The real animals of Wonderland: the dodo, the dormouse, the March hare, flamingos and hedgehogs

Tests: 7 of 12 right · Exam: 2 of 4 right · Kind: ★★ · Understood: 11 of 16 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72

Lesson 401 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 ✓

«dodos are still on some island somewhere, my cousin saw one» What is true?

1. Dodos are extinct: the last ones died around 1680, so nobody alive has seen one — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 5
2. Dodos turned into the pigeons we see in town today — score 1
3. Dodos still live in the mountains of Mauritius but they are very shy — score 0
4. Your cousin probably saw one in a zoo in London, where a few are still kept and bred — score 5

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 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 401, line 7: «The dodo had no enemies on its island, so it was not afraid of people; sailors, and the rats, pigs and cats they brought, wiped it out, and the last dodos are…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «die» (+4); the same place «1680» (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 2 · ★★ · wrong ✗

Why did a bird with no enemies die out so fast once people came?

1. It caught a cold from the sailors and every single one of them died of it within a year — score 2
2. The island sank into the sea soon after the sailors came — no support
3. It did not know to run, and people, rats, pigs and cats ate it and its eggs — ✓ the right answer · score 2
4. It flew away to another island and got lost on the way — ← Mova's choice · score 3

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 4 with score 3, against 2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 105, line 10: «Polar bears are the largest meat-eaters on land and may see people as food, and the Canadian town of Churchill has a bear patrol that people call instead of go…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «fly away» (+2); the same property (+1). The right option, 3, scored 2. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 3 · ★★ · right ✓

At the Mad Tea-Party the Dormouse sleeps through nearly everything. Why does that suit a real dormouse?

1. Real dormice only wake up when they hear music — no support
2. Real dormice sleep by day and hibernate for months — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 5
3. Real dormice sleep standing on their heads — score 2
4. Real dormice are always ill and need more rest — no support

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 2 with score 5, against 2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 401, line 11: «A hazel dormouse hibernates from about October to April, curled in a nest on the ground, and in summer it sleeps by day and is busy at night, so at an afternoo…», reached through a sentence linked to the one the question matched. What matched: the same action «hibernate» (+3); the same doer «hazel dormouse» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 4 · ★★ · right ✓

A girl in Devon sees two hares standing up and boxing in a March field. What is most likely happening?

1. A female is fending off a male who is chasing her — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. Two brothers are playing a game they learned as babies — no support
3. A hare is boxing its own reflection in a puddle — no support
4. Two hares are fighting over a carrot — 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 · ★★ · wrong ✗

«hares r just big rabbits innit, same thing» What is right?

1. Yes: a hare is a rabbit that has grown very old — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Yes: a hare is just a rabbit that has grown very big and very old, with longer ears from all that listening — no support
3. No: hares are rodents and rabbits are not — no support
4. No: hares are a different animal; they are bigger, live above ground and their babies have fur at birth — ✓ 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 · ★★ · right ✓

In the book, Alice's flamingo keeps twisting its neck to look at her. What does that tell you about real flamingos?

1. Their necks are made of one long solid bone and cannot bend at all, even to eat — score 0
2. Their long necks are soft and bendy, not stiff like a mallet — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 4
3. They cannot see anything in front of them — no support
4. They always look backwards when they walk — no support

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 2 with score 4, against 0 for the next best. Its support: lesson 401, line 15: «A real flamingo's long neck is soft and bends, which is exactly why Alice's flamingo keeps twisting round to look at her: it would be a useless croquet mallet.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «long neck» (+2); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 7 · ★★ · right ✓

A cartoon shows a hedgehog curled up and rolled across a lawn like a ball. What would a real frightened hedgehog do once it felt safe again?

1. Stay rolled up for the rest of its life — no support
2. Explode its spines all over the lawn — no support
3. Bounce like a rubber ball until it stops — no support
4. Unroll and walk off, just like the hedgehogs in Alice — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 5

Why: It took the question to ask what is done. It chose option 4 with score 5, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 401, line 16: «A hedgehog has about 5,000 to 7,000 spines and rolls into a tight prickly ball when frightened, which is why Carroll made hedgehogs into croquet balls that unr…», 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 «unroll» (+3). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 8 · ★★ · right ✓

«found a hedgehog in the garden, gave it a big bowl of milk» What would you say?

