Animal builders: termite mounds, weaver birds and other nest makers

Tests: 5 of 11 right · Exam: 2 of 4 right · Kind: plain · Understood: 10 of 15 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72

Lesson 243 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 ✓

In a cartoon a woodpecker drills a row of holes in a man's house just to annoy him. Why do real woodpeckers drill?

1. To sharpen their beaks so they can fight rivals — score 3
2. Only to annoy the people who live nearby — score 3
3. To store their eggs safely inside the wood — score 3
4. To make nest holes, find insects and drum to call — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 9

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 4 with score 9, against 3 for the next best. Its support: lesson 243, line 17: «Real woodpeckers drill holes to nest and to find insects, and drum on wood to call; their skull is built to soften the blows, and they can hit wood about 20 ti…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «find» (+5); the same doer «real woodpeckers» (+2); the same thing acted on «insects» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 2 · right ✓

«went up the termite mound in the film, there's no termites at the top lol, they all moved out?» What is right?

1. No, they live in the nest below and the mound is their air conditioning — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 15
2. Yes, the mound is empty, and all the termites moved out long ago to a new place — no support
3. No, they are hiding in the roof in the daytime — no support
4. Yes, the termites all died long ago — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 15, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 243, line 3: «The termites do not live at the top: they live in the nest below, and the mound works like a pair of lungs and an air conditioner, letting stale air out and fr…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «live» (+4); the same doer «termites» (+4); the same place «nest» (+4); the same property (+3). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 3 · wrong ✗

«6 termites. how many legs. 6 x 6 innit»

1. 24 — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. 36 — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. 12 — no support
4. 48 — 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 swallows on the wire, 2 more land, how many legs then»

1. 12 — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. 5 — no support
3. 10 — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. 20 — 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 ✗

What would happen if a bowerbird's bower had no blue things?

1. The bower would fall down in the first rain shower — no support
2. Females would be less likely to choose him — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. He would be unable to fly — no support
4. His eggs would not hatch in the nest — ← Mova's choice · score -1

Why: It took the question to ask what happens next. It chose option 4 with score -1, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 213, line 8: «Ducklings follow the first moving thing they see after hatching, usually their mother; this is called imprinting, and ducklings have imprinted on people, dogs…», reached through what followed the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «hatch» (+6). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-1); one says «not», the other does not (counts against) (-6). The right option, 2, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 6 · wrong ✗

It is a dry spring with no puddles anywhere. Which bird will find it hardest to build?

1. The house martin, which needs mud — ✓ the right answer · score -4
2. The bowerbird, which uses sticks — score 1
3. The woodpecker, which drills wood — ← Mova's choice · score 9
4. The weaver bird, which uses grass — score 5

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 3 with score 9, against 5 for the next best. Its support: lesson 243, line 17: «Real woodpeckers drill holes to nest and to find insects, and drum on wood to call; their skull is built to soften the blows, and they can hit wood about 20 ti…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same thing acted on «wood» (+4); it fills the role the question asks for (+3); the same doer «woodpeckers» (+2). The right option, 1, scored -4. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 7 · right ✓

«why'd that weaver bird rip his own nest up, idiot» What is the best answer?

1. He was angry at a snake that had climbed into the nest — score 0
2. The female did not like it, so he starts again — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 6
3. He needed the grass to eat — score 1
4. Weaver birds never build nests — score 0

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 2 with score 6, against 1 for the next best. Its support: lesson 243, line 10: «Male weaver birds weave hanging nests from grass strips, tying knots with beak and feet; nests at the tips of thin branches are hard for snakes and monkeys to…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «like» (+5); the same doer «female» (+2); the same thing acted on «nest» (+2). Against it: one says «not», the other does not (counts against) (-3). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 8 · right ✓

A haystack hangs in a desert tree in the Kalahari. Who lives there?

