A year on a farm: lambing, haymaking, harvest and winter feeding

Tests: 5 of 12 right · Exam: 2 of 4 right · Kind: ★★ · Understood: 9 of 16 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72

Lesson 349 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 Shaun the Sheep, the flock dances about on two legs in thick fleece all summer. What would a real farmer do with a woolly sheep in early summer?

1. Shear it in midwinter — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Wash it in the bath every week — no support
3. Shear it, so it does not get too hot and dirty — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. Leave the wool on forever — 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 · ★★ · wrong ✗

Count them: 6 ewes each have twins. How many lambs, and how many lamb legs?

1. 6 lambs and 24 legs — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. 18 lambs and 72 legs — no support
3. 12 lambs and 48 legs — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. 12 lambs 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

Test 3 · ★★ · right ✓

«forecast says rain tomorrow and the grass is cut» What would a hay farmer do?

1. Wait until after the rain has stopped and then cut some more — score 2
2. Leave it to soak, because rain is good for hay — no support
3. Hurry to turn and bale the hay before the rain — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 7
4. Cover the field with straw — no support

Why: It took the question to ask what is done. It chose option 3 with score 7, against 2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 349, line 2: «In early summer the sheep are sheared, and in June the grass is cut, dried in the sun, turned and baled as hay, or wrapped airtight in black plastic so it pick…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+4); the same action «turn» (+3). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 4 · ★★ · right ✓

«hay, straw, same thing innit» How could you tell them apart?

1. Hay is dried grass, greener and sweet-smelling food; straw is golden, dry stalks for bedding — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 4
2. They really are exactly the same — no support
3. Straw is green and hay is golden — no support
4. Hay is only for horses, straw is only for cows — no support

Why: It took the question to ask what something is like. It chose option 1 with score 4, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 349, line 11: «Straw is the dry stalks left after grain is harvested and is used for bedding, while hay is dried grass used as food; straw has very little food value.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «hay» (+2); the same thing acted on «dried grass» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 5 · ★★ · wrong ✗

How is silage like pickled cucumbers?

1. Both are laid out and dried in the sun until all their water is gone and they go crisp — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Both are boiled in sugar — no support
3. Both are frozen — no support
4. Both are kept without air so bacteria make acid that stops them rotting — ✓ 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 6 · ★★ · wrong ✗

Count them: a herd of 100 cows each drinks 80 litres in a day. How much is that?

1. 180 litres — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. 800 litres — no support
3. 8000 litres — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. 80000 litres — 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 ✗

«stinks out here, why's the farmer covering the field in poo» What is the reason?

1. Manure feeds the soil with the things that plants need to grow — ✓ the right answer · score -1
2. It keeps the snow off — no support
3. It is a way of getting rid of rubbish — score 0
4. He is trying to scare the walkers away so they stop crossing his land — ← Mova's choice · score 1

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 4 with score 1, against 0 for the next best. Its support: lesson 287, line 10: «Microbes in a cow's stomach make methane, a gas that warms the planet; most of it leaves in burps, not farts, and farmers are testing seaweed in feed to cut it.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «test» (+1). The right option, 1, scored -1. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 8 · ★★ · right ✓

Why would a farmer not spread muck just before heavy rain?

1. Rain makes muck smell sweeter — score 3
2. The tractor would float away — no support
3. Muck turns to ice in rain — score 1
4. The rain could wash it into rivers and harm fish — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 8

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 4 with score 8, against 3 for the next best. Its support: lesson 349, line 15: «Farmers spread manure and slurry, a runny mix of muck and water, on fields as fertiliser, but too much washed into rivers harms fish, so there are rules about…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «wash» (+5); the same place «rivers» (+3). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 9 · ★★ · right ✓

«left the gate open, who cares, it's just a field» What could happen?

1. The gate would rust shut — score -1
2. The field would grow faster — no support
3. Nothing, because farm animals never wander far from where they are kept — no support
4. The animals could get out onto the road or into the wrong field — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 2

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 4 with score 2, against -1 for the next best. Its support: lesson 149, line 4: «What elephants really fear is the buzzing of angry bees, which can sting the soft skin inside the trunk and round the eyes. In Kenya, farmers hang beehives alo…», 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 doer «elephants» (+2). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-3). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 10 · ★★ · wrong ✗

Cows with calves start running at you and your dog in a field. What is the advice?

1. Hide behind the calves — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Run towards the cows shouting — no support
3. Let go of the dog so you can both get away — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. Pick the dog up and stand still — 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 · ★★ · wrong ✗

In a picture book, the farmer hands every animal a sandwich for winter. What do real farm cows eat in a winter shed?

1. Fresh grass grown in the snow — ← Mova's choice · score 10
2. Hay and silage saved from the summer — ✓ the right answer · score 9
3. Sandwiches and cake, just like in the picture book — no support
4. Nothing, they hibernate — score 8

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 1 with score 10, against 9 for the next best. Its support: lesson 209, line 1: «Grass is so tough that people cannot get any goodness from it at all, yet a cow turns it into milk and meat.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same thing acted on «grass» (+3); it fills the role the question asks for (+3); the same action «turn» (+2); the same doer «cow» (+2). The right option, 2, scored 9. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 12 · ★★ · right ✓

Why would a seagull follow a tractor far from the sea?

1. Seagulls nest on tractors — no support
2. Ploughing turns up worms and grubs to eat — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 11
3. It is lost and is following the noise of the engine home — no support
4. Tractors carry fish — no support

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 2 with score 11, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 223, line 13: «Gulls follow a tractor ploughing a field, because ploughing turns up worms and grubs.», reached through the cause of the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «turn up» (+5); the same thing acted on «worms» (+4); the same doer «ploughing» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 1 · formal language · right ✓

Identify the principal reason for which sheep of most breeds must be shorn annually.

1. Their wool would otherwise be shed and lost — no support
2. Shearing promotes the growth of the animal in height — score 2
3. Shearing is required for the identification of the animal — score 2
4. Such breeds continue to grow wool and would otherwise become overheated and soiled — ← 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, against 2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 211, line 5: «Farm sheep were bred to grow wool that keeps growing, while wild sheep shed their coats, so farm sheep must be shorn, their wool cut off, usually once a year i…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «grow» (+4); the same thing acted on «wool» (+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 silage?

1. Manure stored over winter for use as fertiliser — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Grass dried in the sun and compressed into bales — no support
3. Grass sealed from the air so that bacteria convert its sugars into acid, preserving it for months — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. The dry stalks remaining after the harvest of grain — 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 ✗

Ascertain the reason for which many dairy cattle are housed indoors during winter.

1. Cattle cannot tolerate the sight of snow — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Milk would otherwise freeze within the udder — no support
3. Cattle are obliged to hibernate in darkness throughout the coldest months of the year — no support
4. The fields are waterlogged and the growth of grass is negligible — ✓ 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 ✓

Select the response consistent with the guidance of the Countryside Code.

1. Gates should be left open in all circumstances — score -1
2. Gates should be left as they were found and dogs kept under control — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 6
3. Dogs may chase sheep provided they do not bite — score 2
4. Walkers should feed farm animals whatever they carry — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 6, against 2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 349, line 16: «Farms have dangers such as tractors, bulls, cows with calves and deep slurry pits; the Countryside Code asks people to leave gates as they found them and keep…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same place «control» (+4); the same action «keep» (+1); the same thing acted on «dogs» (+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/349-a-year-on-a-farm-lambing-haymaking-harvest-and-winter-feeding/