Alice in Wonderland, chapter III, part 1: The driest thing and the Caucus-race

Tests: 6 of 17 right · Exam: 1 of 4 right · Kind: ★★ · Understood: 11 of 21 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72

Lesson 5 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 ✗

Noah goes: "The Mouse told them a scary story to warm them up." Put him right.

1. It told them a sad story to make them cry — ← Mova's choice · score 1
2. It did not do that, it ran a race round the bank to get them warm again — no support
3. It read a fun joke book to warm them up — no support
4. It read a boring history lesson to make them "dry" — ✓ the right answer · no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 1, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 5, line 2: «The Mouse, who seems to be in charge, makes everyone sit in a ring and reads them "the driest thing" it knows: a boring history lesson about William the Conque…», 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 «mouse» (+2). Against it: one says «not», the other does not (counts against) (-3). The right option, 4, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 2 · ★★ · right ✓

Priya, millennial: "The Mouse's lesson was lowkey the most mid thing ever." ("mid" = boring, not good.) Which word does the Mouse itself use for it?

1. Driest — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. Dullest tale of the day — no support
3. Most boring history ever — no support
4. Wet — 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 ✗

Why is the Mouse's plan to dry them with history a joke?

1. Because the history was about William, who was a French knight with dry wit — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. "Dry" can mean boring as well as not wet — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. Dry history makes a fun story to read — no support
4. The Mouse wanted to dry them with a long speech about William the Conqueror — 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 · ★★ · right ✓

What would have happened if they had kept listening to the Mouse's history?

1. They would have stayed just as wet — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 4
2. They would have all eaten the Mouse's tail and then run off to dry — no support
3. They would have dried off and gone home happily to their beds — no support
4. They would have dried in the sun — no support

Why: It took the question to ask what happens next. It chose option 1 with score 4, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 2, line 21: «After the first little bite nothing happened and she stayed the same size; this seemed "quite dull and stupid", because she now expected only out-of-the-way th…», reached through what followed the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «stay» (+4). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 5 · ★★ · right ✓

Mason from Texas: "Y'all, that Duck's dumb, he don't know what 'it' means." ("y'all" = you all.) What was the Duck really asking?

1. What exactly the archbishop found — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 4
2. What the Lory had already eaten — no support
3. What the Dodo meant by it — no support
4. Where the Duck lives — no support

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 with score 4, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 5, line 12: «When the Mouse says the archbishop "found it advisable" (found it a sensible idea), the Duck asks "Found what?", because when a duck finds "it", "it's generall…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «find» (+2); the same doer «archbishop» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 6 · ★★ · wrong ✗

True or false: the Caucus-race had a clear start and a clear finish line.

1. False: nobody knew when it began or ended for sure — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. True: the Dodo blew a whistle at the start and at the end — no support
3. True: they ran a clear race round the pool — no support
4. False: they started when they liked, and the Dodo just stopped it — ✓ 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 7 · ★★ · wrong ✗

Aunt Kath, rough: "That Dodo's a pompous old windbag, all long words and no sense." ("windbag" = someone who talks a lot and says little.) Which of its lines shows this best?

1. "Pass the cake" — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. "I propose we hold a caucus about it" — no support
3. "I move that the meeting adjourn" — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. "Hush now" — 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 · ★★ · right ✓

Why did Alice ask "What is a Caucus-race?"?

1. The Mouse had said it was the best race ever, and she believed it — score 6
2. She wanted to know its meaning exactly — score 3
3. She had never heard such a long word before in her life, and it startled her — score 3
4. The Dodo paused as if somebody ought to speak — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 13

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 4 with score 13, against 6 for the next best. Its support: lesson 5, line 16: «Alice asks "What is a Caucus-race?", "not that she wanted much to know", but because the Dodo paused as if somebody ought to speak; the Dodo answers "the best…», reached through the cause of the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «pause» (+5); the same doer «dodo» (+4); its «because» matches the remembered cause (+4). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 9 · ★★ · wrong ✗

Did the Caucus-race work?

1. No, they were still very wet at the end — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Yes: after half an hour they were all dry and the Dodo gave out the prizes from his pocket — no support
3. No, not until Alice had gone back into the pool to finish dripping — no support
4. Yes: after half an hour they were all dry — ✓ 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 · ★★ · right ✓

Why is "Everybody has won" a funny answer?

1. In a real race there is a winner, but this one had no rules — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. In a real race there is a winner, a finish line and a prize, but this one had no rules at all — no support
3. Because all the animals were too wet to run properly — no support
4. Because nobody ran fast enough to win the prize for once — 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: the Mouse reads about William the Conqueror. What did Alice once guess about the Mouse and William?

1. That it came over with him as a French mouse — ✓ the right answer · score 7
2. That it was a loyal servant of the king — no support
3. That it had come over in a ship with the Conqueror and sailed the Channel — score 3
4. That it had once been the Conqueror's cat, and then it turned into a mouse — ← Mova's choice · score 14

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 4 with score 14, against 7 for the next best. Its support: lesson 4, line 15: «The Mouse says nothing to her English, so Alice thinks "Perhaps it doesn't understand English" and guesses it is a French mouse "come over with William the Con…», reached through what was said in the sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+6); the same doer «way» (+4); the same thing acted on «french mouse» (+4). The right option, 1, scored 7. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 12 · ★★ · wrong ✗

Looking back: Alice has been nine feet tall and a few inches tall. How does she seem now, chatting on the bank with the animals?

