The Wind in the Willows, chapter III, part 1: The Wild Wood (winter, and the Mole sets out alone)

Tests: 7 of 17 right · Exam: 2 of 4 right · Kind: ★★ · Understood: 16 of 21 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72

Lesson 33 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. 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 ✓

Mason, it's giving horror film (it feels like one): «the Rat said loads of times, "sure, let's go and see Badger tomorrow".» Put it right.

1. He never agreed — no support
2. He always put the Mole off — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 3
3. He kept promising but never went — no support
4. He never went to visit Badger — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 3, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 33, line 1: «The Mole has long wanted to meet the famous Badger, whom everyone talks about and nobody sees. But the Rat always puts him off: Badger will turn up some day; h…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «put off» (+2); the same property (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 2 · ★★ · wrong ✗

The Rat says the Wild Wood «is» all right, and then «we won't go there just now». What does this tell the Mole, if he'd listened?

1. The Rat wants the Mole to go there alone so he can sleep in peace all afternoon — ← Mova's choice · score 5
2. The Rat is simply tired of walking there — score 4
3. The Rat really thinks it's dangerous — ✓ the right answer · score 4
4. The Rat is lying to him — no support

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 with score 5, against 4 for the next best. Its support: lesson 30, line 4: «The Rat flatly refuses: he's sticking to his river, and so is the Mole. The loyal Mole agrees — but adds, wistfully, that it sounds rather fun. The Rat sees ho…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «rat» (+2); its «because» matches the remembered cause (+2); it fills the role the question asks for (+1). The right option, 3, scored 4. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 3 · ★★ · wrong ✗

Why does the Mole go alone, without telling the Rat?

1. He wanted to find Badger for himself — score 3
2. Rat is angry — no support
3. He's restless and the Rat is dozing — ✓ the right answer · score 3
4. He is lost — ← Mova's choice · score 4

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 4 with score 4, against 3 for the next best. Its support: lesson 29, line 2: «The Mole, who is honest and no poet, says he doesn't think much of it. The ducks don't either, laughs the Rat — they say it's nonsense to sit on banks making p…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «mole» (+2); the same thing acted on «mole» (+2). The right option, 3, scored 3. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 4 · ★★ · wrong ✗

The writer tells the summer like a play with flowers as actors. Why might he do that?

1. To show how the summer unfolded, beautiful and in order — ✓ the right answer · no support
2. To make the reader feel bored by the long summer days — no support
3. To show the summer as a play so the readers can perform it on stage at school with the flowers as actors — ← Mova's choice · score 2
4. To show that the flowers were really actors who had learned their parts, and the summer was a stage for all of them to perform upon together — no support

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 3 with score 2, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 33, line 2: «Summer ends. Frost and mud keep them indoors, the river races past too fast for boating, and the Rat sleeps a lot and writes poems by the fire. The animals tel…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same circumstance (+2); the same doer «writer» (+1). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-1). The right option, 1, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 5 · ★★ · wrong ✗

Looking back: in chapter I, which animals did the Rat say «you can't really trust» in the Wild Wood?

1. Weasels, stoats, foxes and the dreadful Toad who lives at the Hall — ← Mova's choice · score 11
2. Otters and water voles — no support
3. Weasels, stoats, foxes, owls, hedgehogs and all the wild creatures of the Wild Wood — no support
4. Weasels, stoats and foxes — ✓ the right answer · no support

Why: It took the question to ask what is done. It chose option 1 with score 11, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 33, line 9: «The Rat has «never even ventured to call on him at his own home myself», and says «we can't ... he lives in the very middle of the Wild Wood».», reached through what was said in the sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+7); the same action «live» (+5). 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 6 · ★★ · wrong ✗

Looking back: in chapter I, what did Badger do when he saw the picnic party?

1. Waved and left — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Said «H'm! Company» and left — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. Stared hard and sat down — no support
4. Ran away — 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 ✓

Looking back: in chapter I, which dark place did the Rat answer «shortly» about, as if he didn't like to talk of it?

