Just So Stories, The Cat that Walked by Himself, part 1: the First Friend and the First Servant

Tests: 7 of 18 right · Exam: 3 of 4 right · Kind: ★ · Understood: 17 of 22 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72

Lesson 93 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 ✓

Freya: «the Cat went to the Cave with the Dog and they both made a deal, gyatt.» (gyatt = something kids shout) Put it right.

1. The Cat went in, bargained openly and then made a deal — score 3
2. The Cat made a deal — score 3
3. The Cat laughed, stayed outside and made no deal at all — score 3
4. The Cat refused, followed secretly and made no deal — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 7

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 7, against 3 for the next best. Its support: lesson 93, line 2: «After a fine supper the Woman looks at a mutton blade-bone and makes the First Singing Magic. The wild animals see the fire and wonder. Wild Dog smells roast m…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «cat» (+4); the same action «follow» (+2); the same property (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 2 · ★ · wrong ✗

Why does Wild Dog become the «First Friend»?

1. He hunts the sheep and chases the Cat away — score 3
2. He sees the Woman's magic, then agrees to hunt, guard and bark for ever in return for roast bones — score 4
3. He agrees to help the Man hunt and guard the Cave, and he is named friend because he chooses it — ← Mova's choice · score 9
4. He agrees to help hunt and guard, for roast bones — ✓ the right answer · score 4

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 3 with score 9, against 4 for the next best. Its support: lesson 93, line 4: «Next night the Woman dries sweet grass, plaits a halter and makes the Second Singing Magic. Wild Horse comes for the grass, bends his head for the halter and b…», reached through the cause of the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same thing acted on «cave» (+5); the same doer «wild horse» (+4). The right option, 4, scored 4. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 3 · ★ · wrong ✗

The Cat says the Woman is wise «but she is not so wise as I am». What does this show about him?

1. He is proud, but really he is foolish and is afraid of the Woman's magic — no support
2. He is brave and fears no one at all — no support
3. He is proud and thinks he is cleverest — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. He is proud, thinks he is cleverest, and secretly wants to rule the whole Cave — ← Mova's choice · score 3

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 4 with score 3, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 93, line 3: «The Woman throws Wild Dog a roast bone, and he wants more. She offers him as many bones as he needs if he helps the Man hunt by day and guards the Cave at nigh…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+2); the same thing acted on «cave» (+1); a different action (counts against) (+1). Against it: the same doer «cat» (-1). The right option, 3, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 4 · ★ · wrong ✗

What would happen if the Cat had gone in with the Dog?

1. He would have eaten the bone — score 4
2. Perhaps he'd have got a bargain too — ✓ the right answer · score 5
3. Perhaps he'd have become a Servant — score 4
4. He'd be fed — ← Mova's choice · score 9

Why: It took the question to ask what happens next. It chose option 4 with score 9, against 5 for the next best. Its support: lesson 93, line 10: ««Nenni!» means «No!» (an old French-sounding word); the Cat says «I am the Cat who walks by himself, and all places are alike to me. I will not come.»», reached through what followed the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «cat» (+5); the same thing acted on «cat» (+4). The right option, 2, scored 5. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 5 · ★ · wrong ✗

Which is TRUE in this part?

1. The Cat tells the Man both bargains — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. The Dog goes into the Woods and never comes back to the Cave — no support
3. The Cat is named First Friend by the Woman at last — no support
4. The Cat secretly listens to both bargains — ✓ 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 · ★ · wrong ✗

Jack from Somerset: «alright my lover, horses were tamed first, before dogs.» (alright my lover = hello, friend) Put it right.

1. Horses came first, at least 5,000 years ago; dogs later — ← Mova's choice · score 7
2. Dogs came first, at least 15,000 years ago; horses much later — ✓ the right answer · score 7
3. Horses came first, long before dogs, which were only tamed in the last few hundred years by people — score 6
4. Horses were tamed first, before dogs, and the Woman taught both of them in the Cave long ago — 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 81, line 20: «Real biology: dingoes are Australia's wild dogs, which came with people thousands of years ago and really do hunt kangaroos; but kangaroos got their long legs…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «wild dogs» (+4); the same action «come» (+2); the same property (+1). The right option, 2, scored 7. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 7 · ★ · right ✓

Real life: where did dogs come from?

