City birds: sparrows, starlings, swifts, crows and peregrines on tall buildings

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

Lesson 369 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 · ★ · right ✓

«found a swift on the pavement, it can't fly off, prob dying» What is the best thing to do?

1. Throw it hard into the air from the ground — no support
2. Give it bread and water and keep it as a pet in a shoebox under your bed — no support
3. Ask an adult to call a bird rescue, as swifts cannot take off from flat ground — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 5
4. Leave it there, because it will walk home — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 5, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 369, line 13: «Swifts have tiny feet with all four toes able to point forward for hooking onto walls; their name Apus means without feet, and with long wings they find it har…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «take off» (+4); the same place «flat ground» (+1); a different doer (counts against) (+1). Against it: one says «not», the other does not (counts against) (-1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 2 · ★ · wrong ✗

Count them: a boy looks at a swift's foot. How many toes, and which way can they point?

1. 3 toes pointing forward and 1 back — ← Mova's choice · score 3
2. 4 toes, all able to point forward — ✓ the right answer · score 3
3. 2 toes pointing forward — score 3
4. 5 toes like a hand — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. 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 303, line 14: «Parrots have two toes pointing forward and two back on each foot, so they can grip branches and hold food like a hand; many parrots prefer their left foot, stu…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same property (+2); the same action «point» (+1). The right option, 2, scored 3. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 3 · ★ · wrong ✗

Count them: a peregrine pair has 4 chicks on a cathedral ledge. How many birds on the ledge, and how many legs?

1. 6 birds and 24 legs — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. 4 birds and 8 legs — no support
3. 5 birds and 10 legs — no support
4. 6 birds and 12 legs — ✓ 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 4 · ★ · right ✓

If each starling copies only about 7 neighbours, how does the whole cloud turn together?

1. A leader bird shouts orders — no support
2. They all follow the wind — no support
3. They agree on a plan before take-off, and each bird remembers its own part — no support
4. A turn passes from neighbour to neighbour so fast the flock moves as one — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 5

Why: It took the question to ask what something is like. It chose option 4 with score 5, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 307, line 10: «In the Great Smoky Mountains of the USA and parts of Southeast Asia, crowds of fireflies flash in time, each adjusting to its neighbours; in Britain the glow-w…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same place «neighbours» (+4); the same circumstance (+2). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 5 · ★ · right ✓

«a car alarm's going off but there's no car, wtf» What could it be?

1. A starling copying the sound — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. A sparrow in a dust bath — no support
3. A crow laughing at you — no support
4. A ghost car that drove away — 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 ✗

Why would a poison on fields harm a falcon that never ate a plant?

1. Falcons eat grass and seeds in secret when nobody is watching them — ← Mova's choice · score 0
2. Falcons drink from farm ponds only — no support
3. It ate birds that ate the poisoned seeds, so the poison built up in it — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. The poison blew into its nest as dust only — no support

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 1 with score 0, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 320, line 13: «Most bears eat mostly plants, such as berries, roots, nuts and grass; a grizzly in late summer is reported to eat many thousands of berries a day, and only the…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «eat» (+1). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-1). The right option, 3, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 7 · ★ · wrong ✗

In the game Angry Birds, birds are flung from a catapult to fly fast. Which real bird is the fastest animal on Earth?

1. The house sparrow on the ground — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. The starling in a murmuration — no support
3. The peregrine falcon in a hunting dive — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. The swift taking off from the pavement — 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 · ★ · wrong ✗

«sparrows are everywhere, no way they're in trouble» What is true?

1. Sparrows are extinct — no support
2. In London their numbers fell by about two-thirds, and scientists still argue why — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. They are the most common bird in the world and their numbers have never fallen — no support
4. Sparrows only live in the countryside — ← Mova's choice · score 1

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 1, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 369, line 5: «House sparrows have lived beside people for about 10,000 years, since the first farms with spilled grain, and nest in gaps in roofs and walls, which many new b…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «live» (+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 ✓

How could a new house be built to welcome sparrows and swifts?

