Animal myths put right: elephants and mice, lemmings, ostriches and goldfish

Tests: 5 of 12 right · Exam: 3 of 4 right · Kind: ★★ · Understood: 11 of 16 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72

Lesson 295 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 ✗

Count them: in the cartoon two elephants climb onto one stool to get away from a mouse. How many trunks and how many legs are on the stool?

1. 2 trunks and 4 legs — ← Mova's choice · score 1
2. 4 trunks and 8 legs — score 1
3. 1 trunk and 8 legs — score 1
4. 2 trunks and 8 legs — ✓ the right answer · 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 149, line 3: «Mice do not crawl up elephant trunks either: the trunk is a mighty muscular nose that blows dust and water over the elephant's back and could snort out any int…», 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 «trunk» (-1). The right option, 4, scored 1. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 2 · ★★ · right ✓

«played that old Lemmings game, they just walk off the cliff lol, real ones do that right» What is right?

1. No, real lemmings do not jump on purpose; some drown when crowds cross water — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 7
2. Yes, they all jump every spring to make room for the young ones being born — score 4
3. No, real lemmings cannot walk at all — no support
4. Yes, but only the old ones jump — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 7, against 4 for the next best. Its support: lesson 228, line 8: «Lemmings do not jump off cliffs on purpose; a 1958 nature film staged it by pushing them over the edge, and in real life some drown when crowds of them cross r…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same place «purpose» (+4); the same action «jump off» (+3). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 3 · ★★ · wrong ✗

«my nan says ostriches stick their heads in sand when scared» What would happen to a bird that really did that?

1. It could not see danger or breathe well, so it would not survive long — ✓ the right answer · score 0
2. It would be perfectly safe, because lions cannot see a bird without a head — ← Mova's choice · score 4
3. It would learn to breathe sand — score 1
4. It would grow a longer neck — score 1

Why: It took the question to ask what happens next. It chose option 2 with score 4, against 1 for the next best. Its support: lesson 4, line 17: «Ostriches do not bury their heads in the sand; they lay their heads flat on the ground to hide and turn their eggs in a nest scraped in the soil.», reached through what followed the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same circumstance (+5). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-1). The right option, 1, scored 0. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 4 · ★★ · wrong ✗

In Finding Nemo the fish Dory forgets everything in seconds, and someone says goldfish are just like that. How could you test a goldfish's memory fairly?

1. Show it a picture of a cat — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Feed it in one corner after a signal for days, then give only the signal — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. Ask the goldfish a question out loud and wait to see if it swims to the answer — no support
4. Put it in a smaller bowl — 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 ✗

«blind as a bat, innit» What is the best answer?

1. Right, bats bump into walls and trees all day and all night — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Wrong saying: all bats can see, and many also use echoes — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. Right, bats are born with no eyes — no support
4. Wrong, bats see only in daylight — 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 · ★★ · right ✓

«found a baby bird on the path and i touched it, now its mum'll dump it, i'm so stupid» What is true?

1. It must be washed in soap at once — no support
2. Yes, the mother will smell you and never come back to that chick again — no support
3. You must now raise it in your bedroom — no support
4. Most birds will not reject it because of your smell, but leave it alone now — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 4

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 4, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 249, line 16: «Most birds have a weak sense of smell and will not abandon a chick because a person touched it; the real danger is moving the chick away from where its parents…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same thing acted on «fledgling» (+3); the same doer «fluffy bird» (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 7 · ★★ · right ✓

Why do people keep telling the myth that a bird will reject a touched chick?

1. Because birds can smell far better than dogs, and every bird checks its chicks — score 2
2. Because scientists proved it long ago — no support
3. It keeps children from picking up wild babies, which is a good thing — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 6
4. Because it is true for every bird — no support

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 3 with score 6, against 2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 191, line 14: «Most birds have a poor sense of smell and will not abandon a chick because a person touched it; a fledgling (a young bird just learning to fly) on the ground u…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «learn» (+4); the same doer «young bird» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 8 · ★★ · wrong ✗

A scientist waves a still red cape and a flapping blue towel at a bull. Which will it most likely charge?