1. They came from wild horses — score 5
2. They were tamed from wolves — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 7
3. From cats — score 5
4. From foxes — score 5

Why: It took the question to ask where. It chose option 2 with score 7, against 5 for the next best. Its support: lesson 81, line 20: «Real biology: dingoes are Australia's wild dogs, which came with people thousands of years ago and really do hunt kangaroos; but kangaroos got their long legs…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «dingoes» (+4); the same thing acted on «wild dogs» (+3). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 8 · ★ · right ✓

Real life: about when were horses tamed?

1. About 5,500 years ago — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. Last year — no support
3. Long ago — no support
4. About 3,000 years ago — 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 ✗

Real life: Kipling has Dog, then Horse, then Cow. What is closer to the true order?

1. Dog first, then horse and cow, and sheep and pigs and goats all at the same time — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Cow first; sheep and pigs; dog and horse later — no support
3. Horse first; dog and cow together much later on — no support
4. Dog first; cows, sheep and pigs; horses much later — ✓ 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 · ★ · wrong ✗

Kayla: «bummer, the blade-bone magic's real, my uncle reads bones.» (bummer = what a shame) What is true?

1. Bone-reading was a real old custom and always tells what will happen next — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Bone-reading was a real old custom in many lands, and it does tell the future if done right — no support
3. Bone-reading was a real old custom, but it does not tell the future — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. Bone-reading is real and always right about the future — 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: which earlier story also had a Man who left an idle animal alone and made others work «double-time»?

1. How the Whale Got His Throat — no support
2. The Elephant's Child and How the Camel Got His Great Hump Long Ago — ← Mova's choice · score 9
3. How the Camel Got His Hump — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. How the Cat Got His Name — no support

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 2 with score 9, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 85, line 4: «The Stranger-man is thumped, rolled on pebbles and called rude names, but he leads them all back to the river. There they find Taffy making daisy-chains and Te…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+5); the same doer «taffy» (+4). 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: in the Crab story, which animal slipped away to play alone, like the Cat here?

1. The Cunning Monkey — score 2
2. The Sea Turtle — score 7
3. Pau Amma the Crab — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 9
4. The Elephant Child — score 7

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 3 with score 9, against 7 for the next best. Its support: lesson 90, line 8: «Pau Amma the Crab, «next in the game», says «I will play my play alone in the deep waters, and I will never be obedient to this son of Adam.»», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+5); the same doer «pau» (+4). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 13 · ★ · right ✓

Looking back: who in the Taffy stories lived in a Cave and kept house too?

1. Teshumai Tewindrow, Taffy's Mummy — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 7
2. Taffy's Daddy, Mister Tewindrow — score 5
3. Taffy and her Mummy and all the cousins who lived in the Cave on the hill — score 2
4. Taffy's sister Ellen Wilson — score 5

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 1 with score 7, against 5 for the next best. Its support: lesson 84, line 1: «Long, long ago, in the Stone Age, a man called Tegumai lives in a Cave with his wife Teshumai and his little daughter Taffy. Nobody in the family can read or w…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+5); the same doer «teshumai» (+4). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 14 · ★ · wrong ✗

Looking back: what did Taffy draw at the Cave mouth in her picture-letter?

1. The sea — score 8
2. Her Daddy with his hands down — score 8
3. Her Mummy with her hands up — ✓ the right answer · score 8
4. A cave — ← Mova's choice · score 12

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 4 with score 12, against 8 for the next best. Its support: lesson 85, line 7: «The way in the picture: two trees, a hill, the beaver-swamp (only the beavers' heads), then the Cave, which she drew too big because she «can't draw things ver…», reached through a sentence linked to the one the question matched. What matched: the same action «draw» (+4); the same doer «taffy» (+3); it fills the role the question asks for (+3); the same thing acted on «cave» (+2). The right option, 3, scored 8. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 15 · ★ · wrong ✗

Ted from Dudley: «tara-a-bit, I'm off to read how the Cat got his name First Friend.» (tara-a-bit = see you later) Put it right.

