Park trees: telling oaks, maples, chestnuts, birches, limes and willows apart

Tests: 4 of 11 right · Exam: 0 of 4 right · Kind: plain · Understood: 7 of 15 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72

Lesson 339 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 ✗

«pussy willow — so there's cats in it lol» What are they really?

1. Mice hiding in the branches — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Fluffy seeds that blow away and land on cats in the spring — no support
3. Nests made by wild cats — no support
4. Soft flower catkins named for feeling like a cat's paw — ✓ 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 2 · right ✓

What would a thin ring tell you about that year?

1. The tree was cut that year — no support
2. It was a very good year — no support
3. It was a very warm, wet year when the tree grew fast — score 4
4. It was a dry or cold year with little growth — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 6

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 6, against 4 for the next best. Its support: lesson 339, line 13: «Each ring in a tree stump is one year of growth; wide rings show good years, thin rings show dry or cold years, and the oldest trees have thousands of rings.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same circumstance (+3); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+2); the same thing acted on «one year» (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 3 · wrong ✗

«my uncle says to count rings you just chop it down, easy» Why is measuring better?

1. Trees have no rings until they are cut — ← Mova's choice · score 5
2. You can guess the age without killing the tree — ✓ the right answer · score 1
3. Chopping always gives the wrong number — no support
4. Measuring tells you the exact birthday — no support

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 1 with score 5, against 1 for the next best. Its support: lesson 322, line 10: «A rattlesnake's rattle is a stack of loose hollow rings made of the same stuff as your fingernails, and it adds a ring each time it sheds, several times a year…», reached through the cause of the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same thing acted on «ring» (+5). The right option, 2, scored 1. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 4 · wrong ✗

Count them: a trunk is 2 metres around and grows about 2.5 centimetres a year. About how old might it be?

1. About 2 years — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. About 8 years — no support
3. About 800 years — no support
4. About 80 years — ✓ 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 5 · right ✓

In a cartoon all the park trees are green lollipops, all the same. What can you use to tell real trees apart in winter?

1. Bark, buds and the shape of the tree — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 2
2. Nothing, without leaves they are all the same — no support
3. Only the birds sitting in them — no support
4. Only the colour of the soil — score 2

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 with score 2, tied with another option at 2 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 339, line 15: «In winter, bark, buds and shape still tell trees apart: ash has black buds, beech has long pointed buds, birch bark is white and oak bark is rough and cracked.», 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 «black buds» (+2). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-3). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 6 · wrong ✗

«black buds — beech, innit» What is right?

1. Yes, beech has black buds — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Black buds mean birch — no support
3. Yes, beech has black buds, and ash has long pointed ones — no support
4. Black buds mean ash; beech has long pointed buds — ✓ 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

Test 7 · wrong ✗

«just roast these conkers off the big tree with hand-shaped leaves» What is right?

1. Fine, hand-shaped leaves always mean a sweet chestnut, and its nuts roast well — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. That is a horse chestnut; only sweet chestnuts with spiral bark are roasted — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. Any chestnut is safe to roast — no support
4. Conkers taste best roasted — 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 ✓

Why would a seed spin as it falls?

1. Spinning slows the fall so the wind carries it further — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. Spinning helps it drill down into the ground when it lands — no support
3. Spinning keeps the seed warm — no support
4. Spinning shakes off 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

Test 9 · wrong ✗

Why do willow catkins help bees so much?

1. Bees eat the willow bark — score 3
2. They flower very early, when there is little other food — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. They give bees a place to sleep — ← Mova's choice · score 5
4. They give bees a soft, warm place to sleep through the cold winter — score 5

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 3 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 334, line 11: «Longer, unmown grass lets clover, daisies and other flowers bloom and feed bees and butterflies, and «No Mow May» asks people to skip mowing for a month.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same receiver «bees» (+4); the same action «feed» (+2). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-1). The right option, 2, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 10 · wrong ✗

Why might birches be among the first trees to grow on open land?

1. They grow from acorns buried by jays — score 4
2. People plant every birch by hand — no support
3. Their light seeds spread far and they grow well in the open — ✓ the right answer · score 3
4. They can only grow under other trees — ← Mova's choice · score 6

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 6, against 4 for the next best. Its support: lesson 335, line 17: «An apple seed grows into a tree unlike its parent, so every tree of one apple kind is made by joining a twig of it onto the roots of another tree.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same place «tree» (+4); the same action «grow» (+3). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-1). The right option, 3, scored 3. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 11 · right ✓

Count them: 4 squirrels play in the oak and 2 pigeons sit in the lime. How many tails and how many legs?

1. 6 tails and 20 legs — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. 4 tails and 20 legs — no support
3. 6 tails and 12 legs — no support
4. 6 tails and 24 legs — 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 · wrong ✗

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the leaf of the horse chestnut?

1. It is small, triangular and borne upon white twigs — score 5
2. It is heart-shaped and secretes honeydew — score 5
3. It is a single leaf with a wavy margin — ← Mova's choice · score 8
4. It is composed of five to seven leaflets arranged like the fingers of a hand — ✓ the right answer · score 6

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 3 with score 8, against 6 for the next best. Its support: lesson 220, line 4: «Most of these minibeasts eat dead leaves and rotting wood, so they are the garden's recycling team, turning old plants back into soil.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same thing acted on «recycling team» (+4); it fills the role the question asks for (+2); the same doer «leaves» (+1); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+1). The right option, 4, scored 6. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 2 · formal language · wrong ✗

Identify the principal reason for which vehicles stationed beneath lime trees in summer become sticky.

1. The bark of the lime secretes an adhesive resin — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Aphids feeding upon the foliage excrete a sweet substance designated honeydew — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. The fruit of the lime releases its juice upon ripening — no support
4. Bees deposit honey upon objects beneath their foraging sites — 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 annual rings of a tree.

1. Rings are formed solely in years of drought — ← Mova's choice · score 3
2. Each ring corresponds to one year of growth, its width reflecting the favourability of conditions — ✓ the right answer · score -1
3. Each ring corresponds to one month of growth, so that a tree of one year displays twelve rings — score -2
4. The number of rings bears no relation to the age of the tree — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 3, against -1 for the next best. Its support: lesson 322, line 10: «A rattlesnake's rattle is a stack of loose hollow rings made of the same stuff as your fingernails, and it adds a ring each time it sheds, several times a year…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same thing acted on «loose hollow rings» (+3). The right option, 2, scored -1. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 4 · formal language · wrong ✗

Ascertain the relation between the bark of the willow and a medicine in present use.

1. Willow bark is employed in the manufacture of vaccines — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. No substance of medical interest has been found in willow bark — no support
3. Willow bark is the source of all modern antibiotics — no support
4. A chemical in willow bark, formerly used to relieve pain, resembles that from which aspirin was later made — ✓ 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

This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/biology/339-park-trees-telling-oaks-maples-chestnuts-birches-limes-and-willows-apart/