Extinct forever: the dodo, the passenger pigeon, the thylacine and more

Tests: 5 of 11 right · Exam: 1 of 4 right · Kind: plain · Understood: 11 of 15 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72

Lesson 281 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 ✗

In a cartoon, the dodo is a dim, clumsy bird that trips over its own feet. What is the real story?

1. It is still living on Mauritius — ← Mova's choice · score 9
2. It really was too stupid to live, so it walked up to hunters and could not learn to run away — no support
3. It was not stupid; it had never met predators and could not cope with the animals people brought — ✓ the right answer · score 0
4. It died out because it could not walk — no support

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 with score 9, against 0 for the next best. Its support: lesson 131, line 14: «Dodos were big flightless birds that lived only on Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, with no predators and no fear of people, and they died out in the 1600s, abou…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «live» (+7); the same place «mauritius» (+3). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-1). The right option, 3, scored 0. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 2 · right ✓

«the dodo was too dumb to survive, natural selection innit» What is right?

1. No, it was killed by a meteorite — no support
2. Yes, it forgot to eat — no support
3. Yes, it was the dumbest bird ever, so nature got rid of it long before people came — score 8
4. No, it was well fitted to an island without predators until people brought new ones — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 9

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 9, against 8 for the next best. Its support: lesson 77, line 4: «Cartoons draw the dodo as a fat, stupid bird that deserved to vanish; in truth it was well suited to its island, and it died out because sailors' rats, pigs an…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same property (+4); the same thing acted on «dodo» (+3); the same action «suit» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 3 · wrong ✗

Count them: a picture shows 3 dodos and 2 great auks. How many legs and how many wings are there?

1. 5 legs and 5 wings — ← Mova's choice · score 1
2. 20 legs and 10 wings — score 1
3. 10 legs and 10 wings — ✓ the right answer · score 1
4. 10 legs and 0 wings — score 1

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 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 207, line 13: «A foal stands and walks within a few hours of birth, on legs that are very long for its body, because a wild foal must keep up with the herd.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+1); it fills the role the question asks for (+1). Against it: the same doer «legs» (-1). The right option, 3, scored 1. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 4 · wrong ✗

«my cousin saw a Tasmanian tiger in the bush last year, so they're not extinct» What is the best answer?

1. Many sightings are reported, but none have been proven — ✓ the right answer · no support
2. No, Tasmanian tigers were never real — ← Mova's choice · score 6
3. Yes, there are thousands of them — no support
4. Yes, so it is certainly alive and well in the deep bush — 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 136, line 7: «The South China tiger is a real kind of tiger, but none have been seen in the wild for decades; it survives only in zoos and breeding centres after its forests…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same property (+4); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+3); the same doer «china tiger» (+2). Against it: one says «not», the other does not (counts against) (-3). The right option, 1, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 5 · right ✓

«there were billions of passenger pigeons, you can't kill billions» What is right?

1. People did: mass hunting and forest cutting killed them all by 1914 — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score -4
2. They turned into ordinary pigeons — no support
3. Right, they are still flying today in huge flocks over the forests of Canada — no support
4. They all flew to Europe — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score -4, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 281, line 7: «In the 1800s billions of passenger pigeons darkened the skies of North America; mass hunting and forest cutting killed them all, and the last one, Martha, died…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «kill» (+1). Against it: a different thing acted on (counts against) (-2); the same doer «mass hunting» (-3). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 6 · right ✓

What would most likely have happened to the dodo if sailors had never brought rats, pigs and monkeys?

1. It would have turned into a penguin — no support
2. It might have lasted much longer on its island — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 8
3. It would have swum to Africa — no support
4. It would have learnt to fly at once — score 4

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 131, line 3: «The film mixes things up for fun: a real sabre-tooth would have hunted a young mammoth, not walked beside it, and dodos lived on one warm island far from any i…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same place «one warm island» (+4); the same action «live» (+2); the same doer «dodos» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 7 · wrong ✗

«species die out all the time anyway so who cares» What is the best answer?

