Where eggs come from: hens, shell colours, sizes and what is inside

Tests: 6 of 12 right · Exam: 1 of 4 right · Kind: plain · Understood: 13 of 16 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72

Lesson 342 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, a hen lays an egg and a fluffy chick pops out a second later. What is wrong?

1. Chicks hatch only from brown eggs — ← Mova's choice · score 8
2. A fertilised egg needs about 21 days of warmth before it hatches — ✓ the right answer · score 4
3. Nothing is wrong, because chicks always hatch at once as soon as the egg is laid — score 3
4. Chicks hatch after 21 hours in the fridge — score 2

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 8, against 4 for the next best. Its support: lesson 330, line 5: «Stick insects rock like twigs in the wind so hunters ignore them, they eat leaves such as bramble or privet, and many pet stick insects lay eggs that hatch wit…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «hatch» (+4); the same circumstance (+3); a different doer (counts against) (+1). The right option, 2, scored 4. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 2 · wrong ✗

«brown eggs are healthier innit, that's why mum buys em» What is the best answer?

1. Yes, brown eggs have more vitamins and goodness packed inside them — ← Mova's choice · score 1
2. No, white eggs are healthier — score 1
3. No, the colour only shows the breed; inside they are the same food — ✓ the right answer · score 1
4. Yes, white eggs are bleached at the farm — no support

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). 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 342, line 17: «An egg takes about a day to make, with about 20 hours spent getting its shell, which is mostly calcium, so hens need lots of calcium and backyard hens are give…», reached through the cause of the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «egg» (+1). The right option, 3, scored 1. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 3 · right ✓

A hen has red earlobes. As a rough rule, what colour eggs will she lay?

1. Brown — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 4
2. Blue — score 2
3. Spotted — no support
4. White — score 4

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. 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 342, line 6: «Shell colour depends on the breed of hen; inside, a brown egg and a white egg are the same food, and as a rough rule hens with white earlobes lay white eggs an…», 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 «lay» (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 4 · wrong ✗

He cracks a brown egg and a blue egg and looks at the inside of the shells. What does he see?

1. Both are white inside — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Both are brown inside — no support
3. The blue one is white inside and the brown one brown — no support
4. The brown shell is often white inside, the blue one is blue inside too — ✓ 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 ✓

«crap, dunno how old these eggs are» How can a bowl of water help?

1. Fresh eggs float on top and the very old ones sink right down — score 2
2. Old eggs turn the water yellow — score 2
3. Fresh eggs lie flat on the bottom, very old ones float — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 7
4. Old eggs sink faster to the bottom than fresh ones — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 7, against 2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 342, line 11: «A shell has thousands of tiny pores; over weeks water escapes, the air pocket at the blunt end grows, and a very old egg floats in water while a fresh one lies…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «lie» (+4); the same place «bottom» (+1); the same property (+1); a different doer (counts against) (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 6 · wrong ✗

Count them: he cracks 3 eggs, and one has a double yolk. How many yolks are in the bowl?

1. 6 — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. 3 — no support
3. 4 — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. 5 — 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 7 · wrong ✗

«no rooster in our coop so the hens won't lay» Is that right?

1. Yes, no cockerel means no eggs at all, not even one in the whole year — no support
2. No, the hens lay only brown eggs then — ← Mova's choice · score 6
3. Yes, but they lay once a year — score 2
4. No, hens lay eggs without a cockerel; the eggs just cannot hatch — ✓ the right answer · score 6

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. 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 212, line 3: «Chickens were tamed from a wild bird of Asian forests, the red junglefowl, which lays only a few dozen eggs a year, but today's farm hens lay almost one every…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «lay» (+4); the same thing acted on «few dozen eggs» (+1); a different doer (counts against) (+1). The right option, 4, scored 6. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 8 · right ✓

How many hen's eggs would you need to make an omelette as big as one ostrich egg?

1. About 24 — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 3
2. About 6 — score 3
3. About 200 — score 3
4. About 2 — score 3

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 with score 3, tied with another option at 3 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 266, line 11: «Even the giants hatched from eggs about the size of a football, because a much bigger egg would need a shell too thick for the baby to breathe through; a hatch…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «need» (+1); the same doer «bigger egg» (+1); a different thing acted on (counts against) (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 9 · wrong ✗

What would happen to a hen's eggshells if she got too little calcium in her food?

