Sicilian Tales, Maria and the King, part 1: a clever girl outwits the king and saves her father

Tests: 1 of 12 right · Exam: 1 of 4 right · Kind: ★ · Understood: 12 of 16 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72

Lesson 723 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 Maria really climb down a rope into the king's garden twice?

1. Nah, mate, she only went in once, lol — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Nah, she didn't — no support
3. Yeah, mate, she did, both times, proper sick move — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. Nah, just 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 2 · ★ · wrong ✗

Wait, why did the king send for her dad anyway?

1. Cos the king fancied his cloth, innit — ← Mova's choice · score 7
2. Cos the king heard his daughter was clever and wanted her to marry one of his friends, innit — score 7
3. Cos he wanted him to do a job, innit — ✓ the right answer · score 5
4. Cos the king needed someone to fetch a rare stone from the mountains, lol, and dad was the only merchant brave enough — score 7

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). 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 698, line 10: «Why: the queen sends the king on a journey because she wants him gone, and he is "too lazy to make a fight for it".», reached through the cause of the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «queen» (+5); a different action (counts against) (+2). The right option, 3, scored 5. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 3 · ★ · right ✓

Bro, what was the medlar thing even about?

1. The sisters had a massive row about figs, bro — no support
2. Her sister was well greedy and wanted fruit, lol — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 3
3. Her eldest sister was dead greedy and wanted the ripe medlars for herself, so she sent Maria out at night, bro — score 3
4. The eldest sister wanted some medlars from the king's garden for a feast, and Maria got caught trying to pick them, lol — score 3

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 3, tied with another option at 3 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 718, line 8: «Why the queen tests them: she says riding and shooting are things "every one learns", but she wants "sharp wits and clever hands".», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «want» (+4); the same doer «queen» (+1). Against it: a different thing acted on (counts against) (-2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 4 · ★ · wrong ✗

Ngl, how did Maria get the king off her trail?

1. She cried and begged him, lol — score 0
2. She hid in the garden shed and then bolted through the gate when he was looking the other way, proper slick — ← Mova's choice · score 5
3. She went back home and hid, bro — no support
4. She hid and bolted, slipped him proper — ✓ the right answer · no support

Why: It took the question to ask what something is like. It chose option 2 with score 5, against 0 for the next best. Its support: lesson 697, line 12: «Who: the king, who is "so bowed down with sorrow" after his queen dies that he will not attend to the kingdom.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «attend» (+4); one says «not», the other does not (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 5 · ★ · wrong ✗

Did the king just believe that the coat was made of chalk?

1. Yeah, he actually believed the coat was chalk until his own tailor said otherwise, mate, so it was all a massive fluke — ← Mova's choice · score 5
2. Nah, he measured it and it was clearly stone — score 2
3. Nah, he knew straight away it was just chalk, so Maria's trick wasn't fooling him at all, it was just a bit of a laugh — score 5
4. Nah, Maria's chalk trick was the only way out — ✓ the right answer · no support

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 722, line 7: «fact: WHAT: The king poisons the friend because he thinks the friend will keep the prince from going home.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «think» (+3); the same doer «king» (+2). The right option, 4, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 6 · ★ · wrong ✗

Haha, her sisters were so jammy, right?

1. Yeah, they both married the king's best friends and lived in big houses by the river, so they were dead lucky — ← Mova's choice · score 6
2. Yeah, they got married to rich lords, proper lucky — score 4
3. Yeah, they got rich off the fruit, mate — no support
4. Nah, they were gutted, their plants had withered — ✓ the right answer · no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 6, against 4 for the next best. Its support: lesson 723, line 4: «The king is furious, and the two elder sisters marry the king's friends while Maria dresses as a boy and plays a trick with a flower basket.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «marry» (+3); the same doer «two elder sisters» (+2); the same thing acted on «friends» (+1). The right option, 4, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 7 · ★ · wrong ✗

Wait, what's with the doll on a string?

1. It made the king think a ghost was talking, lol — ← Mova's choice · score 2
2. She hung it from the ceiling so it spun round and the king thought Maria had turned into a spirit, mate, proper creepy — no support
3. It was a trick to scare the king, mate — no support
4. She pulled it so it nodded yes and no, genius — ✓ the right answer · no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 2, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 12, line 20: «The Cat asks "Did you say pig, or fig?", then vanishes slowly, "beginning with the end of the tail, and ending with the grin"; before that Alice asks it not to…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «make» (+3); the same thing acted on «one» (+1). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-2). The right option, 4, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 8 · ★ · wrong ✗

Ngl, was the king well angry about the flower basket?

1. Yeah, he was raging, it was a proper flop — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Nah, he thought it was funny, mate — no support
3. Nah, he just laughed at the flower basket and sent the kids back home, it was a proper giggle, bro, no drama — no support
4. Yeah, he was raging, it was a proper trick — ✓ 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 9 · ★ · wrong ✗

Did the king know Maria was under the couch?

