Pink Fairy Book, Prince Ficklé and Fair Helena, part 1: a kind Fairy helps Helena sort the feathers and empty the pond, and her cruel stepmother plans something worse

Tests: 2 of 13 right · Exam: 2 of 4 right · Kind: ★ · Understood: 14 of 17 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72

Lesson 1910 of the books 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.

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 ✗

Mate, did the milestone lady really stay out there for three whole days?

1. Yeah, she stood there for ages, mate — ← Mova's choice · score 3
2. Yeah, she waited the full three days, innit — ✓ the right answer · score 3
3. Nah, she gave up after one day, bruv — score 3
4. Nah, mate, she only waited a single night then went home to her mum's house — score 3

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 1296, line 7: «What: the prince is a bear by day, and the enchantment ends only if a lady marries him of her own free will and endures five years of trials.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «endure» (+2); the same doer «lady» (+1). The right option, 2, scored 3. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 2 · ★ · wrong ✗

Why was Milan so gutted when the doves talked?

1. He had been told by the cook that the cake was poisoned and wanted to flee — no support
2. He realised his bride had been waiting ages — score 0
3. He remembered he'd forgotten Hyacinthia — ✓ the right answer · score -3
4. The doves had insulted him by singing the song about his cruel stepfather in the wood — ← 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 114, line 4: «The stepsisters cut off a toe and a heel to squeeze into the shoe, but a dove sings the truth until the prince sees the blood and chooses Cinderella.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «sing» (+1); a different thing acted on (counts against) (+1). Against it: the same doer «dove» (-1). The right option, 3, scored -3. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 3 · ★ · right ✓

Wait, how did the old man end up with the blue flower?

1. He plucked it from the field — score 1
2. He had dug all night beside the path and finally pulled it up — no support
3. A kind fairy from the forest brought it to him in a basket along with bread and cheese — score 2
4. He pulled it up and took it home — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 3

Why: It took the question to ask what something is like. It chose option 4 with score 3, against 2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 806, line 14: «Where it ends up: it is carried to a cellar, and the bottle thinks, "There's no place like home, even if it's a cellar."», reached through a sentence linked to the one the question matched. What matched: the same thing acted on «word» (+2); the same action «carry» (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 4 · ★ · wrong ✗

Was the house all tidy and clean like magic, or was it a mess?

1. Spotless and gleaming, with the wooden floor polished and a fire already lit in the hearth by someone unseen — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. A mess, nothing had been done — no support
3. Tidy, like someone was doing it for him — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. A mess at first, but then the floor was swept by an invisible hand from the corner of the room — 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 ✗

Why did the cook go all soft when he saw the peasant girl?

1. She was carrying a basket of eggs and bread that smelled like fresh ginger cake from the oven — ← Mova's choice · score 1
2. She was cleaning the floor — score 1
3. She reminded him of the girl from the old story his nurse used to tell — score 1
4. She was ever so beautiful — ✓ the right answer · score -1

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 1 with score 1, tied with another option at 1 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 1652, line 1: «A girl pulls up a sprig of rosemary in the wood, and a handsome young lord catches her and takes her to his palace.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «take» (+1); a different thing acted on (counts against) (+1). Against it: the same doer «girl» (-1). The right option, 4, scored -1. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 6 · ★ · wrong ✗

Helena's stepmother is a proper nasty one, isn't she?

1. Yeah, she's really awful, bruv — no support
2. Yeah, she's mean — no support
3. Yeah, she makes her do all the hardest jobs in the whole house and never says thanks at all — ← Mova's choice · score 3
4. Yeah, she's dead mean to her — ✓ the right answer · score 0

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 3, against 0 for the next best. Its support: lesson 1559, line 13: «Why the stepmother sends the girl to the river: she makes her break ice and rinse yarn.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «make» (+2); the same doer «stepmother» (+1). The right option, 4, scored 0. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 7 · ★ · wrong ✗

How did Helena end up with a load of feathers sorted by morning?

1. The Fairy did it while she slept — ✓ the right answer · score 4
2. Helena woke early and found a fairy had sorted them all for her in the night like magic — ← Mova's choice · score 6
3. A kind fairy sorted them all — score 6
4. The fairy came in the night — no support

Why: It took the question to ask what something is like. It chose option 2 with score 6, tied with another option at 6 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 1910, line 5: «The Fairy sorts the feathers while Helena sleeps, and later empties the pond with a spoon full of holes, but the stepmother only thinks of a harder task.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «sort» (+2); the same doer «fairy» (+2); the same thing acted on «feathers» (+2). The right option, 1, scored 4. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 8 · ★ · wrong ✗

Why did Helena cry, like seriously, what was the matter?

1. Her stepmother was very cruel to her — score -1
2. Her stepmother had set her a pile of feathers to sort and a pond to empty with a spoon — ← Mova's choice · score 3
3. Her stepmother gave her impossible jobs — ✓ the right answer · score 1
4. The stepmother had sent her to the market and then locked her in the house without any food at all — no support

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 2 with score 3, against 1 for the next best. Its support: lesson 1910, line 4: «Then a new tale begins: Helena's stepmother gives her twelve pounds of feathers to sort, and Helena weeps until a kind Fairy appears.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «sort» (+3). The right option, 3, scored 1. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 9 · ★ · wrong ✗

Did the Fairy just leave after helping, or did she stick around?