1. The Dog and the Cat are both First Friends, and both guard the Cave together every single night — ← Mova's choice · score 7
2. The Dog is the First Friend; the Cat stays the one who walks by himself — ✓ the right answer · score 7
3. The Cat is the First Friend; the Dog walks by himself at night — score 7
4. The Dog is the First Servant; the Cat is the one who guards the Cave — score 3

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 93, line 3: «The Woman throws Wild Dog a roast bone, and he wants more. She offers him as many bones as he needs if he helps the Man hunt by day and guards the Cave at nigh…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «cat» (+4); the same thing acted on «wild dog» (+2); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+1). The right option, 2, scored 7. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 16 · ★ · right ✓

★★★ Careful: on the second night, why does the Woman laugh at Wild Horse's question «where is Wild Dog?»

1. She knows he really came for the grass, not for the Dog — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 8
2. She knows the Dog is not coming back — no support
3. She thinks he is funny — no support
4. She knows he really wants the Dog to hunt for him — score 6

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 8, against 6 for the next best. Its support: lesson 93, line 4: «Next night the Woman dries sweet grass, plaits a halter and makes the Second Singing Magic. Wild Horse comes for the grass, bends his head for the halter and b…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «wild horse» (+4); the same action «come» (+2); the same circumstance (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 17 · ★ · wrong ✗

★★★ Counting: in this part, how many Singing Magics has the Woman made, and how many animals have made bargains?

1. Three bargains — ← Mova's choice · score 1
2. Two Magics, three bargains — score 1
3. One Magic — score 1
4. Two Magics, two bargains — ✓ the right answer · score 1

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 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 54, line 13: «The book jokes that pockets make «the lord of creation» (people) different from animals that «hop or trip about» with no pockets — a funny way of laughing at T…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+4); the same thing acted on «things» (+2). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-2); a different doer (counts against) (-3). The right option, 4, scored 1. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 18 · ★ · right ✓

★★★ «O my Enemy and Wife of my Enemy», says Wild Dog first. Whom does he mean by «my Enemy»?

1. Cat — no support
2. The Man — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 3
3. Dog — no support
4. The Horse — no support

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 2 with score 3, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 84, line 5: «But the Stranger-man reads the picture quite differently. He thinks Tegumai must be a great Chief in danger, with enemies all around, and that the child is ask…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+2); the same thing acted on «great chief» (+1); the same circumstance (+1). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 1 · formal language · right ✓

Identify the condition imposed by the Woman upon Wild Dog in exchange for roast bones.

1. That he assist the Man in hunting by day and guard the Cave by night — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. That he help the Cat hunt by day and sleep in the Cave at night — no support
3. That he assist the Man in hunting by day and guard the Cave by night, and never eat any of the Woman's roast mutton — no support
4. That he serve the Woman in the kitchen by day and guard the Woods by night — 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

Exam question 2 · formal language · right ✓

Ascertain the designation conferred upon Wild Horse following his acceptance of the halter.

1. The First Servant — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 3
2. The First Servant who wears the halter — no support
3. The First Rider — no support
4. The Wild Runner — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 3, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 93, line 13: «Wild Horse comes «tripping and stumbling on his long mane» and asks «where is Wild Dog?»; the Woman laughs and says he came not for Wild Dog but «for the sake…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same thing acted on «first servant» (+2); the same property (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 3 · formal language · right ✓

It is given that the Cat followed each animal to the Cave. Select the response most consistent with his subsequent conduct.

1. He returned alone to the Woods and informed nobody — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 6
2. He returned alone to the Cave and informed the Woman — score 6
3. He stayed by the Cave and told the Woman — score 6
4. He returned alone to the Woods, informed nobody, and then went straight back to make his own bargain with the Woman — score 6

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. 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 16, line 19: «The Cat's head fades away while he is gone; when he comes back with the Duchess, it has entirely disappeared.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «cat» (+4); the same action «come back» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 4 · formal language · wrong ✗

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the domestication of the dog in the real world?

1. It was tamed from the wolf, at least fifteen thousand years ago — ✓ the right answer · no support
2. It came from the cat — ← Mova's choice · score 3
3. It came from the wolf, about five thousand years ago — no support
4. It was tamed from the fox, about five thousand years ago — no support

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 2 with score 3, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 93, line 2: «After a fine supper the Woman looks at a mutton blade-bone and makes the First Singing Magic. The wild animals see the fire and wonder. Wild Dog smells roast m…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «come» (+5); the same circumstance (+2). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-1); 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

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