1. They would have no yolks — no support
2. They would be thin and weak or even soft — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. They would get thicker and much harder — no support
4. They would slowly turn a pale blue colour — ← Mova's choice · score 7

Why: It took the question to ask what happens next. It chose option 4 with score 7, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 329, line 2: «They also need sunshine of a special kind. Reptile lamps give UVB light, which helps the body make vitamin D to use calcium; without it bones grow soft and ben…», reached through what followed the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «grow» (+6); 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 · right ✓

Count them: 4 hens peck in the yard, each on two legs. How many legs and how many wings?

1. 8 legs and 8 wings — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. 16 legs and 8 wings — no support
3. 8 legs and 4 wings — no support
4. 4 legs and 8 wings — 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 ✓

«why's the wild one only lay a few eggs, lazy?» Why does the red junglefowl lay far fewer eggs than a farm hen?

1. Wild birds lay eggs only once in their lives — score 1
2. Farmers bred hens for centuries, always keeping the best layers — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 12
3. Wild birds are too lazy to lay and would rather spend the day looking for food — score 0
4. Junglefowl eggs are ten times bigger — score 1

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 2 with score 12, against 1 for the next best. Its support: lesson 342, line 5: «A modern laying hen can lay about 300 eggs a year, nearly one a day, because farmers kept the best layers for hundreds of years; her wild ancestor, the red jun…», reached through the cause of the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «keep» (+6); the same thing acted on «best layers» (+5); the same doer «farmers» (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 12 · right ✓

A chick is ready to hatch but has not cracked the shell yet. Where does it take its first breath?

1. From the air pocket at the blunt end — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 6
2. Through a little hole it bites in the side of the shell — no support
3. It does not breathe until it is out — score 3
4. From the yolk — score 6

Why: It took the question to ask where. 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 33, line 9: «An egg has an air pocket at the wide end, white for water and cushioning, a yolk for food, and thousands of tiny holes in the shell that let air in; before it…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «take» (+4); the same thing acted on «first breaths» (+2); it fills the role the question asks for (+1). Against it: the same place «air pocket» (-1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 1 · formal language · right ✓

Identify the principal reason for which eggs offered for retail sale do not ordinarily hatch.

1. Retailers remove the embryo prior to sale — no support
2. The shell is rendered impenetrable during packaging — score 2
3. The process of refrigeration converts the embryo into yolk — no support
4. The majority are laid by hens maintained without a cockerel and are therefore unfertilised — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 8

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 8, against 2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 342, line 4: «Shop eggs never hatch, because most come from hens kept without a cockerel, so there is no chick inside. And the shell colour, white, brown or even blue, only…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «keep» (+4); the same circumstance (+3); the same thing acted on «hens» (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 2 · formal language · wrong ✗

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the colour of the eggshell?

1. It indicates the quantity of calcium consumed on the day of laying — ← Mova's choice · score 7
2. It indicates that the egg is fertilised — score 7
3. It is determined by the breed of the hen and does not indicate the nutritional value of the contents — ✓ the right answer · score 0
4. It is determined by the freshness of the egg, darker shells indicating that the egg was laid more recently — no support

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 1 with score 7, tied with another option at 7 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 327, line 9: «All kittens are born with blue eyes, their eyes open at about one to two weeks, and their real eye colour shows from about six or seven weeks.», 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 action «show» (+2); the same doer «real eye colour» (+2). The right option, 3, scored 0. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 3 · formal language · wrong ✗

Ascertain the reason for which an aged egg floats when placed in water.

1. Water has escaped through the pores of the shell and the air space at the blunt end has enlarged — ✓ the right answer · no support
2. The white has hardened into a buoyant solid — no support
3. The shell has absorbed water and become lighter — ← Mova's choice · score 1
4. The yolk has been converted into gas — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 1, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 250, line 6: «Roots hold a plant in the ground and take in water and minerals; they grow down with gravity, towards water and away from light, and the roots of one rye plant…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «take in» (+1); the same thing acted on «water» (+1). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-1). The right option, 1, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 4 · formal language · wrong ✗

State the significance of the numeral 0 appearing first in the code stamped upon a British egg.

1. The egg was laid on the first day of the week — ← Mova's choice · score 2
2. The egg contains no yolk — score 2
3. The egg was produced by a hen confined in a cage — score 2
4. The egg was produced by a hen kept under organic conditions — ✓ the right answer · score 2

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. 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 342, line 14: «In Britain eggs are sorted by weight into small, medium, large and very large, a large egg weighing roughly 63 to 73 grams, and older hens tend to lay bigger e…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «lay» (+1); the same thing acted on «bigger eggs» (+1). The right option, 4, scored 2. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

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