Evolution myths put right: monkeys, the strongest and missing links

Tests: 9 of 12 right · Exam: 4 of 4 right · Kind: ★★★ · Understood: 14 of 16 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72

Lesson 280 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 ✓

«we came from monkeys, so why are there still monkeys, checkmate» What is the right answer?

1. The monkeys are waiting their turn to turn into people, one by one — score -1
2. Monkeys came from people instead — score 5
3. There will be no monkeys soon — no support
4. We did not come from today's monkeys; we share ancestors, like cousins — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 6

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 4 with score 6, against 5 for the next best. Its support: lesson 280, line 1: ««People came from monkeys» is a myth: we did not come from today's monkeys or chimps, but we share ancestors with them, the way you and your cousin share grand…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «come» (+4); the same circumstance (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 2 · ★★★ · right ✓

In a cartoon, a big strong lion is always the winner because it is «the fittest». What does «fittest» really mean?

1. The one with the biggest muscles and the loudest roar in the land — no support
2. The one that eats the most — no support
3. Best fitted to its place, which may be a small or gentle animal — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score -4
4. The one who wins the most fights — no support

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 3 with score -4, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 280, line 3: ««Survival of the fittest» does not mean the strongest wins: «fittest» means best fitted to the place, so a tiny mouse, which needs little food and can hide, ca…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same property (+2). Against it: the same action «fit» (-3); one says «not», the other does not (counts against) (-3). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 3 · ★★★ · right ✓

The climate turns very cold and food is scarce. Who is more likely to survive: a huge mammoth or a tiny mouse?

1. Both always survive the same — no support
2. The mouse, because it needs little food and can hide — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 8
3. The mammoth, because the biggest and strongest always win — no support
4. Neither can survive any change — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 8, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 280, line 3: ««Survival of the fittest» does not mean the strongest wins: «fittest» means best fitted to the place, so a tiny mouse, which needs little food and can hide, ca…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «need» (+3); the same doer «tiny mouse» (+3); the same thing acted on «little food» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 4 · ★★★ · right ✓

«it's just a theory, so it's basically a guess» What is right?

1. No, in science a theory is an explanation backed by a mountain of evidence — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 12
2. No, a theory is a law of the government — no support
3. Yes, like gravity is just a guess — no support
4. Yes, a theory is just a guess in science too, until it is proved and becomes a fact — score 9

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 12, against 9 for the next best. Its support: lesson 280, line 9: «In science a theory is a big explanation backed by a mountain of evidence, like the theory of gravity; in everyday talk «theory» means a guess, but in science…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same place «science» (+4); the same doer «theory» (+3); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+3); the same thing acted on «big explanation» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 5 · ★★★ · right ✓

In Pokémon, Charmander evolves into Charmeleon in one fight. What would a biologist say?

1. Only fire animals can evolve fast — score 2
2. That is exactly how real evolution works, one big change at a time — no support
3. Real lizards do this every week — no support
4. That is one creature changing, like growing up, not evolution — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 11

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 4 with score 11, against 2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 280, line 5: «And Pokémon do not evolve in the science sense: one creature changing in its own life is growing up, like a caterpillar becoming a butterfly, while evolution h…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «change» (+7); the same doer «one creature» (+4). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 6 · ★★★ · wrong ✗

«a giraffe that really wanted a long neck would get one» What is right?

1. No, changes happen by chance, and the place decides which last — ✓ the right answer · score 4
2. Yes, if it eats more leaves — ← Mova's choice · score 8
3. No, giraffes never change at all — no support
4. Yes, wishing hard makes the neck grow a little more every year — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 8, against 4 for the next best. Its support: lesson 101, line 2: «Each animal has its own way of living on the savanna: the giraffe eats leaves high up where nobody else reaches, the zebra and the white rhino graze the grass,…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «eat up» (+3); the same doer «giraffe» (+3); the same thing acted on «leaves» (+2). The right option, 1, scored 4. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 7 · ★★★ · wrong ✗

Count them: a museum shows Tiktaalik with 4 leg-like fins, Archaeopteryx with 2 legs and 2 wings, and an early whale with 4 legs. How many limbs in all?

1. 10 — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. 8 — no support
3. 12 — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. 14 — 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 · ★★★ · right ✓

«that poster shows a monkey turning into a man in 5 steps, so it's a ladder» What is right?