1. Both at once — no support
2. The flapping blue towel — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. The still red cape — ← Mova's choice · score 7
4. Neither, bulls only charge people — score 1

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 3 with score 7, against 1 for the next best. Its support: lesson 209, line 4: «Cows are also more social and clever than people think: they have best friends, learn routines and their names, and the bull charging the red cape is chasing t…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: a different doer (counts against) (+3); the same action «charge» (+2); the same property (+1); it fills the role the question asks for (+1). The right option, 2, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 9 · ★★ · right ✓

«mate says daddy long legs is the deadliest spider, it just can't bite you» What is right?

1. Yes, one drop could kill a horse — no support
2. Yes, its fangs are just too short to bite, but its venom is the strongest of all spiders — no support
3. No, it is a tiny bird with long legs — score 2
4. No; the crane fly is not a spider, and the cellar spider's venom is harmless to us — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 3

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 3, against 2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 295, line 13: «In Britain the crane fly is called daddy long legs; it is not a spider and has no venom, and the cellar spiders also called daddy long legs have weak venom tha…», 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) (+2); the same thing acted on «spider» (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 10 · ★★ · right ✓

In a cartoon a chameleon sits on a chessboard and turns checked on a chessboard. What would a real chameleon do?

1. Turn into perfect black and white squares to match the board exactly — score 3
2. Turn the colour of the player — score 1
3. Turn see-through like glass — score 3
4. Change colour mostly with its mood and warmth, not copy the squares — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 12

Why: It took the question to ask what is done. It chose option 4 with score 12, against 3 for the next best. Its support: lesson 154, line 18: «Chameleons change colour mainly to show mood, warm up or cool down and send signals, not mostly to match what they sit on, and they could never copy a tartan p…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+5); the same action «copy» (+4); the same doer «chameleons» (+4). Against it: a different thing acted on (counts against) (-1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 11 · ★★ · wrong ✗

«hedgehog came in the garden, giving him a bowl of milk like in the book» What is best?

1. Milk is the best food for hedgehogs, just like the book says — ← Mova's choice · score 4
2. Give water and cat food; milk makes hedgehogs ill — ✓ the right answer · score 4
3. Give it a whole apple to carry off on its spines — no support
4. Give it nothing, hedgehogs eat only leaves — score 2

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 214, line 6: «Milk is bad for hedgehogs, which cannot digest it and can get very ill; a dish of water and meaty cat or dog food are safe.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same circumstance (+2); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+2). The right option, 2, scored 4. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 12 · ★★ · wrong ✗

Count them: 3 hedgehogs and 2 bats come into the garden at dusk. How many ears are there altogether?

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

Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning the reaction of elephants to small rodents.

1. Elephants exhibit an innate and specific terror of mice, which may enter the trunk and obstruct it — score 2
2. Elephants deliberately trample every rodent they encounter — score 3
3. Elephants are startled by any abrupt movement near their feet, not by mice as such — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 4
4. Elephants are incapable of perceiving animals of small size — score 1

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 4, against 3 for the next best. Its support: lesson 83, line 6: «Elephants are not afraid of mice; they cannot see well right by their feet, so a sudden movement there can startle them, but terror is a cartoon joke.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «startle» (+3); the same thing acted on «elephants» (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 2 · formal language · right ✓

Identify the principal reason for which the depiction of lemmings in a cinematographic production of 1958 is regarded as unreliable.

1. The animals were propelled over the cliff by the makers of the film — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. The animals were filmed in a region where lemmings do not occur — no support
3. The animals depicted were in fact squirrels — no support
4. The scene was recorded entirely at night — 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 ✓

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the vision of bats?

1. Bats possess sight exclusively during daylight hours — no support
2. Bats are universally devoid of sight and depend upon echolocation alone in all circumstances — no support
3. Bats perceive solely by means of smell — no support
4. All bats possess sight, and numerous species additionally employ echolocation — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 1

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 4 with score 1, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 294, line 1: «Nobody really sat down to tame the cat. About 10,000 years ago, when the first farmers in the Middle East stored grain, mice moved in, and wild cats followed t…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+2); the same doer «first farmers» (+1). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-1); a different thing acted on (counts against) (-1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 4 · formal language · wrong ✗

Ascertain the principal function of colour change in the chameleon.

1. The concealment of the animal from its own reflection — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. The attraction of insects by means of bright patterns — no support
3. The precise reproduction of any background whatsoever — no support
4. The communication of mood and signals, and the regulation of temperature — ✓ the right answer · 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

This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/biology/295-animal-myths-put-right-elephants-and-mice-lemmings-ostriches-and-goldfish/