The Chinese zodiac: the twelve real animals behind the signs

Tests: 2 of 11 right · Exam: 2 of 4 right · Kind: plain · Understood: 9 of 15 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72

Lesson 382 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 ✓

«rat won the race cos it's fastest, obviously» What does the legend say, and what is true?

1. The rat flew over the river — no support
2. It rode on the ox and jumped off; it is only a story — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 8
3. Rats really are faster than oxen and tigers over a long race — score 5
4. The rat really won a race in China — score 6

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 2 with score 8, against 6 for the next best. Its support: lesson 382, line 3: «The old stories are legends: the rat did not really win a race by riding on the ox's back. But behind each sign is a real animal with its own true story.», reached through a sentence linked to the one the question matched. What matched: the same action «ride» (+5); the same doer «rat» (+3). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 2 · wrong ✗

Count them: a poster corner shows the rabbit, the horse and the dog. How many ears?

1. Twelve — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Eight — no support
3. Three — no support
4. Six — ✓ 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 3 · right ✓

Count them: the ox, the goat and the rooster stand in a row. How many legs?

1. Ten — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. Twelve — no support
3. Six — no support
4. Eight — 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 · wrong ✗

What would happen if a horse pulled a plough through a deep flooded rice field instead of a buffalo?

1. Nothing, horses and buffaloes are the same for this job — no support
2. It would glide easily over the top of the mud — no support
3. It would sink deeper in the mud and tire faster — ✓ the right answer · score 4
4. It would go faster than the buffalo — ← Mova's choice · score 6

Why: It took the question to ask what happens next. It chose option 4 with score 6, against 4 for the next best. Its support: lesson 382, line 9: «Water buffaloes pulled ploughs through wet rice fields in southern China for thousands of years; their wide hooves stop them sinking deep in mud.», reached through what followed the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same circumstance (+5); a different doer (counts against) (+1). The right option, 3, scored 4. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 5 · wrong ✗

In Kung Fu Panda, Master Tigress is a strong fighter. A friend says tigers really have the word king written on their heads. What is right?

1. Tigers paint the mark on themselves — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Yes, every tiger has a real letter written in black on its forehead — no support
3. Only Chinese tigers can read — no support
4. The stripes only look a bit like the character; they are camouflage — ✓ 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 ✗

«grandma says theres a rabbit living on the moon, true??» What is right?

1. Yes, astronauts saw it hopping about — ← Mova's choice · score 3
2. No, it is a cat — score 3
3. No living rabbit; it is a shape we see in old lava plains — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. Yes, Yutu is a real rabbit up there, it was sent with the rover — score -2

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 382, line 12: «The dark patches on the Moon are plains of old cooled lava, and people in China, Japan and Korea see a rabbit there, because our brains love finding faces and…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same thing acted on «rabbit» (+2); the same action «see» (+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 ✗

«buy the goat toy or the sheep toy for my zodiac year, which one's right, ffs»

1. Only the goat is right — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Only the sheep is right — no support
3. Either, the Chinese word covers both — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. Neither, it is a horse — 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 ✗

«monkey at the temple looks hungry, gimme the crisps I'll feed him» What is the right answer?

1. Only feed him with your hand held open flat, like you feed a horse — ← Mova's choice · score 4
2. Yes, monkeys love crisps and are safe — no support
3. No, never feed or tease wild monkeys; they grab and can bite — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. Yes, if you hold the crisps up high — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 4, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 84, line 4: «Count the tails in the ape house and you will count none: apes have no tails, which is one way to tell them from monkeys.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same circumstance (+3); the same receiver «tails» (+1). The right option, 3, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 9 · wrong ✗

In Tom and Jerry the mouse always outsmarts the cat. Which real fact about rats and mice is closest?

1. They learn fast and are clever at finding food — ✓ the right answer · score 5
2. They never run from cats, they always stand and fight back — ← Mova's choice · score 8
3. They can carry heavy cats — score 5
4. They are stronger than cats — score 5

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 2 with score 8, against 5 for the next best. Its support: lesson 118, line 9: «A house mouse weighs about 20 grams and an adult cat about 4 kilograms, about 200 times more; mice run on all four legs and only stand up to look or sniff.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same circumstance (+3); a different action (counts against) (+3); it fills the role the question asks for (+2). The right option, 1, scored 5. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 10 · wrong ✗

«zoo horses are just pets, they don't matter» Why are zoo animals sometimes important?

1. Zoos only keep cartoon animals — ← Mova's choice · score 2
2. Zoo horses can never go back to the wild, because they forget how to run — score 2
3. Przewalski's horses survived only in zoos and went back to the wild — ✓ the right answer · score 2
4. Wild horses are everywhere anyway — no support

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). 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 115, line 7: «In the past many zoos kept animals in small, bare concrete cages, but science has shown that animals need space, choice and things to do.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «keep» (+1); the same thing acted on «animals» (+1). The right option, 3, scored 2. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 11 · wrong ✗

Why might a wolf that was less shy do better near a human camp long ago?

1. People fed only shy wolves — no support
2. It could steal the people's clothes — score 3
3. It could hunt people more easily — ← Mova's choice · score 8
4. It could eat scraps and stay safe near people — ✓ the right answer · score 3

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 3 with score 8, against 3 for the next best. Its support: lesson 24, line 4: «Cartoons show wolves howling at a full moon and a Big Bad Wolf hunting children; real wolves point their heads up so the howl carries kilometres to the pack, n…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «hunt» (+6); the same doer «big bad wolf» (+2). The right option, 4, scored 3. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 1 · formal language · wrong ✗

State the cardinality of the set of real, living kinds of animal represented in the Chinese zodiac.

1. Nine — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Eleven — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. Ten — no support
4. Twelve — 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 · right ✓

Ascertain the principal reason for which the water buffalo was employed in the cultivation of flooded rice fields.

1. It perspires copiously and so remains cool in the sun — no support
2. It is capable of swimming beneath the water — score 3
3. It is lighter than any horse — no support
4. Its broad hooves distribute its weight, preventing deep sinking in mud — ← 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 3 for the next best. Its support: lesson 382, line 9: «Water buffaloes pulled ploughs through wet rice fields in southern China for thousands of years; their wide hooves stop them sinking deep in mud.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «sink» (+4); the same place «mud» (+1). · 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 Przewalski's horse.

1. It has never been in any danger of extinction — no support
2. It survives only in legends of the zodiac — score 1
3. It is a breed developed recently on the farms of Mongolia for racing — no support
4. It became extinct in the wild and was restored from animals kept in zoos — ← 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, against 1 for the next best. Its support: lesson 207, line 1: «A horse is a big, strong animal, but in the wild it was always someone's dinner, so almost everything about it is built for spotting danger and running away.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same place «wild» (+4). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 4 · formal language · wrong ✗

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the origin of the domestic chicken?

1. It is descended from the wild turkey of America — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. It is descended from the European pheasant — no support
3. It is descended from the red junglefowl of southern China and South-East Asia — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. It was first bred from the peacock in India — 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/382-the-chinese-zodiac-the-twelve-real-animals-behind-the-signs/