Just So Stories (Rudyard Kipling), 5: The Elephant's Child, part 1 (What does the Crocodile have for dinner?)

Tests: 7 of 16 right · Exam: 3 of 4 right · Kind: ★ · Understood: 14 of 20 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72

Lesson 79 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 ✓

Ethan says: "The Elephant's Child was a naughty kid who never said please." Put him right.

1. He was always most polite, saying "'Scuse me" — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. He was rude — no support
3. He was always rude and never said sorry — no support
4. He was very naughty — 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 ✓

Molly, Gen Alpha: "Crocodile was like 'come here bestie, I'll whisper', sus much?" ("sus" = suspicious.) Why should the Elephant's Child have been careful?

1. Crocodiles catch animals at the water's edge — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 1
2. Crocodiles like to talk to young children — score 0
3. They are very friendly — no support
4. Crocodiles sleep all day in the hot sun — score 0

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 1 with score 1, against 0 for the next best. Its support: lesson 79, line 18: «The Crocodile caught him "by his little nose" and said "between his teeth" that "to-day I will begin with Elephant's Child!"; with his nose squeezed, the Eleph…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «catch» (+2). Against it: a different thing acted on (counts against) (-1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 3 · ★ · wrong ✗

What would have happened if the Elephant's Child had not leaned close to hear the whisper?

1. He would still have his old short nose — no support
2. The Python would have taken his bananas away — score -3
3. The Crocodile would have eaten the melons — ← Mova's choice · score 2
4. The Crocodile could not have caught his nose — ✓ the right answer · score -1

Why: It took the question to ask what happens next. It chose option 3 with score 2, against -1 for the next best. Its support: lesson 79, line 5: «The trusting Elephant's Child leans close, and the Crocodile grabs him by the nose and says he will begin his dinner with Elephant's Child: the part ends with…», reached through what followed the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «crocodile» (+5). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-1); a different thing acted on (counts against) (-2). The right option, 4, scored -1. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 4 · ★ · right ✓

True or false: the Elephant's Child knew what a Crocodile looked like before his trip.

1. False: he had never seen one and did not know — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 7
2. True: he had seen one on his trip to the river before — score 7
3. True: he had seen one many times near the river — no support
4. True: he had seen a Crocodile lots of times at home by the big river and knew it well — score 6

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. 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 4, line 11: «From one trip to the seaside Alice believes every English beach has bathing machines (little huts on wheels that were rolled into the sea for people to change…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «children» (+4); the same thing acted on «houses» (+3). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 5 · ★ · wrong ✗

Nana, Kerry: "Ah, the poor craythur, sure he only wanted to know." ("craythur" = creature.) Why did everybody say "Hush!" to his question?

1. It was a scary, dangerous question to ask, and his aunts had already decided he must be spanked again for it — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. They thought he was too young to ask — no support
3. It was a scary, dangerous question to ask, because it could get a child into trouble with the crocodile — no support
4. It was a scary, dangerous question to ask — ✓ 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 6 · ★ · right ✓

Big bro, rough: "Seventeen melons, a hundred pounds of bananas? He's a proper greedy guts, that one." Why did he take so much food?

1. It was a long journey across Africa — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. It was a long journey across Africa, but his aunts said he could not take any food at all with him — no support
3. He was hungry — no support
4. It was a long journey across Africa, and he wanted to share the food with all of the Crocodiles he met — 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 ✓

The Elephant's Child asks the Python if he has seen a Crocodile. What does the scornful Python answer, after "Have I seen a Crocodile?"

1. What will you ask me next, you silly little elephant calf with the nose? — score 5
2. Why would you ask me that? — no support
3. What will you ask me next, when you have already been spanked enough for one day? — score 5
4. "What will you ask me next?" — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · 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 79, line 15: «The "Bi-Coloured-Python-Rock-Snake" answered "in a voice of dretful scorn", "Have I seen a Crocodile? What will you ask me next?", and spanked him "with his sc…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «ask» (+4); the same property (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 8 · ★ · wrong ✗

Gen Z cousin: "Elephant's Child really said 'I suppose this is the same thing' after the snake spanked him, he's so unbothered." What "same thing" did he mean?