1. Yes, and the man is the top of the ladder — no support
2. The poster is misleading; evolution is a branching bush with many relatives at once — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 6
3. No, the steps go the other way — no support
4. Yes, each step was one monkey's child, born looking a bit more like a person each time — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 6, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 280, line 8: «The famous picture of a line of apes turning into a man is misleading: evolution is a branching bush, not a ladder, and many human relatives lived at the same…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same thing acted on «branching bush» (+3); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+2); the same doer «evolution» (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 9 · ★★★ · right ✓

«Neanderthals were thick cavemen with clubs» What is right?

1. Yes, they could not make anything at all and lived by hitting animals with sticks — score 5
2. No, they were robots — no support
3. They made tools, used fire, buried their dead and had brains as big as ours — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 8
4. Yes, they were a kind of gorilla — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 8, against 5 for the next best. Its support: lesson 280, line 18: «Neanderthals made tools, used fire, buried their dead and maybe made art; their brains were as big as ours, and they had children with our ancestors.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «make» (+3); the same doer «neanderthals» (+3); the same thing acted on «tools» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 10 · ★★★ · wrong ✗

«my tailbone's useless, docs could just take it out» What is closer to the truth?

1. It has no job at all — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. It is left from a tail but still anchors muscles — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. It holds your spine up alone — no support
4. It is the place where a new tail will grow one day — 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 ✓

«scientists are still missing all the links, it's all gaps» What is right?

1. Every fossil ever found is the same animal — score 5
2. Thousands of in-between fossils are known, like Tiktaalik and Archaeopteryx — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 6
3. No in-between fossils have ever been found, so there really is nothing but gaps — score 5
4. Fossils prove animals never changed — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 6, against 5 for the next best. Its support: lesson 280, line 13: «Thousands of in-between fossils are known, such as Tiktaalik, Archaeopteryx and early whales; scientists joke that every new fossil fills one gap but makes two…», reached through a sentence linked to the one the question matched. What matched: the same action «know» (+3); the same circumstance (+2); the same thing acted on «thousands» (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 12 · ★★★ · right ✓

«my nan's religious, so she can't believe in evolution» What is best?

1. All religious people reject evolution, so your nan has to as well, whatever she thinks — no support
2. Evolution is a religion — no support
3. Nobody may talk about it — no support
4. Many religious people accept evolution and keep their faith; people answer this in different ways — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 5

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 5, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 280, line 15: «Many religious people and scientists accept evolution and also have faith; science explains how living things change, faith answers other questions for believe…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «accept» (+3); the same thing acted on «evolution» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 1 · formal language · right ✓

Identify the meaning of the term «fittest» as employed in the expression «survival of the fittest».

1. Possessing the greatest physical strength — no support
2. Best suited to the conditions of the environment — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 6
3. Possessing the greatest body size — no support
4. Possessing the greatest speed — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 6, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 280, line 7: ««Fittest» means best fitted to the place, not the strongest; helping others can also be fit, as ants and wolves show.», reached through what was said in the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «fit» (+4); the same property (+2). · 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 relationship between humans and present-day chimpanzees.

1. No relationship of any kind exists between them — no support
2. They share common ancestors, neither having descended from the other — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 3
3. Humans are descended directly from the chimpanzees living at the present day — no support
4. Chimpanzees are descended from present-day humans — score 1

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 3, against 1 for the next best. Its support: lesson 269, line 15: «Crocodiles and birds share a common ancestor, so a crocodile is a closer cousin to a sparrow than to a lizard or a gecko.», reached through a sentence linked to the one the question matched. What matched: the same action «share» (+3); the same thing acted on «common ancestor» (+1). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-1). · 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 meaning of the word «theory» in the sciences?

1. A conjecture unsupported by any evidence, awaiting confirmation by experiment — no support
2. An opinion held by a single scientist — no support
3. A comprehensive explanation supported by a substantial body of evidence — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 6
4. A rule enacted by the government — no support

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 3 with score 6, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 280, line 9: «In science a theory is a big explanation backed by a mountain of evidence, like the theory of gravity; in everyday talk «theory» means a guess, but in science…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «back» (+3); the same thing acted on «big explanation» (+3). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 4 · formal language · right ✓

State which of the following constitutes an example of continuing human evolution.

1. The spread of the capacity to digest milk in adulthood — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 5
2. The increase in height of a child as it grows — no support
3. The learning of a second language — no support
4. The growth of muscle through exercise in one lifetime — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 5, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 279, line 16: «Most mammals stop digesting milk after babyhood, but in places where people kept cows for thousands of years, a change that keeps milk digestion spread; it is…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same thing acted on «milk» (+3); the same action «digest» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

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