The real animals of the Wild Wood: the badger, the stoat, the weasel, the ferret, field-mice and hedgehogs in winter

Tests: 7 of 11 right · Exam: 3 of 4 right · Kind: ★★ · Understood: 9 of 15 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72

Lesson 405 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 ✓

«weasels are evil, it says so in wind in the willows» What is a fair answer?

1. Yes, weasels are the only animals that know they are doing wrong and do it anyway — no support
2. Real weasels are not evil; they are small hunters that must catch mice and voles to live — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 7
3. Yes, and that is exactly why weasels are hunted by law everywhere — no support
4. Weasels are evil only in the Wild Wood, but kind in gardens — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 7, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 405, line 2: «Real stoats and weasels are not wicked: they are small hunters that must catch mice, voles and rabbits to live, just as a robin must catch worms. The book turn…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «catch» (+4); its «because» matches the remembered cause (+2); the same doer «small hunters» (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 2 · ★★ · right ✓

An animal with a black tip on its tail is running along a stone wall in Yorkshire. What is it most likely?

1. A stoat — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. A weasel — no support
3. A water vole — no support
4. A ferret — 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 ✓

In the book Badger lives alone and «hates Society». How is a real badger different?

1. Real badgers live with the rabbits in their warren — score 8
2. Real badgers live in family groups of about five or six in one sett — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 12
3. Real badgers live alone their whole life and never meet another badger, not even to breed — score 8
4. Real badgers live in towns in big crowds — score 8

Why: It took the question to ask what something is like. It chose option 2 with score 12, against 8 for the next best. Its support: lesson 405, line 6: «Real badgers live in family groups of about five or six in a sett, a set of tunnels and chambers that can be used by badgers for a hundred years or more.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «live» (+5); the same doer «real badgers» (+3); the same place «family groups» (+2); the same circumstance (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 4 · ★★ · right ✓

«found a big hole in the woods with fresh grass piled outside, can i dig it out and see?» What is right?

1. No, it may be a badger sett, and setts are protected by law — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. Yes, holes in the woods belong to nobody, so anyone may dig — no support
3. Yes, but only with a small spade and very gently — no support
4. Yes, badgers like visitors, especially in the daytime — 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 ✓

In the book two little hedgehogs are walking to school through the snow. What would real hedgehogs be doing in the snow?

1. Hunting for snails under the snow — score 10
2. Hibernating in a nest of leaves — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 13
3. Looking for a school to go to — score 10
4. Building snowmen with the rabbits — score 11

Why: It took the question to ask what is done. It chose option 2 with score 13, against 11 for the next best. Its support: lesson 12, line 14: «Hedgehogs feed up in autumn, then hibernate in a nest of leaves, and their heart slows from about 190 beats a minute to about 20; a hedgehog wandering about in…», 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 «hibernate» (+3); the same doer «hedgehogs» (+3); the same place «nest» (+3). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 6 · ★★ · right ✓

«small hedgehog wandering about in the garden at lunchtime in january, so cute» What should you do?

1. Nothing, hedgehogs often go for long walks in the daytime in winter — score 6
2. Pick it up and put it in your bedroom to sleep in a shoebox — no support
3. Tell an adult so they can call a wildlife rescue, as it is probably in trouble — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 9
4. Leave it a big saucer of cow's milk and some bread, then go back inside — score 9

Why: It took the question to ask what is done. It chose option 3 with score 9, tied with another option at 9 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 226, line 13: «If you find an injured wild bird, tell an adult who can call a wildlife rescue, because wild animals need special care.», 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 (+4); the same action «tell» (+3); the same receiver «adult» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 7 · ★★ · wrong ✗

In the book the field-mice hurry to move house «before those horrid machines begin clicking round the fields». Is that a real danger?