1. Eating melons — score 2
2. Being spanked for his curiosity — ✓ the right answer · score 2
3. Being sent off to the river — ← Mova's choice · score 3
4. Being spanked for his curiosity, which he had been doing all of his life since he was very small — score 2

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 3 with score 3, against 2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 54, line 5: «The driver offers a ride on his engine if the «washerwoman» will wash a few of his dirty shirts. Toad has never washed a shirt in his life and doesn't mean to…», reached through a sentence linked to the one the question matched. What matched: the same doer «toad» (+2); the same place «life» (+2). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-1). The right option, 2, scored 2. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 9 · ★ · wrong ✗

The Leopard story had a puzzle-word, "spots". What is Kipling's word game in "satiable curtiosity"?

1. Baby-talk for "insatiable curiosity" — ✓ the right answer · no support
2. Baby-talk for "insatiable curiosity", a sort of puzzle-word with the sound of the Leopard story's spots — no support
3. Baby-talk for "insatiable curiosity", which Kipling used to make the child sound young and silly — ← Mova's choice · score 7
4. Baby-talk for insatiable sadness — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 7, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 74, line 5: «Kipling tells it out loud to a child he calls "Best Beloved", with funny made-up words, a teasing reminder about the braces, and a happy, silly ending.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «kipling» (+4); the same thing acted on «child» (+3). The right option, 1, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 10 · ★ · right ✓

The Mariner in the Whale story was "a man of infinite-resource-and-sagacity". Which is true of the Elephant's Child so far?

1. He is bold and rude but never curious — no support
2. He is curious and polite but too trusting, and he will never learn from his mistakes at all — score 6
3. He is curious and polite but too trusting — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 6
4. He is greedy and selfish but very kind — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 6, tied with another option at 6 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 2, line 19: «"This curious child was very fond of pretending to be two people", but now there was "hardly enough of me left to make one respectable person".», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «curious child» (+4); the same property (+1); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 11 · ★ · wrong ✗

In the Camel story, the Horse, Dog and Ox each came and spoke to the Camel in turn. Who comes to the Elephant's Child in turn with spanks?

1. His aunts and uncles, one after another, plus the Python and Crocodile too at the river — ← Mova's choice · score 6
2. His aunts and uncles, one after another — ✓ the right answer · score 6
3. The Python, the Crocodile and Baboon — score 6
4. His aunts and uncles, one after another, all in one big spanking party at home before dinner — score 6

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 1 with score 6, tied with another option at 6 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 1, line 10: «Only later "it occurred to her that she ought to have wondered at this"; at the time a talking rabbit seemed quite natural.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same circumstance (+7); the same action «occur» (+1). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-2). The right option, 2, scored 6. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 12 · ★ · right ✓

Sipho, South Africa: "The Limpopo? That's lekker far from Graham's Town, hey." ("lekker" = really, very.) Which way did the Elephant's Child walk?

1. Straight to the sea — score 3
2. Up the river only — score 3
3. From Graham's Town to Kimberley to Khama's Country — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 10
4. From Johannesburg to Durban and back again to home — score 6

Why: It took the question to ask a circumstance (with what, when, how). It chose option 3 with score 10, against 6 for the next best. Its support: lesson 79, line 14: «He went from Graham's Town to Kimberley and to Khama's Country (real places in South Africa and Botswana), and till that day he "had never seen a Crocodile, an…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same place «town» (+4); it fills the role the question asks for (+4); the same circumstance (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 13 · ★ · wrong ✗

Why is it funny that the Elephant's Child "helped to coil him up on the rock again" just after the Python spanked him?