1. Still nine feet tall — ← Mova's choice · score 8
2. Big enough to frighten the Lory away — score 5
3. Small enough to argue with a Lory as an equal — ✓ the right answer · score 3
4. Grown back to her normal size again — score 3

Why: It took the question to ask what something is like. It chose option 1 with score 8, against 5 for the next best. Its support: lesson 3, line 10: «Lying on one side she can only look into the garden with one eye, so getting through is "more hopeless than ever".», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «look» (+4); the same doer «alice» (+4). The right option, 3, scored 3. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 13 · ★★ · wrong ✗

How has Alice changed since the hall, where she cried alone?

1. She now cries again whenever she is wet — score 8
2. She is still alone — ← Mova's choice · score 14
3. She now hides in the hall — no support
4. She is now in company, talking "as if she had known them all her life" — ✓ the right answer · score 1

Why: It took the question to ask what something is like. It chose option 2 with score 14, against 8 for the next best. Its support: lesson 3, line 5: «She fears she has become Mabel, a girl she thinks knows very little, and ends up crying because she is so tired of being all alone: funny, but lonely and sad u…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+6); the same doer «alice» (+4); the same property (+2); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+2). The right option, 4, scored 1. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 14 · ★★ · wrong ✗

Kirsty from Aberdeen: "The craturs were drookit, ken." ("craturs" = creatures, "drookit" = soaked, "ken" = you know.) What does this say about the animals?

1. They were all soaking wet and had fallen in the pool of Alice's tears — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. They were hungry and sad — no support
3. They were soaking wet — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. They had all been cold — 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 15 · ★★ · wrong ✗

★★★ The Lory says "I am older than you, and must know better". Why is that not a good reason?

1. Being older does not prove you are right — ✓ the right answer · no support
2. Because the Lory is a bird and birds cannot be trusted to know anything about anything at all — no support
3. Being older only means you are taller — no support
4. Because the Lory never told anyone how old it was, so nobody could check its claim properly — ← Mova's choice · score 0

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 4 with score 0, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 5, line 7: «Alice soon talks with the animals "as if she had known them all her life", and argues with the Lory, who only says "I am older than you, and must know better",…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same circumstance (+2); the same action «say» (+1). Against it: one says «not», the other does not (counts against) (-3). The right option, 1, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 16 · ★★ · right ✓

★★★ Read carefully: did Alice ask "What is a Caucus-race?" because she wanted to know?

1. Yes, she did — no support
2. No: "not that she wanted much to know" — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 10
3. Yes, very much — no support
4. No, she had heard it before — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 10, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 5, line 16: «Alice asks "What is a Caucus-race?", "not that she wanted much to know", but because the Dodo paused as if somebody ought to speak; the Dodo answers "the best…», reached through what was said in the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «want» (+4); the same thing acted on «much» (+4); its «because» matches the remembered cause (+4). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 17 · ★★ · wrong ✗

★★★ The party ran "half an hour or so". If they started at a quarter past four, about when did the Dodo shout "The race is over!"?

1. Four o'clock — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Half past four — no support
3. Just after four o'clock — no support
4. About a quarter to five — ✓ 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 character who appeared to exercise authority over the assembled party upon the bank.

1. Lory — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. The Mouse — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. The Dodo — no support
4. Dodo — 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 ✗

Ascertain the reason for which the protagonist's argument with the Lory could not be concluded.

1. The Lory had escaped the argument by flying off to the tall tree with the Dodo — no support
2. Alice refused to say her own age — ← Mova's choice · score 4
3. Alice could not prove her point, since the Lory was old and ignored every question — no support
4. The Lory declined to disclose its age — ✓ the right answer · no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 4, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 5, line 7: «Alice soon talks with the animals "as if she had known them all her life", and argues with the Lory, who only says "I am older than you, and must know better",…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «refuse» (+2); the same doer «alice» (+2). The right option, 4, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 3 · formal language · right ✓

It is given that the Mouse recited a passage of history with the stated object of drying the company. Determine the outcome as reported by the protagonist.

1. She remained as wet as she had been previously — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. She felt warm but was still a little damp — no support
3. She remained as wet as she had been previously, and then caught a bad cold — no support
4. She became extremely wet, since the Mouse's history made the whole party cry — 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 ✗

Select the response most accurately characterising the Dodo's determination upon the conclusion of the race.

1. That everyone had lost and must sit down again — no support
2. That every participant had won and must receive a prize — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. That the race was over and nobody could leave — ← Mova's choice · score 8
4. That nobody had won — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 8, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 5, line 19: «After "half an hour or so" they are dry, and the Dodo calls "The race is over!"; everyone asks "But who has won?"», reached through what was said in the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «race» (+4); the same property (+2); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+2). The right option, 2, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

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