1. The Wild Wood — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 7
2. The Hall — no support
3. The Weasel Hole — no support
4. The wood — 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 33, line 10: «The Mole: «You told me the Wild Wood was all right, you know.» The Rat, «evasively» (avoiding a straight answer): «O, I know, I know, so it is ... But I think…», 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 «wood» (+3). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 8 · ★★ · right ✓

Looking back: what happened to the Mole the last time he did something without the Rat's say-so, in chapter I?

1. He grabbed the oars without asking and tipped the boat over into the cold river water — score 2
2. He grabbed the oars and tipped the boat, and the Rat had to swim back to shore in fright — score 2
3. He grabbed the oars and tipped the boat — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 2
4. He rowed off alone and got lost badly — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 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 28, line 1: «Rowing home in the evening sun, the Rat is murmuring poetry to himself. The Mole, full of lunch and pride, thinks rowing looks easy. «Not yet,» smiles the Rat.…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «grab» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 9 · ★★ · wrong ✗

Looking back: at the end of chapter II, what did Toad order?

1. A large and very expensive motor-car, painted yellow, and a second one for his friends — score 17
2. A large and very expensive motor-car with brass lamps, leather seats and a horn — ← Mova's choice · score 19
3. A large and very expensive pony — score 7
4. A large and very expensive motor-car — ✓ the right answer · score 19

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 2 with score 19, tied with another option at 19 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 32, line 5: «The next evening the Rat brings the news everyone along the river is talking about: Toad took an early train to Town and has ordered a large and very expensive…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+7); the same thing acted on «large motor car» (+5); the same doer «toad» (+3); the same property (+3). The right option, 4, scored 19. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 10 · ★★ · right ✓

Olly, adulting hard (doing grown-up jobs): «in winter the Rat is up early working all day.» Put it right.

1. He retires early and rises late — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 5
2. He stays up late every night writing rhymes and then rises at the crack of dawn — no support
3. He works hard every single day — no support
4. He sleeps until noon, then works only in the evenings in his warm cosy den — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 5, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 33, line 12: ««In the winter time the Rat slept a great deal, retiring early and rising late», and «scribbled poetry or did other small domestic jobs».», reached through a sentence linked to the one the question matched. What matched: the same action «rise» (+3); the same property (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 11 · ★★ · right ✓

«He had got down to the bare bones of it, and they were fine and strong and simple.» What is the Mole enjoying?

1. The plain shape of the land — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. The flowers — no support
3. The colour of the sky — no support
4. The sound of the river — 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 12 · ★★ · wrong ✗

The Rat kept saying Badger would «turn up». Had he turned up by the winter?

1. Yes, Badger came at last to the river — score 1
2. Yes, Badger turned up in the autumn and the Mole was pleased to see him at the river — ← Mova's choice · score 8
3. Yes, Badger came to tea — score 1
4. No — so the Mole set off to find him — ✓ the right answer · score 3

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 8, against 3 for the next best. Its support: lesson 33, line 1: «The Mole has long wanted to meet the famous Badger, whom everyone talks about and nobody sees. But the Rat always puts him off: Badger will turn up some day; h…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «meet» (+4); the same doer «mole» (+3); the same thing acted on «famous badger» (+3). Against it: one says «not», the other does not (counts against) (-2). The right option, 4, scored 3. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 13 · ★★ · right ✓

The Wild Wood is «like a black reef in some still southern sea». Why is a reef a scary thing to compare it to?

1. Reefs are warm — no support
2. Reefs wreck ships that come too close — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 3
3. Reefs are pretty — no support
4. Reefs are home to many small fish — no support

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 2 with score 3, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 33, line 17: ««the Wild Wood, which lay before him low and threatening, like a black reef in some still southern sea» (a reef = a line of rocks just under the sea that wreck…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «wreck» (+2); the same thing acted on «ships» (+2). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 14 · ★★ · wrong ✗

«funguses on stumps resembled caricatures». Is the Mole scared of them at first?