1. With no gaps anywhere — score 1
2. With sharp spikes on every ledge and windowsill to keep them safe — no support
3. With small gaps or special nest bricks under the roof — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 7
4. With glass walls only — score 7

Why: It took the question to ask what something is like. It chose option 3 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 116, line 2: «London Zoo built the first public aquarium and an early reptile house, and a black bear there called Winnipeg gave her name to a boy's teddy and so to Winnie-t…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «build» (+6); the same thing acted on «first public aquarium» (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 10 · ★ · wrong ✗

«all the crows are screaming round a dead crow, are they having a funeral?» What do scientists think?

1. They are singing a sad song for it, just like people do at a funeral — ← Mova's choice · score 3
2. Crows always scream at night for fun — no support
3. They may be learning about danger from where the crow died — ✓ the right answer · score 3
4. They are planning to eat it at once — score 0

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 163, line 14: «The indri is the biggest living lemur and sings loud songs in family groups; scientists found rhythms in indri songs a little like music.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: a different thing acted on (counts against) (+2); the same doer «scientists» (+1); the same circumstance (+1). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-1). The right option, 3, scored 3. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 11 · ★ · wrong ✗

Why can a few animals brought to a new place become a huge problem, like starlings in America?

1. They stop having babies because they miss their old home far away across the sea — score 5
2. They always die out quickly — ← Mova's choice · score 6
3. With lots of food and no natural limits they multiply and push out natives — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. They become tame pets — score 3

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 2 with score 6, against 5 for the next best. Its support: lesson 330, line 4: «These pets come with one rule: never let them go outside. Released pets can die or become pests, and many pests around the world began as someone's unwanted pe…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «die» (+5); the same doer «released pets» (+1). The right option, 3, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 12 · ★ · right ✓

Why might a robin sing under a streetlight at night in a city?

1. Robins cannot sing in daylight — score 3
2. Night is quieter, so its song can be heard over less traffic — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 8
3. The light makes it think it is winter — score 7
4. It is trying to wake people up so they come out and feed it — score 7

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 2 with score 8, against 7 for the next best. Its support: lesson 14, line 4: «City life changes animals too: robins sing under streetlamps at night, and some great tits sing higher to be heard over the traffic.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «hear» (+5); the same place «traffic» (+3). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 1 · formal language · right ✓

Identify the mechanism by which a murmuration of starlings is coordinated.

1. Each bird responds to approximately seven of its nearest neighbours — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. A single leader directs the movements of the flock — no support
3. The birds are guided solely by the wind — no support
4. The flock follows a route which was determined in advance at the roost — 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 ✗

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the decline and recovery of the peregrine falcon?

1. The species declined because pigeons attacked its nests — ← Mova's choice · score 3
2. The pesticide DDT thinned its eggshells, and after its prohibition the species recovered — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. The species has never declined — no support
4. The species declined owing to the construction of tall buildings in the cities of Europe — score 3

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. 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 349, line 12: «In autumn farmers plough and sow winter wheat or barley, and gulls and rooks follow the plough to snatch worms and grubs.», 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 «farmers» (+1). The right option, 2, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 3 · formal language · right ✓

Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning the common swift.

1. It is capable of remaining airborne for approximately ten months without alighting — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 2
2. It nests exclusively upon the ground and is unable to fly for more than a few minutes — score 1
3. It winters beneath the snow in northern Europe — no support
4. It is incapable of flight — 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 369, line 11: «Common swifts can stay in the air for about ten months without landing; they eat insects and drink in flight and are thought to sleep while flying high up.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same property (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 4 · formal language · wrong ✗

Ascertain the principal reason for which birds in cities frequently sing at a higher pitch or volume.

1. Because city birds consume more sugar — ← Mova's choice · score -1
2. Because the air of cities is thinner — no support
3. Because city birds are deaf — no support
4. To be heard above the noise of traffic — ✓ the right answer · no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score -1, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 216, line 10: «Birds may nest in a nest box in spring, and the size of the hole decides which birds can use it; a small hole keeps out bigger birds that would take the eggs o…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «take» (+1). Against it: a different thing acted on (counts against) (-2). The right option, 4, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

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