1. No species ever died out before people — ← Mova's choice · score 5
2. Extinction is natural, but today it is much faster than normal because of people — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. Only big animals can go extinct — no support
4. Right, extinction never matters at all, because new animals always take their place — 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 16, line 4: «Orangutans live in Borneo and Sumatra, gorillas, chimps and bonobos in Africa, and their forests are being cut down for farms and oil palm, while apes have bab…», 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 «numbers» (+2). The right option, 2, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 8 · wrong ✗

Count them: a zebra and a quagga stand in a museum. How many tails, ears and legs do they have in all?

1. 2 tails, 2 ears and 8 legs — ← Mova's choice · score 6
2. 2 tails, 4 ears and 4 legs — score 6
3. 2 tails, 4 ears and 8 legs — ✓ the right answer · score 6
4. 1 tail, 4 ears and 8 legs — score 6

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 with score 6, tied with another option at 6 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 270, line 15: «Dinosaurs had legs straight under the body, which shows as a hole in the hip socket; flying and swimming reptiles do not count as dinosaurs.», 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 thing acted on «legs» (+2); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+2). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-1). The right option, 3, scored 6. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 9 · right ✓

«penguins live at the South Pole, so the first penguin must've been there» What is right?

1. The dodo was the first penguin — no support
2. The first bird called a penguin was the great auk of the North Atlantic — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 5
3. Penguins started at the North Pole — score 4
4. Penguins were first seen in Australia — score 5

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 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 129, line 2: «Real penguins cannot fly in the air, but they «fly» under water, flapping stiff flippers that once were wings, and gentoo penguins are the fastest swimming bir…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same thing acted on «fastest swimming birds» (+3); the same doer «gentoo penguins» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 10 · wrong ✗

The news says a frog thought extinct for 50 years was found in a forest. What is this called?

1. A new continent — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. A cloned species — no support
3. A missing link — no support
4. A Lazarus species — ✓ 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 11 · right ✓

«they made new quaggas from DNA, so it's back from extinction» What is closer to the truth?

1. The quagga never went extinct — no support
2. Yes, real quaggas were made from old DNA in a laboratory and now live again in the wild — no support
3. A project bred plains zebras to look like quaggas; the original quagga is still gone — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 6
4. Quaggas were made from horse DNA — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 6, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 281, line 13: «DNA showed the quagga was a kind of plains zebra, and a project has bred zebras that look like quaggas again.», reached through a sentence linked to the one the question matched. What matched: the same action «breed» (+3); the same doer «project» (+2); the same thing acted on «zebras» (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 1 · formal language · wrong ✗

Identify the principal cause of the extinction of the dodo.

1. A failure to adapt to cold climates — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. An innate deficiency of intelligence, which prevented it from obtaining sufficient food — no support
3. A volcanic eruption upon Mauritius — no support
4. The arrival of people together with rats, pigs and monkeys introduced to its island — ✓ 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

Exam question 2 · formal language · wrong ✗

State the name and place of death of the last known passenger pigeon.

1. Dolly, in Edinburgh, in 2003 — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Martha, in Cincinnati Zoo, in 1914 — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. Martha, in Hobart Zoo, in 1936 — no support
4. Lucy, in Ethiopia, in 1974 — 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 rate of extinction at present.

1. Extinction has ceased entirely in the present age — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Extinction occurs exclusively among large mammals — no support
3. The present rate is identical to that of all former ages — no support
4. Species are presently vanishing considerably faster than the natural rate, owing to human activity — ✓ 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

Exam question 4 · formal language · right ✓

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises a Lazarus species?

1. A species confined to religious buildings — no support
2. A species formerly believed extinct which is subsequently found to survive — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 6
3. A species that has never been recorded — score 6
4. A species recreated from preserved DNA — no support

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 2 with score 6, tied with another option at 6 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 279, line 15: «From one wild cabbage plant, farmers bred cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale and Brussels sprouts, choosing leaves, flowers or buds; they are all the same sp…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same thing acted on «same species» (+3); it fills the role the question asks for (+2); the same doer «farmers» (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/biology/281-extinct-forever-the-dodo-the-passenger-pigeon-the-thylacine-and-more/