Arabian Nights, Noureddin Ali and the Fair Persian: Saouy's plot nearly kills Noureddin, but the vizir arrives in time
Tests: 3 of 13 right · Exam: 0 of 4 right · Kind: ★ · Understood: 10 of 17 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72
Lesson 210 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, did Saouy really gobble the top bit of the letter?
- 1. Nah, he just tore the top off, mate — ← Mova's choice · score 5
- 2. Yep, he swallowed it like a sweet — ✓ the right answer · score 1
- 3. Yep, he gobbled the top bit up, letter and seal and all, right in front of the vizir — score 2
- 4. Yeah, he ate it — no support
Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 5, against 2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 210, line 2: «Saouy sneakily swallows the top of the letter, so the king decides not to obey and hands Noureddin over to him.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «saouy» (+3); the same thing acted on «top» (+2). The right option, 2, scored 1. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 2 · ★ · wrong ✗
Wait, so Noureddin got battered with a stick on the soles of his feet?
- 1. Yep, he got a proper caning — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. Yeah, a proper bastinado on the soles of his feet, mate, till he nearly died — no support
- 3. Yeah, a proper bastinado, mate — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 4. Yeah, on his back with a rope — 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 · ★ · wrong ✗
Was the king well dodgy for waiting before the execution?
- 1. Yeah, mate, he was waiting for a bunch of riders to show up from Bagdad with news — ← Mova's choice · score 10
- 2. Yeah, he wanted to know who the horsemen were before he gave the signal — score 8
- 3. Nah, he was waiting for the messengers — score 6
- 4. Yeah, he wanted to know the horsemen — ✓ the right answer · score 8
Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 10, against 8 for the next best. Its support: lesson 210, line 12: «Why: the king waits because he "refused to do till he knew who the horsemen were".», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: its «because» matches the remembered cause (+4); the same action «wait» (+3); the same doer «king» (+3). The right option, 4, scored 8. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 4 · ★ · right ✓
Who came galloping in at the last second, all dead heroic?
- 1. the vizir Giafar, straight from Bagdad — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 7
- 2. a rider from the Caliph's own court — no support
- 3. the vizir Mansour, from Bagdad — no support
- 4. the Caliph — score 1
Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 1 with score 7, against 1 for the next best. Its support: lesson 210, line 4: «Just as the axe is about to fall, the vizir Giafar gallops in from Bagdad with the Caliph's patent and saves Noureddin.», reached through a sentence linked to the one the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+4); the same doer «vizir» (+3). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 5 · ★ · wrong ✗
Why'd the Caliph suddenly remember the patent?
- 1. A servant told him — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. Someone whispered it in his ear — no support
- 3. He heard the fair Persian wailing — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 4. The vizir told him on the road — 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 ✓
Did Noureddin fancy being king of Balsora after all that?
- 1. Nah, he just wanted his own palace — no support
- 2. Nah, he wanted to stay with the Caliph — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 2
- 3. Nah, not really — no support
- 4. Yep, he was keen to rule Balsora — no support
Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 2, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 210, line 15: «Why: Noureddin refuses the kingdom of Balsora, and the Caliph lets him stay in Bagdad.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «noureddin» (+3). Against it: one says «not», the other does not (counts against) (-1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 7 · ★ · wrong ✗
Was Aladdin a proper hard worker, or what?
- 1. Nah, he was lazy — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. Nah, he just messed about with friends — no support
- 3. Nah, he played out all day with his mates — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 4. Yep, he worked every day at his dad's — 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 8 · ★ · wrong ✗
Did Aladdin's dad get a shop before he died?
- 1. Nope, the shop was never built — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. Nope, the tailor was dead by then — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. Yep, he got it the week before — no support
- 4. Nope, the poor tailor had already died long before the uncle came back to town — 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 · ★ · wrong ✗
Who was this bloke claiming to be his uncle?
- 1. a merchant — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. an old Moorish trader — no support
- 3. a stranger — no support
- 4. a famous African magician — ✓ 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 10 · ★ · wrong ✗
Where did the uncle take Aladdin for a picnic?
- 1. some beautiful gardens outside the city gates, where they sat under the trees — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. a long walk to the royal palace gardens and a fountain outside the gates — no support
- 3. some lovely orchards past the city walls — no support
- 4. some beautiful gardens outside the gates — ✓ 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 11 · ★ · wrong ✗
What did the magician pull out of his belt?