1. Good, milk is its favourite food in the wild — score 5
2. Give it water instead, milk upsets a hedgehog's stomach — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 10
3. Warm the milk first and it will be fine — no support
4. Good idea, but add some sugar so it gets more energy for the night — no support

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 2 with score 10, against 5 for the next best. Its support: lesson 226, line 17: «Hedgehogs must never be given cow's milk, which upsets their stomachs; water is best.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «upset» (+5); the same doer «milk» (+2); it fills the role the question asks for (+2); the same thing acted on «stomachs» (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 9 · ★★ · wrong ✗

The Pigeon screams that Alice is a serpent who eats eggs. Which part of its fear is true about real animals?

1. Snakes really do eat birds' eggs — ✓ the right answer · score 8
2. Pigeons really do eat snakes — score 8
3. Pigeons really do lay eggs on the ground in the open — ← Mova's choice · score 12
4. Girls with long necks really do eat eggs — score 7

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 3 with score 12, against 8 for the next best. Its support: lesson 274, line 9: «The elephant bird of Madagascar laid eggs bigger than about 150 hen's eggs together and was one of the heaviest birds ever; it died out about 1,000 years ago.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same thing acted on «eggs» (+4); the same action «lay» (+3); it fills the role the question asks for (+3); the same doer «elephant bird» (+2). The right option, 1, scored 8. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 10 · ★★ · right ✓

Which animal from the book could you still see alive today?

1. A flamingo — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 7
2. A Gryphon — score 7
3. A dodo — score 7
4. A Mock Turtle — score 7

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 376, line 17: «There are no giant mutants: animals badly harmed in 1986 mostly died young, and the animals seen today are healthy ones.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same property (+4); the same action «see» (+3). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 11 · ★★ · wrong ✗

A Cheshire Cat's grin stays after the cat has gone. Why is this a joke and not science?

1. Real Cheshire cats can do this, but only at night — score 1
2. A grin is just the shape of a face, so it cannot exist without the face — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. Cats never show their teeth at all, so it is a lie — score 2
4. A real cat's grin can stay in the air for a few seconds after the cat has run off — ← Mova's choice · score 5

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 4 with score 5, against 2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 401, line 19: «Cats cannot grin, vanish or talk; «to grin like a Cheshire cat» was an old saying before Carroll, and nobody is quite sure where it came from.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «grin» (+5). The right option, 2, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 12 · ★★ · wrong ✗

★★★ A park keeper counts the croquet things in a story: 4 players, each with one flamingo and one hedgehog, and 3 hedgehogs have walked away. How many animals are still at the game, not counting the players?

1. 8 — ← Mova's choice · score 7
2. 5 — ✓ the right answer · score 7
3. 3 — score 7
4. 4 — score 7

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. 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 388, line 12: «In one study pigs saw food in a mirror and walked round the wall to find the real food, and pigs learned to move a joystick with their snouts in a simple video…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same place «simple video game» (+6); the same doer «pigs» (+1). The right option, 2, scored 7. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 1 · formal language · wrong ✗

Identify the principal reason for which the dodo was exterminated within a short period of human contact.

1. It was hunted for its feathers, which were greatly prized for the decoration of ladies' hats in Paris and London — ← Mova's choice · score 3
2. It had evolved without predators and possessed no fear of humans or of the animals they introduced — ✓ the right answer · score 3
3. It consumed a poisonous plant brought by the sailors and perished — no support
4. It was unable to survive the cold winters that followed the arrival of ships — 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 369, line 2: «Each city bird uses the city its own way: sparrows hop round the crumbs, starlings swirl over the roofs at dusk, swifts scream over the chimneys in summer, cro…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same thing acted on «pigeons» (+3). The right option, 2, scored 3. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 2 · formal language · right ✓

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the winter behaviour of the hazel dormouse?

1. It hibernates in a nest for several months, living upon its stored fat — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. It migrates in large flocks to warmer lands across the sea — no support
3. It remains fully active and gathers food beneath the snow — no support
4. It moves into houses and barns in search of warmth — 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 · right ✓

Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning hares observed boxing in the spring.

1. The behaviour is most commonly a female repelling the advances of a male — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. The behaviour is a means of removing the winter coat — no support
3. The behaviour invariably signifies a contest between two adult males for possession of a territory — no support
4. The behaviour is confined to the month of March only — 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

Exam question 4 · formal language · wrong ✗

Ascertain the drink which it is appropriate to provide for a wild hedgehog.

1. Milk, since it constitutes its natural nourishment — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Fruit juice, to supply vitamins — no support
3. Sweetened tea, to restore its energy — no support
4. Water, since cow's milk disagrees with its digestion — ✓ 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

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