1. He is so clumsy that he drops things on the rock — no support
2. He is so polite that he helps the one who hit him — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. He is so polite that he helps the one who hit him, even though the snake has just spanked him very hard indeed — score 1
4. He is so polite that he helps the one who hit him, and then he goes back to spank the Crocodile too — ← 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 1 for the next best. Its support: lesson 79, line 15: «The "Bi-Coloured-Python-Rock-Snake" answered "in a voice of dretful scorn", "Have I seen a Crocodile? What will you ask me next?", and spanked him "with his sc…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «spank» (+3); the same thing acted on «crocodile» (+1). The right option, 2, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 14 · ★ · wrong ✗

★★★ He took a hundred pounds of bananas and a hundred pounds of sugar-cane. How many pounds is that in all, not counting the melons?

1. Fifty — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Two hundred — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. Ninety — no support
4. Four hundred — 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 Crocodile winked "one eye", then "the other eye". Read carefully: what did he do just after the second wink?

1. Lifted half his tail out of the mud and waved it slowly at the Elephant's Child — score 8
2. Winked again with one eye — ← Mova's choice · score 14
3. Opened his great mouth very wide — no support
4. Lifted half his tail out of the mud — ✓ the right answer · score 8

Why: It took the question to ask what is done. It chose option 2 with score 14, against 8 for the next best. Its support: lesson 25, line 4: «In a hole in the opposite bank something twinkles: an eye, then a whiskered brown face. It is the Water Rat. The Rat rows across in a little blue-and-white boa…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+5); the same circumstance (+4); the same action «twinkle» (+3); a different doer (counts against) (+2). The right option, 4, scored 8. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 16 · ★ · wrong ✗

★★★ Spankers before the trip: his father, his mother, the Ostrich, the Giraffe, the Hippopotamus and the Baboon. Which of the four options is NOT one of his aunts or uncles?

1. Hippopotamus — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. His mother — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. Ostrich — no support
4. Giraffe — 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 · right ✓

Identify the question which provoked the universal response of "Hush!" from the relations of the Elephant's Child.

1. What the Crocodile has for dinner — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 10
2. The Python's tail — no support
3. How the Ostrich got her feathers — no support
4. Melon rind — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 10, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 79, line 2: «One morning he asks the one question nobody dares to answer, "What does the Crocodile have for dinner?", and the Kolokolo Bird tells him to go and find out at…», reached through what was said in the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «crocodile» (+4); the same circumstance (+4); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 2 · formal language · wrong ✗

Ascertain the reason for which the Elephant's Child discarded the rind of the melons along his route.

1. He wanted to leave a trail for his relations — score 2
2. He was unable to pick it up with his nose — ✓ the right answer · score 7
3. He was unable to pick it up with his nose, so he threw the rinds about the plain as he walked — ← Mova's choice · score 9
4. He had eaten all the melon inside it — score 7

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 9, against 7 for the next best. Its support: lesson 79, line 3: «He packs bananas, sugar-cane and melons, says goodbye, and walks across Africa, dropping melon rind all the way because he cannot pick anything up with his lit…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «child» (+4); the same thing acted on «melon rind» (+3); its «because» matches the remembered cause (+2). The right option, 2, scored 7. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 3 · formal language · right ✓

Select the response that most accurately characterises the expression "crocodile tears" in contemporary usage.

1. A display of sorrow which is not genuine — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. A form of fake laughter used by the Python — no support
3. A display of sorrow which is not genuine, first recorded in the Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling in the 1900s — no support
4. A display of sorrow which is not genuine, often used by people who want to fool others into thinking they are 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

Exam question 4 · formal language · right ✓

State, in accordance with established zoology, the customary method of predation employed by the Nile crocodile.

1. Remaining motionless at the water's edge, ambushing animals that drink there, and sometimes climbing onto the banks to hunt birds in trees at dusk — score 5
2. Digging burrows and hiding in them during the midday sun to catch small prey — no support
3. Remaining motionless at the water's edge and ambushing animals that drink, then dragging them under and drowning them in the river — score 5
4. Remaining motionless at the water's edge and ambushing animals that drink — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · 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 79, line 20: «Real biology: Nile crocodiles really do lie still like logs at the water's edge and ambush animals that come to drink, even big ones; that is why going close t…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same thing acted on «animals» (+3); the same action «ambush» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

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