1. Nah, he didn't see her at first, but he heard her breathing from across the room and got suspicious straight away, bro — ← Mova's choice · score 6
2. Yeah, he saw a little foot sticking out from under the couch and went over to check, but then she jumped out, mate — no support
3. Yeah, he spotted her straight away, bro — score 3
4. Nah, he had no clue until she jumped out — ✓ the right answer · no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 6, against 3 for the next best. Its support: lesson 647, line 8: «Why: the King knows that "when Kings and Queens want children, the Queen always goes to see a witch".», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «see» (+4); the same thing acted on «witch» (+2). The right option, 4, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 10 · ★ · wrong ✗

Bro, was the king a bit of a drama queen at the end?

1. Yeah, he nearly stabbed himself, dead dramatic — ✓ the right answer · score 3
2. Yeah, he got so worked up he started yelling at everyone in the hall and then sat down and sobbed, bro, mad — ← Mova's choice · score 6
3. Yeah, he fainted on the floor, mate — score 5
4. Yeah, he had a massive tantrum, bro — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 6, against 5 for the next best. Its support: lesson 189, line 7: «What: he builds "a stout raft of drift-wood with strong cords" to ride an underground river.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «build» (+3); the same doer «king» (+2); its «because» matches the remembered cause (+1). The right option, 1, scored 3. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 11 · ★ · wrong ✗

Ngl, did Maria get her dad out of trouble in the end?

1. Yeah, she got him out, proper smart, mate — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Nah, he got hanged, lol — no support
3. Nah, he lost everything, but she was fine — no support
4. Yeah, she saved him, dead clever, no cap — ✓ 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 12 · ★ · wrong ✗

So she was the hero the whole time, yeah?

1. Nah, mate, her sisters did loads of the work too, especially the eldest with the medlars, so it wasn't just her — no support
2. Yeah, she was the main one, bro, sorted — ← Mova's choice · score 1
3. Yeah, mate, she was basically the boss of everything — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. Yeah, she was the main one, dead clever, no cap — score 1

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 1, tied with another option at 1 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 129, line 3: «A wise Woman teaches her two magic words, and a table full of hot food appears in front of her.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «wise woman» (+1). The right option, 3, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 1 · formal language · wrong ✗

Which of the following best describes the action by which Maria first evades the monarch's custody?

1. She quits the palace at dawn, hiding her departure from the court — score 0
2. She escapes the garden by climbing down a rope unseen by the guards — ← Mova's choice · score 2
3. She flees the palace at night. — no support
4. She departs the household under pretext, concealing her absence from the royal party — ✓ the right answer · score 0

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 2 with score 2, against 0 for the next best. Its support: lesson 723, line 19: «"Couch" is an old word for a long, low sofa, and Maria hides under one, which is a good place for a clever child to wait.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+1); a different doer (counts against) (+1). The right option, 4, scored 0. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 2 · formal language · wrong ✗

In what manner does the monarch respond to the disappearance of the merchant's youngest daughter?

1. He laughs and orders a feast. — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. He sends out search parties. — no support
3. He is afflicted with a grave illness, and his life is despaired of — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. He is unmoved and continues the hunt with some vigour — 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 · right ✓

What stratagem does Maria employ to satisfy the monarch's demand for a coat of stone?

1. She advises her father to offer a plain cloth as the required garment — score 4
2. She instructs her father to present chalk as a measure of the king — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 9
3. She has her father deliver a coat of stone to the palace, and then she quietly measures the king's height in front of the whole court with a length of thread — score 6
4. She persuades her father to bring the king a stone coat, then secretly replaces it with an old wool sheet while the court watches — score 7

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 2 with score 9, against 7 for the next best. Its support: lesson 723, line 18: «Chalk is a soft white stone that people used to mark things and to draw on walls and boards, and Maria uses it to measure the king.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+4); its «because» matches the remembered cause (+4); the same doer «maria» (+2). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 4 · formal language · wrong ✗

By what means does Maria evade the monarch's final judgement in the chamber?

1. She flees the chamber through a secret passage, and later returns to the palace disguised as a servant girl carrying a painted doll — score 1
2. She hides behind a curtain and moves a puppet with wires — ← Mova's choice · score 7
3. She conceals herself beneath the couch and governs a doll by a string — ✓ the right answer · score 7
4. She hides herself in the furthest corner of the chamber and, while the king strikes at a figure, she manipulates a doll with a hidden string — score 7

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 2 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 723, line 19: «"Couch" is an old word for a long, low sofa, and Maria hides under one, which is a good place for a clever child to wait.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «hide» (+4); it fills the role the question asks for (+2); the same doer «maria» (+1). The right option, 3, scored 7. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

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