1. She vanished when Helena turned round — ✓ the right answer · score 0
2. She stayed with Helena until the morning and then slipped out of the kitchen door without a sound — ← Mova's choice · score 2
3. She flew off through the window — score 2
4. She disappeared into thin air — score 2

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 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 1540, line 10: «WHERE: Delicia is locked in "a dark dungeon," and the Fairy opens forty doors with her wand.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «fairy» (+1); a different action (counts against) (+1). The right option, 1, scored 0. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 10 · ★ · wrong ✗

What was the spoon like that they gave her for the pond, bro?

1. A spoon with a bent handle and no bowl — ← Mova's choice · score -4
2. It was far too small to dig with — no support
3. Full of holes, so it was impossible — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. It was an old wooden spoon with a crack in the handle and a huge number of holes all over the bowl — score -4

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 with score -4, tied with another option at -4 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 1873, line 14: «Where the magic word came from: the pedlar who sold the magic powder gave the word "Mutabor" to the magicians.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. Against it: the same thing acted on «word» (-2); a different doer (counts against) (-2). The right option, 3, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 11 · ★ · right ✓

Was Helena's stepmother chuffed when Helena finished the pond?

1. Nah, she was raging, and she sent her off to fetch the whole pond's worth of mud and stones — score 2
2. Nah, she was raging and wanted harder stuff — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 3
3. Yeah, she was chuffed and gave her a rest — score 2
4. Yeah, she was dead chuffed and said she'd let Helena go to the ball tonight and rest properly — score 2

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 466, line 15: «Why: Helena wants to show her bridegroom to the world, but he keeps to a distant corner and waits for her to come to him.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «want» (+2); the same doer «helena» (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 12 · ★ · wrong ✗

So the witch's cloth made the flower come back as a girl, yeah?

1. Yep, Hyacinthia stood right there — ✓ the right answer · no support
2. Yep, the cloth worked, and Hyacinthia stood right there in front of him as a real living girl — score 1
3. Nah, the witch's cloth did nothing to the flower, and it stayed a little blue flower in the pot — ← Mova's choice · score 3
4. Yep, the flower was still a flower — score 2

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 3, against 2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 274, line 7: «What? The rogues claimed their cloth would stay invisible to anyone "unfit for the office he held, or who was extraordinarily simple in character".», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «stay» (+2); the same doer «cloth» (+1). The right option, 1, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 13 · ★ · wrong ✗

Why did Milan and Hyacinthia legg it on his horse at the end?

1. Because the king's soldiers were chasing them across the fields and they needed to get away fast — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. To get to King Kojata's country — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. To find the king's new castle — no support
4. Because Milan suddenly remembered Hyacinthia and wanted to ride to the old man's cottage to thank him — 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 ✓

Which of the following best describes the action by which Prince Milan forfeited his memory of Hyacinthia?

1. He bowed and kissed the hand of the lady who was introduced to him by the royal family — score -3
2. He kissed the royal cook — no support
3. He wed the bride who was brought to him by the royal couple in the great hall — no support
4. He kissed the child who was presented to him by the royal couple — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 2

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 4 with score 2, against -3 for the next best. Its support: lesson 1909, line 11: «What: Milan finds the right girl because the fly makes her cheek "blush a faint pink" when he sees it.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «milan» (+1); it fills the role the question asks for (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 2 · formal language · wrong ✗

In which location did the Fairy first encounter the unhappy maiden, and what task was assigned to her there?

1. In the stepmother's house, where she was set to sort twelve pounds of feathers — ✓ the right answer · no support
2. In the palace kitchen — ← Mova's choice · score 2
3. At the old mill by the river, where she had to scrub the floors of a grand house — score 2
4. At the edge of the wood — score 2

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 2 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 1910, line 10: «How: the Fairy says, "Lie down and go to sleep, and I'll see that your work is done all right," and it is done while Helena sleeps.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «see» (+3). Against it: the same circumstance (-1). The right option, 1, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 3 · formal language · wrong ✗

Which of the following is the correct sequence of the events narrated in this passage?

1. The doves sang, the cloth was used, and the witch vanished — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. The cake was cut and the doves flew — no support
3. The flower was planted, the cake was cut, and the stepmother set a new task — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. The flower was planted and watered — 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 ✓

What was the nature of the instrument with which Helena was instructed to empty the pond?

1. It was a rusty old bucket with a hole — score -6
2. It was a basket that leaked like a sieve — score -4
3. The instrument was a wooden spoon that was full of holes and had been broken by the stepmother in a fit of anger that morning — score 2
4. The instrument was a spoon that was full of holes — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 2

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 4 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 1045, line 21: «Old word: the "timpan" was a stringed instrument, and a "stipulation" was a condition set before a bargain was agreed.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+2); the same doer «old word» (+1). Against it: the same circumstance (-1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

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