 7
3. Yes, it will die from the salt — no support
4. No, sea water is not really salty near the beach — score 2

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 7, against 2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 223, line 8: «Gulls can drink salt water, because glands above their eyes remove the salt and it drips out of their nose.», reached through a sentence linked to the one the question matched. What matched: the same action «remove» (+3); the same doer «glands» (+3); the same thing acted on «salt» (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 1 · formal language · right ✓

Identify the means by which the gull is enabled to consume sea water without harm.

1. The feathers absorb the salt from the water before it is swallowed — score 4
2. Glands situated above the eyes remove the salt, which is discharged through the nostrils — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 7
3. The salt is expelled exclusively through the feet — no support
4. The salt is retained within the stomach and is never absorbed — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 7, against 4 for the next best. Its support: lesson 223, line 3: «Gulls can drink sea water, because glands above their eyes take the salt out of their blood, and the salty water drips out of their nose.», reached through a sentence linked to the one the question matched. What matched: the same action «take» (+3); the same doer «glands» (+3); the same thing acted on «salt» (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 2 · formal language · right ✓

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the term seagull?

1. It is a popular name applied to numerous species of gull, many of which reside inland — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. It is the name of a hybrid between a gull and a pigeon — no support
3. It refers only to the young of the herring gull — no support
4. It is the scientific name of one species confined to the open ocean — 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 stamping of the feet by gulls upon grass.

1. The action constitutes a courtship display only — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. The action serves to warm the feet in cold weather — no support
3. The vibration imitates rainfall and causes worms to emerge — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. The action is intended to flatten vegetation for the purpose of nesting — 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 · wrong ✗

Ascertain the reason for which a brown and speckled gull is commonly observed alongside grey and white adults.

1. It is an elderly bird whose plumage has faded with advancing age — ← Mova's choice · score 4
2. It is an adult bird whose feathers have been soiled with mud — score 4
3. It is a separate species which never acquires grey plumage — no support
4. It is an immature bird which has not yet acquired adult plumage — ✓ the right answer · score 4

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. 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 223, line 5: «A brown speckled gull is not a different bird but a young one, and a big herring gull takes about four years to get its grown-up grey and white feathers.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same thing acted on «different bird» (+4); the same doer «brown speckled gull» (+2); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+1). Against it: one says «not», the other does not (counts against) (-3). The right option, 4, scored 4. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

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