The Wind in the Willows, chapter VII, part 2: The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (the music and the island)

Tests: 7 of 17 right · Exam: 1 of 4 right · Kind: ★ · Understood: 12 of 21 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72

Lesson 50 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 ✗

«Mole heard the music first, no cap.» (no cap = honestly) Put it right.

1. The Mole heard it first; the Rat heard only the reeds — score 5
2. The Rat heard it first, and the Mole heard only the wind in the reeds and rushes along the bank — ← Mova's choice · score 10
3. The Rat heard it first; the Mole heard only wind — ✓ the right answer · score 6
4. The Mole heard the piping first, and Rat was silent — score 5

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 10, against 6 for the next best. Its support: lesson 50, line 2: «The Mole hears only the wind in the reeds, but he rows on where the Rat nods, up a backwater towards the great weir; at last the music reaches him too, and he…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same place «reeds» (+4); the same doer «mole» (+3); the same action «hear» (+2); the same thing acted on «wind» (+1). The right option, 3, scored 6. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 2 · ★ · wrong ✗

Jack from Newcastle: «the island was canny loud with birds singin'.» (canny = very) Put it right.

1. There was utter silence in the bird-haunted branches, where no bird sang at all that dawn — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. There was utter silence in the bird-haunted branches — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. The trees were full of birds that sang sweetly today — no support
4. There was utter silence in all the bird-haunted branches of the wood and along the river bank — 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 ✗

Which is TRUE about the scene on the island?

1. The Mole feels awe, not panic, and is wonderfully at peace, though his legs are weak and he sees nothing at all — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. The Mole feels awe, not panic, and is wonderfully at peace, while the Rat weeps and trembles at his side in the boat — no support
3. The Rat is calm, but the Mole is wild with panic and fear — no support
4. The Mole feels awe, not panic, and is wonderfully at peace — ✓ 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 4 · ★ · wrong ✗

«O, never, never! And yet — and yet — O, Mole, I am afraid!» What does the Rat's answer show?

1. Anger at the Piper for stealing Portly — no support
2. A mixture of joy, grief, fear and wonder that the Rat cannot explain, even to himself, in the wood — ← Mova's choice · score 6
3. Love, wonder and trembling, all at once, for the Piper whom he has seen and does not yet fully understand — no support
4. Love, wonder and trembling, all at once — ✓ the right answer · no support

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 2 with score 6, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 39, line 2: «He tells of his walk through the snowy wood at sunrise: snow-castles, snow sliding off branches with a «flop!», robins looking proud as if they had done it all…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same place «snowy wood» (+4); the same doer «rat» (+2). The right option, 4, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 5 · ★ · wrong ✗

Why does the Mole look up, though he hardly dares?

1. Because the call and the summons still seem to command him, and he has already decided to obey whatever happens — ← Mova's choice · score 4
2. He wants to see the music that is playing for him — score 4
3. The call and the summons still seem to command him, though he is afraid of what he will see in the light — score 4
4. The call and the summons still seem to command him — ✓ the right answer · score 2

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). 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 33, line 3: «One afternoon, while the Rat dozes in his armchair hunting for rhymes, the Mole quietly decides to go out by himself, explore the Wild Wood, and perhaps meet M…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «decide» (+3); the same doer «mole» (+1). The right option, 4, scored 2. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 6 · ★ · right ✓

«It's giving fairy-tale.» (it's giving = it feels like) Which detail makes the island feel like a holy story-place?

1. It is tall and grey, with a wide view of the wood — no support
2. It has many trees — no support
3. It hides what it holds «behind a veil», «till the hour should come» — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 5
4. It has a fine lawn and a river, like any other garden — no support

Why: It took the question to ask a circumstance (with what, when, how). It chose option 3 with score 5, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 50, line 14: «The weir closes the backwater «from bank to bank»; in the middle lies a small island «fringed close with willow and silver birch and alder». The island seems t…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «island» (+3); the same place «veil» (+3). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 7 · ★ · right ✓

Zoe: «Pan's a scary monster who stole Portly.» Put it right.

1. No: the Friend and Helper kept the lost little one safe — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. No: the Friend and Helper never stole anyone, but kept the lost little one safe while his father searched through the snow — no support
3. Yes: the Piper took him away and kept him in the dark — no support
4. No: the Friend and Helper kept the lost little one safe, and Portly was found asleep between his hooves in peace — 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 ✓

What do the words «Friend and Helper» tell us about the Piper?

1. He helps lost and hurt little animals — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. He is very big — no support
3. He sends the animals home to sleep — no support
4. He is kind — 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 ✓

Ollie from Sydney: «Mole was rowin', yeah nah, it was Ratty rowin'.» (yeah nah = no) Which of his two words was right?

1. The first: the Mole was rowing — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. The second: Ratty was rowing — no support
3. The first, but Ratty rowed — no support
4. The second, because Ratty was rowing the boat while the Mole sat in the stern, dozing — 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 ✗

Looking back: who first told the Mole that nothing is «half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats»?

1. The Badger, at dinner — score 9
2. The Rat, on the Mole's first day by the river — ✓ the right answer · score 9
3. The Rat, on a warm evening at the weir — score 9
4. Toad, on the Mole's first visit to the river — ← Mova's choice · score 10

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 4 with score 10, against 9 for the next best. Its support: lesson 25, line 5: «The Rat is amazed, and dreamily tells him there is nothing «half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats» — and crashes into the bank while he say…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+4); the same doer «mole» (+3); the same circumstance (+2); a different action (counts against) (+1). The right option, 2, scored 9. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 11 · ★ · right ✓

Looking back: which flower «arrived early» in the summer pageant of chapter III, and now fringes the bank?