- 1. a flat cake, which he split in two and gave to the boy — no support
- 2. a cake, which he split in two — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. a cake made of honey and nuts, which he split in two pieces — ← Mova's choice · score 9
- 4. a pie, which he tore in half — no support
Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 3 with score 9, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 91, line 15: «The gifts: the Magician offers to make every stone, hole and bunch of weed a safe Pusat Tasek; the Man offers a home on land and in the sea; the girl offers he…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «make» (+6); the same doer «magician» (+2); one says «not», the other does not (counts against) (+1). The right option, 2, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 12 · ★ · wrong ✗
What did the magician chuck on the fire?
- 1. a pinch of salt and some words — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. a powder, plus some magic words spoken very quickly over the flames — no support
- 3. a powder, plus some magic words — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 4. a handful of strange powder mixed with a chant and a bowl of red oil — 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 13 · ★ · right ✓
What popped up when the ground opened?
- 1. a brass ring — no support
- 2. a square iron trapdoor — no support
- 3. a stone door with a copper knob — no support
- 4. a flat stone with a brass ring — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 7
Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 4 with score 7, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 200, line 17: «Why: the words make the prince open his eyes with "languid curiosity", because they remind him of the princess.», reached through a sentence linked to the one the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+4); the same doer «words» (+3). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Exam question 1 · formal language · wrong ✗
Which action did Saouy perform upon the formula at the head of the letter, and with what consequence for the king's decision?
- 1. He burned it and hid the ashes, so the king kept the letter valid — score 8
- 2. He tore the formula off, swallowed it whole in front of the court, and the king declared the whole letter useless and void — ← Mova's choice · score 9
- 3. He tore it off and swallowed it, so that the king judged the letter void — ✓ the right answer · score 8
- 4. He hid it in his sleeve, so the king ruled the letter was a forgery — score 4
Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 2 with score 9, against 8 for the next best. Its support: lesson 210, line 8: «What: Saouy tears the formula off the letter and swallows it, so the letter seems useless to the king.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «swallow» (+6); the same doer «saouy» (+2); it fills the role the question asks for (+1). The right option, 3, scored 8. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Exam question 2 · formal language · wrong ✗
By whose authority did the vizir Giafar arrive at Balsora, and for what purpose was he commissioned?
- 1. By order of the chief eunuch, to confirm the sentence and to return the king's gold to Bagdad soon — ← Mova's choice · score 10
- 2. By the Caliph's command — no support
- 3. By the Caliph's command, to ascertain whether Noureddin lived and to bring the parties to Bagdad — ✓ the right answer · score 10
- 4. To bring the parties to Bagdad — score 10
Why: It took the question to ask a circumstance (with what, when, how). It chose option 1 with score 10, tied with another option at 10 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 206, line 2: «He pays the merchant 10,000 gold pieces, names her The Fair Persian, and orders her to rest and bathe before the king sees her.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «order» (+5); the same doer «vizir» (+5). The right option, 3, scored 10. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Exam question 3 · formal language · wrong ✗
What was the reason the king gave for delaying the signal of execution until the horsemen were identified?
- 1. He needed to see the riders' faces before ordering the death of the prisoner now — ← Mova's choice · score 9
- 2. He required full knowledge of the identity of the riders, who might be messengers of pardon, before he would proceed with the sentence of execution — score 9
- 3. He wanted to be sure the riders were not sent by the Caliph before he killed anyone — score 9
- 4. He required knowledge of the riders' identity before proceeding with the sentence — ✓ the right answer · score 9
Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 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 208, line 10: «What: the king orders the captain of the guard to take forty men, to pillage Noureddin's house, and to rase it to the ground.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «take» (+6); the same doer «king» (+2); one says «not», the other does not (counts against) (+1). The right option, 4, scored 9. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Exam question 4 · formal language · wrong ✗
Which conditions did the Caliph impose upon the king on his return to Balsora, and how did he dispose of Saouy?
- 1. The king must pardon Noureddin at once, and Saouy was banished from the city of Balsora for ever — score 4
- 2. The king had to choose better advisers, and Saouy was sent to Bagdad to be tried by the court — ← Mova's choice · score 9
- 3. The king was to be more circumspect in selecting his vizir, and Saouy was delivered to the executioner — ✓ the right answer · score -4
- 4. The king was to rule more justly and forgive the vizir, and Saouy was set free to leave — score 8
Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 2 with score 9, against 8 for the next best. Its support: lesson 208, line 10: «What: the king orders the captain of the guard to take forty men, to pillage Noureddin's house, and to rase it to the ground.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «take» (+6); the same doer «king» (+2); one says «not», the other does not (counts against) (+1). The right option, 3, scored -4. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/books/210-pg128-part50/