The Wind in the Willows, chapter VII, part 1: The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (Portly is missing)

Tests: 8 of 16 right · Exam: 1 of 4 right · Kind: ★ · Understood: 8 of 20 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72

Lesson 49 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 · ★ · wrong ✗

Jaz: «Portly's always wandering off, bruv, nothing to stress about this time either.» (bruv = mate) Put it right.

1. Last time he came back, but this time nobody has seen him — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. He's gone for days — no support
3. This time he's been gone for days and nobody has seen him — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. Nobody saw him go — 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 2 · ★ · right ✓

«Otter's not bothered, lowkey he just fancied a walk.» (lowkey = kind of) Is that right?

1. No: he talked of air, but he was really very nervous — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. No: he was really out of his mind with worry — no support
3. No, he was calm — no support
4. Yes, he just fancied a walk — 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 ✓

What does the Mole's choice to search tonight show about him now?

1. He cannot rest while a friend is in trouble — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. He has become quite a hero at last — no support
3. He has learnt to put his friends before his comfort, and he is ready to go out at once — no support
4. He loves the river more than his 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

Test 4 · ★ · wrong ✗

Which is TRUE so far?

1. Otter is the one who asks them to search — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. The Rat is the one who wants to search — no support
3. The Mole is the one who says they must go and search — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. The Mole says they must search tomorrow morning at dawn — 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 · ★ · right ✓

Kirsty from Glasgow: «the wee otter's dad sits on the bridge every night.» (wee = little) Put it right.

1. He sits on the bank by the bridge, each evening after dusk — no support
2. He watches by the old ford, used before the bridge was built — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 2
3. He waits by the old ford, where the water runs shallow — no support
4. He sits on the bridge every night, watching the water from the high parapet until dawn breaks — score 1

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 2, against 1 for the next best. Its support: lesson 49, line 12: «A ford is a shallow place where you can walk across a river; the old ford was used «in by-gone days before they built the bridge».», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «build» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 6 · ★ · wrong ✗

Why do the meadows look «washed clean of mystery and terror» when the moon rises?

1. The moonlight makes the field look ordinary and safe again — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Shapes are clear now, and the dark has gone from the water — no support
3. In the light they can see shapes again, so nothing seems to hide — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. The shadows have all gone from the land — 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 · ★ · wrong ✗

Tyler from Alabama: «they were fixin' to sleep but the Rat said nah, get the boat out.» (fixin' to = about to) Put it right.

1. It was Otter who ordered the boat to be sent out — score 3
2. It was the Mole who said they should get the boat out, after the Rat had gone home to bed — score 5
3. It was the Mole who said they should get the boat out — ✓ the right answer · score 5
4. The Rat said they should get the boat out — ← Mova's choice · score 5

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 5, tied with another option at 5 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 45, line 7: ««“Bother!” said the Rat, all over egg.» The Mole opens the door and announces «with much importance, “Mr. Badger!”»», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «rat» (+3); the same action «say» (+2). The right option, 3, scored 5. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 8 · ★ · right ✓

Mia from Perth: «they looked heaps of places, hedges and trees and ditches, yeah?» (heaps = lots) Is she right?

1. Yes: hedges, hollow trees, runnels and ditches — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. Yes: hedges, hollow trees, and the bridge — no support
3. No: they searched the hedges and the bridge — no support
4. No: they looked in hedges, hollow trees, runnels, ditches and the old mill, not the bridge — 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 ✓

Looking back: in chapter I, what did the Rat say about his river?

1. «It's my world, and I don't want any other» — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 2
2. It is all I need, and I want nothing more — no support
3. It's my world, and I don't want any other life at all, and I'll never leave the bank for the sea or town — no support
4. I don't care for the sea, nor the town — no support

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 with score 2, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 44, line 17: ««The Rat said little or nothing, only taking care that each guest had what he wanted, and plenty of it, and that Mole had no trouble or anxiety about anything.»», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «want» (+4); the same doer «rat» (+2). Against it: one says «not», the other does not (counts against) (-4). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 10 · ★ · right ✓

Looking back: in chapter V the Rat turned back on a cold night to find Mole's old home. How is tonight like that?

1. Again a friend's trouble matters more than their own bed and supper — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. Again the Rat puts a friend before his own warm bed — no support
3. Again the Rat goes out for a friend — no support
4. Once more a friend's need comes before comfort and rest — 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 ✗

Looking back: in chapter I the Mole tipped the boat over. What can he do on the river by now?