1. Nobody, because farmers store their hay up there for the winter — no support
2. Over a hundred sociable weavers in separate rooms — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 4
3. A single huge eagle and its chick — no support
4. A family of monkeys — no support

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 2 with score 4, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 243, line 11: «Sociable weavers in the Kalahari build giant shared nests like haystacks in trees, with many rooms and over 100 birds; the thick straw keeps them cool by day a…», 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 (+3); the same doer «sociable weavers» (+2). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 9 · right ✓

Why are the nests in bird's nest soup so expensive?

1. They are grown in labs — score 2
2. They are made of thin gold leaf, beaten flat by craftsmen in little workshops by the sea — score 8
3. They come only from penguins — score 2
4. They are made of swiftlet spit and must be collected carefully so the birds can still breed — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 9

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 4 with score 9, against 8 for the next best. Its support: lesson 243, line 15: «Some swiftlets build nests almost entirely from their own hardened spit, and people collect them for bird's nest soup, an expensive food in China; the nests ar…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «build» (+5); the same thing acted on «nests» (+2); the same circumstance (+1); a different doer (counts against) (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 10 · wrong ✗

A malleefowl's heap is getting too hot in summer. What does the father do?

1. Removes some of the sand — ✓ the right answer · score 8
2. Lays more eggs — score 4
3. Pours water on it — no support
4. Leaves the eggs to cook — ← Mova's choice · score 10

Why: It took the question to ask what is done. It chose option 4 with score 10, against 8 for the next best. Its support: lesson 189, line 5: «The leafy seadragon has leaf-shaped flaps all over its body and drifts slowly among seaweed, and seadragon fathers carry the eggs on their tails until they hat…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «seadragon fathers» (+5); the same thing acted on «eggs» (+3); a different action (counts against) (+2). The right option, 1, scored 8. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 11 · wrong ✗

«how can tiny bugs build a house that big, no way»

1. Elephants help them build it — ← Mova's choice · score 8
2. Millions of termites each add a little soil and spit — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. The wind piles up the soil — no support
4. A queen termite builds it alone, one grain at a time — score 2

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 8, against 2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 15, line 14: «Monkeys groom each other, picking out dirt, dead skin and bugs, which keeps fur clean, builds friendships and calms them down.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «build» (+4); the same doer «bugs» (+4). The right option, 2, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 1 · formal language · wrong ✗

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the principal function of the elevated portion of a termite mound?

1. It accommodates the entire population of the colony, the queen dwelling at its summit — ← Mova's choice · score 5
2. It is a structure abandoned by the termites upon its completion — no support
3. It effects the exchange of stale and fresh air for the colony housed beneath — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. It serves exclusively as a lookout for the detection of predators — no support

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 1 with score 5, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 238, line 3: «In the nest a queen lays the eggs and her daughters, the workers, do all the other jobs; no ant gives orders, each one follows simple rules.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+3); the same doer «queen» (+2). The right option, 3, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 2 · formal language · wrong ✗

Identify the principal reason for which magnetic termites align their mounds upon a north-south axis.

1. The facilitation of navigation by foraging workers — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. The minimisation of exposure to the intense midday sun — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. The attraction of mates from distant colonies — no support
4. The collection of rainwater from the prevailing winds — 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 ✓

Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning the bower constructed by the male bowerbird.

1. It constitutes a display ground for the attraction of females and is not employed as a nest — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. It is the chamber wherein the eggs are incubated by both parents in turn throughout the spring — no support
3. It is erected jointly by the male and the female — no support
4. It is a store for food in times of scarcity, chiefly berries and insects — 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 ✓

Ascertain the material of which the nests harvested for bird's nest soup are predominantly composed.

1. The hardened saliva of the swiftlet — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. Seaweed gathered from the shore at low tide — no support
3. Woven grasses bound with mud — no support
4. Feathers shed by the parent birds — 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/243-animal-builders-termite-mounds-weaver-birds-and-other-nest-makers/