1. No, mice never live anywhere near the wheat fields — score -2
2. No, mice live only in houses and barns — ← Mova's choice · score 3
3. No, harvest machines carefully drive round all the mice — no support
4. Yes, harvesting machines can wreck harvest mice's nests — ✓ the right answer · no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 3, against -2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 370, line 16: «Cockroaches can survive much more radiation, the invisible harmful rays from nuclear bombs and accidents, than people, but some other insects take even more, a…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same place «houses» (+4). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-1). The right option, 4, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 8 · ★★ · wrong ✗

The book's field-mice go carol-singing in December. Which part could be true of real wood mice?

1. They are active in winter — ✓ the right answer · score 7
2. They hibernate till spring — score 2
3. They sing carols — ← Mova's choice · score 10
4. They wear woollen scarves — score 2

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 3 with score 10, against 7 for the next best. Its support: lesson 405, line 1: «In «The Wind in the Willows» the Wild Wood is full of stoats, weasels and ferrets who whistle, patter and finally steal Toad Hall, while the wise old Badger li…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same thing acted on «carols» (+4); it fills the role the question asks for (+3); the same doer «field mice» (+2); the same action «sing» (+1). The right option, 1, scored 7. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 9 · ★★ · right ✓

«that yellow ferret with a gun in the book, are ferrets wild in our woods then?» What is true?

1. Yes, ferrets live in huge packs in every wood, like wolves — score 1
2. Ferrets are tame polecats kept by people; any in a wood are escapes — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 4
3. Yes, ferrets are the commonest wild animal in British woods and parks — no support
4. No, ferrets only live in the hot deserts of North Africa — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 4, against 1 for the next best. Its support: lesson 405, line 13: «A ferret is a tame kind of polecat that people have kept for over two thousand years, and it was used to chase rabbits out of their burrows; many ferrets are p…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «keep» (+4). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 10 · ★★ · wrong ✗

You hear «ke-wick» and then «hoo-hoo-hoo» from the trees one night. What is going on?

1. A fox pretending to be an owl — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. One owl calling twice, high then low — no support
3. Two tawny owls calling to each other — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. A nightjar copying an owl it has heard — 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 ✗

★★★ A stoat's coat is white for 4 months of the year in the far north and brown for the rest. A stoat lives 3 years. For how many months in all is it brown?

1. 32 — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. 12 — no support
3. 36 — no support
4. 24 — ✓ 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 1 · formal language · right ✓

Identify the principal feature by which the stoat may be distinguished from the weasel.

1. The stoat is the larger and bears a black tip to its tail — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. The weasel alone possesses whiskers — no support
3. The stoat bears spots upon its flanks — no support
4. The weasel is the larger and possesses a striped back and a bushy tail — 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 ✗

Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning the social life of the European badger.

1. It lives in family groups occupying a sett that may be used for a century or more — ✓ the right answer · score 1
2. It lives in trees in pairs — ← Mova's choice · score 7
3. It lives entirely alone and abandons its home each autumn in search of a new one — score 1
4. It lives in burrows shared with rabbits — score 1

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 7, against 1 for the next best. Its support: lesson 328, line 12: «Among different kinds of animal, bigger ones usually live longer, so big dogs living shorter lives than small dogs is a puzzle scientists still study.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «live» (+4); the same circumstance (+3). The right option, 1, scored 1. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 3 · formal language · right ✓

Ascertain the action appropriate upon finding a small hedgehog abroad in daylight during January.

1. Inform an adult, so that a wildlife rescue may be consulted — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. Return it to the garden and take no further action whatever — no support
3. Provide it with a quantity of cow's milk — no support
4. Convey it indoors to sleep in a warm bed — 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 ✓

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the ferret?

1. It is a wild animal native to every British wood and hedgerow, hunted by foxes — no support
2. It is a tame form of the polecat, long kept for the hunting of rabbits — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 7
3. It is the young of the stoat before it grows its black tail tip — no support
4. It is a species of rat — no support

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 2 with score 7, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 405, line 13: «A ferret is a tame kind of polecat that people have kept for over two thousand years, and it was used to chase rabbits out of their burrows; many ferrets are p…», 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 «ferret» (+2); the same circumstance (+2); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+1). Against it: a different thing acted on (counts against) (-1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

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