Celtic Fairy Tales, The Herd Boy, part 27: the herd wins the princess by untying the heads, then is taken to the loch
Tests: 6 of 13 right · Exam: 2 of 4 right · Kind: ★ · Understood: 7 of 17 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72
Lesson 2008 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 ✗
Yo, who actually sorted the three-heid beast, like for real?
- 1. the dairymaid's brother who herds cows — ← Mova's choice · score 4
- 2. the youth on the black horse — score 4
- 3. the black-horse lad — ✓ the right answer · score 4
- 4. the king's son — score 4
Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. 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 663, line 13: «The prince answers the question "Tell me, what sort of man are you?" by saying he is "not dumb," which is an old word for unable to speak.», 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 «prince» (+1); a different action (counts against) (+1). The right option, 3, scored 4. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 2 · ★ · wrong ✗
Naw, the General ran aff at first, right?
- 1. naw, he stayed — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. aye, he bottled it — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. aye, he ran — no support
- 4. aye, he ran aff like a scared hen — 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 ✓
Whit did the princess gie him for the first heid?
- 1. a gold ring — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. a pearl necklace — no support
- 3. a gold ring wi a ruby — no support
- 4. a silver brooch — 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
Test 4 · ★ · right ✓
Bruv, whit was the black dog daein?
- 1. helping fight the beast — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. biting the General — no support
- 3. guarding the horse — no support
- 4. chasing the rabbits — 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
Test 5 · ★ · wrong ✗
Got it, how many heids did the beast have, pal?
- 1. one — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. three — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. nine — no support
- 4. two — 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
Test 6 · ★ · right ✓
Whit did the General threaten her wi?
- 1. tae kill her if she didnae lie — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. tae banish her — no support
- 3. tae kill her if she tellt him a lie — no support
- 4. tae shame her — 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 7 · ★ · right ✓
Mate, who got tae untie the knot in the end?
- 1. the herd — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. the black-horse lad — no support
- 3. the General — no support
- 4. the auld soothsayer — 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 ✗
Whit did the herd pull oot his pocket?
- 1. a handfu o gold coins and the ring — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. the ring and earrings — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. the gold ring and a pair o earrings — no support
- 4. the gold brooch — 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 9 · ★ · right ✓
Dead wee detail: whit did the herd wear at the wedding?
- 1. the princess's green gown — no support
- 2. a plain brown frock fae the dairy — no support
- 3. the giant's golden dress — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 4
- 4. the sea-maiden's silver frock — no support
Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 4, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 2008, line 17: «The princess says "Thou art my man", and the herd wears "the giant's golden dress" to the wedding.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same thing acted on «golden dress» (+3); the same property (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 10 · ★ · right ✓
Whit did the sea-maiden dae tae the herd?
- 1. chased him tae the caves — no support
- 2. took him doon tae the bottom o the loch — score 0
- 3. took him tae the loch — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 0
- 4. pulled him doon the burn — no support
Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 0, tied with another option at 0 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 2008, line 18: «The sea-maiden takes him "to the loch without leave or asking", so the princess is left "mournful, tearful".», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «take» (+3). Against it: the same circumstance (-1); a different thing acted on (counts against) (-2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 11 · ★ · wrong ✗
Who gied the advice tae save him?
- 1. an auld beggar — no support
- 2. a priest — ← Mova's choice · score -1
- 3. an auld soothsayer — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 4. a wise herdsman — score -1
Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 2 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 1312, line 17: «Old word: "counsel" means advice, so "took counsel together" means the sisters talked over what to do.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. Against it: the same doer «old word» (-1). The right option, 3, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 12 · ★ · wrong ✗
Why'd the sea-maiden come up tae listen?
- 1. she was lonely — no support
- 2. she heard a sang — ← Mova's choice · score 2
- 3. she was nosy — no support
- 4. she loves music — ✓ the right answer · score 2
Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). 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 1765, line 15: «The old master plans to marry them, but the maiden learns "He means to destroy us both" and they must escape.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «learn» (+1); the same doer «maiden» (+1). The right option, 4, scored 2. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 13 · ★ · wrong ✗
Whit did the princess say she wisnae gonnae dae till she saw him?
- 1. leave the shore — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. wait for him — no support
- 3. stop — no support
- 4. play on — ✓ 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 ✓
Which of the following constitutes the principal accomplishment of the youth mounted upon the black horse?
- 1. the severance of the three heads of the beast — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. the rescue of the princess — no support
- 3. the binding of the three heads — no support
- 4. the slaying of the beast — 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 ✗
By what means did the herd demonstrate his entitlement to the hand of the princess?
- 1. by playing his harp until the knot fell loose — no support
- 2. by loosing the heads from the knot without severing them — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. by loosing the heads from the knot without ever severing them — no support
- 4. by untying the heads with care — ← Mova's choice · score 1
Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 4 with score 1, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 2008, line 16: «The herd unties the heads, puts his hand in his pocket, and throws the ring and earrings on the board.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «untie» (+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 · wrong ✗
Upon what instrument did the princess perform in order to induce the sea-maiden to emerge?
- 1. a fiddle — score -1
- 2. a harp — ✓ the right answer · score -1
- 3. a flute — ← Mova's choice · score 0
- 4. a small wooden drum and whistle — score 0
Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 3 with score 0, tied with another option at 0 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 951, line 15: «Her words: "I have had the Stadtholder Gyldenlowe, the King's half-brother, for my husband."», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same circumstance (+3). Against it: it fills the role the question asks for (-1); the same thing acted on «words» (-2). The right option, 2, scored -1. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Exam question 4 · formal language · right ✓
What was the principal motive of the sea-maiden in responding to the music?
- 1. a fondness for music — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. curiosity — no support
- 3. a wish for gold — no support
- 4. hunger — 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/books/2008-pg7885-part27/