1. He rows strongly and can swim across now — ← Mova's choice · score 5
2. Steer a boat — no support
3. Row and steer well, as the Rat taught him — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. He can swim, and he can row now — score 5

Why: It took the question to ask what is done. It chose option 1 with score 5, tied with another option at 5 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 29, line 20: «In the boat-house the boats were «slung from the cross beams or hauled up on a slip, but none in the water» (the Mole, who can row now, had shipped his sculls…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «mole» (+4); it fills the role the question asks for (+1). The right option, 3, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 12 · ★ · right ✓

Looking back: the Mole once lay in a hollow beech tree in the Wild Wood. How is tonight different?

1. Then he hid alone in terror; now he goes out at night on purpose to help — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 10
2. Then he hid alone in terror, sheltering in a beech tree from the dark; now he goes out at night on purpose to help a friend — score 10
3. Then he slept in fear; now he rows through the night to help — score 8
4. Then he was alone and shaking; tonight he is brave and with friends — score 5

Why: It took the question to ask what something is like. 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 34, line 1: «Dusk falls fast. Then the faces begin: a little evil wedge-shaped face in a hole, gone when the Mole turns; then another; then it seems every hole has a hard-e…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «leave» (+5); the same doer «mole» (+3); its «because» matches the remembered cause (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 13 · ★ · right ✓

Looking back: where was Toad when we last saw him, at the end of chapter VI?

1. Trapped in a cold cellar of a grand house — no support
2. Locked in the grimmest dungeon of an old castle — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 7
3. Lost in a dark cave near the river bank — no support
4. Chained up in a gloomy old cellar — no support

Why: It took the question to ask where. It chose option 2 with score 7, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 47, line 3: «A lawyer! The Rat is alarmed — Toad must be really ill. He decides to be on the safe side, carefully locks the door, and runs off to the village. The moment th…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «toad» (+5); the same action «lock» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 14 · ★ · wrong ✗

★★★ Careful: who has been missing «for some days», and who sits by the ford «every night»?

1. Portly sleeps, Otter is missing — no support
2. Otter has been missing for some days, and Portly is the one who sits by the ford at night — ← Mova's choice · score 11
3. Portly is missing; Otter watches — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. Portly sits; Otter is gone for days — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 11, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 49, line 3: «Otter is too proud to show his fear, but every night he sits by the old ford, where he taught Portly to swim and to fish, just in case the little one wanders b…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same circumstance (+4); the same doer «rat» (+3); the same action «sit» (+2); the same property (+2). The right option, 3, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 15 · ★ · wrong ✗

★★★ The ford was used «in by-gone days before they built the bridge». What can we work out?

1. Nobody crosses at the ford any more now — no support
2. The bridge is newer, so people cross by it now — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. The ford is closed, so no one crosses — ← Mova's choice · score 6
4. The bridge is newer than the ford, built by villagers who wanted a dry way over the river — no support

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 3 with score 6, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 49, line 12: «A ford is a shallow place where you can walk across a river; the old ford was used «in by-gone days before they built the bridge».», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+4); the same thing acted on «old ford» (+2). The right option, 2, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 16 · ★ · wrong ✗

★★★ It is a little past ten at night. If dawn comes at about four, roughly how many hours of night are left for the search?

1. Roughly seven — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Four — no support
3. About eight — no support
4. About six — ✓ 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 · wrong ✗

Identify the circumstance which occasioned the anxiety of the Otter family.

1. The loss of a young otter, not yet a strong swimmer, for days — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. The disappearance of the family's cub and his swimming — no support
3. Portly's absence — no support
4. The absence for some days of the young otter, an imperfect swimmer — ✓ 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 2 · formal language · right ✓

Ascertain the location at which the elder Otter maintained his nightly watch, together with the reason therefor.

1. The old ford, where the young one had received his first lessons in swimming — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. The weir, where the young one had received his first lessons in fishing — no support
3. The old bridge, where the young one first learnt his strokes at night — no support
4. The old ford, where the young one had received his first lessons in swimming, and where the stream runs shallow over stones — 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 Mole's resolution upon hearing these tidings.

1. That the search should wait until morning light arrives — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. That a search by boat was preferable to retiring and doing nothing — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. That a search by boat was preferable to retiring and doing nothing, since the Rat had already urged them on to the weir — no support
4. That a search by road was better than rowing at night — 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 · wrong ✗

Which of the following statements is consistent with the established facts concerning the rising of the moon?

1. Familiar places were disclosed anew, as though attired in fresh apparel, and every hedge and bridge looked different in the silver light of the moon — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Shapes in the field grew sharp and frightening, wearing old masks — no support
3. Familiar places were disclosed anew, as though attired in fresh apparel — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. Familiar places were disclosed anew, as though attired in fresh apparel, and the moonlight showed the Rat the way to the weir at last — 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

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