1. Water-lily flowers — score 3
2. Purple loosestrife, which grew tall along the bank in the summer pageant — score 4
3. Purple loosestrife — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 10
4. Purple loosestrife, which had come into flower early on the banks of the river at the end of the summer — score 10

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 3 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 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: it fills the role the question asks for (+4); the same property (+3); the same doer «purple loosestrife» (+2); the same action «arrive» (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 12 · ★ · wrong ✗

Looking back: in chapter V something called the Mole home through his nose. What do that night and this dawn share?

1. A smell that pulls an animal along, and that must be followed to its source, as the Mole once followed it home through the wood — ← Mova's choice · score 8
2. A call that pulls an animal along and must be obeyed, and which both the Mole and the Rat feel on the island — score 5
3. A call that pulls an animal along and must be obeyed — ✓ the right answer · score 3
4. A strong smell that draws him home to his burrow — no support

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 with score 8, against 5 for the next best. Its support: lesson 41, line 16: «His home had called him «sorrowfully, reproachfully, but with no bitterness or anger; only with plaintive reminder that it was there, and wanted him». (Plainti…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+4); the same doer «home» (+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 13 · ★ · wrong ✗

Looking back: Portly's father once came through the snow to Badger's house. What did he say people in a fix usually do?

1. Go to Badger, or Badger gets to know of it somehow — ✓ the right answer · no support
2. Go to Toad, or the police will hear about it — ← Mova's choice · score 2
3. Ask the Otter — no support
4. Go to the Rat, or the Rat gets to know of it — no support

Why: It took the question to ask what is done. It chose option 2 with score 2, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 49, line 17: «The Mole says: «I simply can't go and turn in, and go to sleep, and do nothing»; the Rat answers «Just what I was thinking myself»: it's no sort of night for b…», 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 action «pick up» (+1). Against it: a different doer (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 14 · ★ · wrong ✗

Looking back: in which chapter did the Mole first see a river at all?

1. Chapter I, the day he left his spring-cleaning — ✓ the right answer · no support
2. Chapter III, when he first met the Badger in the wood — score 1
3. Chapter II — ← Mova's choice · score 4
4. Chapter IV — score 4

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 3 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 46, line 2: «But the Rat thinks he sees a twinkle in Toad's sorrowful eye. The Badger asks Toad to repeat his promise in front of his friends. A long, long pause… then: «No…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same property (+3); a different thing acted on (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 15 · ★ · right ✓

★★★ Count: how many kinds of tree stand round the little lawn itself? (Careful: the island's edge has other trees.)

1. Three — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. Three kinds, counting the willow — no support
3. Five — no support
4. Four — 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 16 · ★ · wrong ✗

★★★ «He might not refuse, were Death himself waiting to strike him». What does this mean?

1. He would look even if he had to run back home — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. He was too afraid to look — no support
3. Even if looking meant death, he could not refuse to look — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. He never looked — 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 is «wonderfully at peace and happy», yet his muscles turn «to water». How can both be true?

1. Awe is peace and wonder mixed with trembling — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 9
2. Happiness and fear can share the same moment, though — no support
3. Fear and peace are the same thing — no support
4. Awe is peace and wonder mixed with trembling, so the Mole can be both happy and weak-kneed at the same time — score 9

Why: It took the question to ask what something is like. 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 50, line 17: «The Mole feels «a great Awe»: «It was no panic terror — indeed he felt wonderfully at peace and happy»; awe is deep wonder, mixed with a little trembling, befo…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «mix» (+4); the same thing acted on «deep wonder» (+4); the same circumstance (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 1 · formal language · wrong ✗

Identify the agency by which the Water Rat was first apprised of the proximity of the Piper.

1. The hearing of a distant piping, imperceptible as yet to his companion, who sat dozing in the bow of the boat — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. The hearing of a distant piping, which was imperceptible as yet to his companion, though it was clear to the Rat's keen ears — no support
3. The noticing of a faint light flickering on the far bank — no support
4. The hearing of a distant piping, imperceptible as yet to his companion — ✓ 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 · wrong ✗

Select the response which most accurately characterises the Mole's state of mind upon the island.

1. Happy and calm — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. An awe which bowed his head, unaccompanied by panic and attended by peace — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. A fear that set his legs trembling and drove him away — no support
4. A great calm that left him sleepy and content in the grass — 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 ✗

Ascertain the situation in which the missing young otter was discovered.

1. Asleep, in entire peace and contentment, between the hooves of the Friend and Helper — ✓ the right answer · no support
2. Asleep, in entire peace and contentment, between the hooves of the Friend and Helper, having been brought there by the Rat and the Mole at dawn — no support
3. Asleep, in entire peace and contentment, between the hooves of the Friend and Helper, on the little island in the middle of the stream — no support
4. Sleeping in a hollow log, found by the Badger the next morning — ← 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 33, line 7: «The Rat: «Badger'll turn up some day or other—he's always turning up ... But you must not only take him as you find him, but when you find him.»», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «find» (+2). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-1). The right option, 1, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 4 · formal language · right ✓

Which of the following statements is consistent with the established facts concerning the two animals' conduct in the Presence?

1. Crouching to the earth, they bowed their heads and did worship — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 5
2. They fled from the Piper into the cold reeds at once — no support
3. Crouching to the earth, they bowed their heads and did worship, as the Mole and the Rat had both been taught by the Badger — score 5
4. Crouching to the earth, they bowed their heads and did worship, while the Piper's music rose and fell about them — score 5

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. 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 50, line 5: ««Are you afraid?» whispers the Mole. «Of Him? O, never, never! And yet — and yet — O, Mole, I am afraid!» says the Rat, and they bow their heads in worship. In…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «bow» (+5); the same thing acted on «heads» (+2). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

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