1. Yes, they frightened him — no support
2. No — «that was all fun» — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. Yes, a lot — no support
4. Not at all, he ran — ← Mova's choice · score 1

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 1, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 31, line 2: «That night, on a lonely common under the stars, Toad boasts: «This is the real life for a gentleman! Talk about your old river!» The Rat says quietly that he d…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «run» (+2); the same doer «mole» (+2). Against it: one says «not», the other does not (counts against) (-3). The right option, 2, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 15 · ★★ · wrong ✗

★★★ Count the flowers named as actors in the summer play: loosestrife, willow-herb, comfrey, dog-rose, meadow-sweet. Which arrives fourth?

1. The dog-rose — ✓ the right answer · no support
2. Willow-herb — no support
3. The purple loosestrife, which arrives early in the play — ← Mova's choice · score 10
4. Loosestrife — score 7

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 33, line 13: «Summer is told as a play with flowers as actors: «Purple loosestrife arrived early», then «Willow-herb, tender and wistful, like a pink sunset cloud», then com…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same property (+5); the same action «arrive» (+3); it fills the role the question asks for (+2). The right option, 1, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 16 · ★★ · wrong ✗

★★★ «trees crouched nearer and nearer, and holes made ugly mouths». Trees can't crouch. Why does the writer say it?

1. Because trees really can crouch down in the wind when the Mole walks past them in the wood — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. To show the wood feels alive and threatening to the Mole — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. To show the Mole had been dreaming in the dark wood all night — no support
4. To describe how the trees were bent by wind and snow — 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 17 · ★★ · right ✓

★★★ The Mole chose a time when the Rat was dozing. In Alice (lessons 1–24) Alice also slipped into adventure while someone near her was busy. Who?

1. Dinah — no support
2. Her sister, reading a book — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 1
3. The Cat — no support
4. The Mad Hatter, pouring tea — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 1, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 24, line 19: ««Wake up, Alice dear! Why, what a long sleep you've had!» — «Oh, I've had such a curious dream!» Her sister sends her in to tea, «it's getting late».», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «sister» (+2). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 1 · formal language · right ✓

Identify the reason advanced by the Rat for declining to invite the Badger to dine.

1. That the Badger hated Society, invitations and dinner — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 4
2. The Badger was too old to travel far from home — no support
3. The Badger preferred to eat his supper alone — no support
4. That the Badger hated Society, invitations and dinner, and would bite any guest who came — score 1

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 4, against 1 for the next best. Its support: lesson 33, line 8: «The Mole: «Couldn't you ask him here dinner or something?» The Rat: «He wouldn't come ... Badger hates Society, and invitations, and dinner».», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «hate» (+2); the same doer «badger» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 2 · formal language · wrong ✗

Ascertain the place of residence of the Badger as stated by the Rat.

1. Beside the old wooden bridge — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Deep in a hollow in the very middle of the Wild Wood, beyond the bridge — no support
3. The very middle of the Wild Wood — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. In the very middle of the great Wild Wood, under a fallen oak and a tangle of roots — 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 · wrong ✗

Select the response which most accurately characterises the meteorological conditions upon the Mole's departure.

1. A chilly windy evening beneath a dark grey cloud — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. A cold still afternoon beneath a hard steely sky — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. A cold still afternoon beneath a hard steely sky, with frost on every hedge and every field bare — no support
4. A mild breezy morning under a pale yellow sun — 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 ✓

It is given that the Mole entered the Wild Wood. Identify the comparison applied by the author to the wood as seen from without.

1. A heavy grey fog over the still water — no support
2. A black reef in some still southern sea — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 1
3. A dark cave — no support
4. A deep well — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 1, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 33, line 17: ««the Wild Wood, which lay before him low and threatening, like a black reef in some still southern sea» (a reef = a line of rocks just under the sea that wreck…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same property (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

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