Andersen's Tales, The Story of a Mother, part 206: a mother follows Death and pays a price

Tests: 4 of 13 right · Exam: 0 of 4 right · Kind: ★ · Understood: 10 of 17 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72

Lesson 995 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 ✗

ok fr, who was the dude in the big horse-blanket?

1. The old gray man — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. A tall stranger — no support
3. Death himself — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. A thief — 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 ✓

so the mom's kid got snatched while she was napping, right?

1. Yep, while she dozed off — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. Nah, she was out cold — no support
3. Yep, while she dozed off for just a little while, and the old man took him — no support
4. Yes, while she was awake — 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 ✗

bruh, what did Night want before spilling the route?

1. Every song the mom sang, all the songs she knew from childhood, and each lullaby — score 1
2. Every song the mom sang — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. Every song the mom sang, and then the cake she baked, and her cloak too — no support
4. Her silver spoon back — ← Mova's choice · score 4

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 4 with score 4, against 1 for the next best. Its support: lesson 995, line 11: «Night wants her songs, because "I love these songs, I have heard them before."», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «night» (+3); the same action «want» (+1). The right option, 2, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 4 · ★ · wrong ✗

lowkey wild, what did the bush want to get unfrozen?

1. Sun — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. A warm hug to her bosom — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. A kettle of hot water — no support
4. Warm milk — 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 5 · ★ · wrong ✗

fr, the thorns poked her and blood came out, sus right?

1. Yeah, a little green sap — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. No blood — no support
3. Yeah, the bush went dry — no support
4. Yeah, great drops of blood — ✓ 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 ✓

why did the lake want her eyes, like what's the deal?

1. To make pearls out of them and to sell them in the markets of the far city — score 5
2. To make pearls out of them, so that the lake can wear them as a crown forever — score 5
3. To make pearls out of them — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 5
4. To freeze them solid there — score 2

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 3 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 995, line 15: «The lake's price is her eyes, because "your eyes are the purest I have ever seen", and they become "two costly pearls".», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same thing acted on «two costly pearls» (+3); the same circumstance (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 7 · ★ · wrong ✗

wait, so the old lady swapped hair, what kind?

1. Black hair for white locks, plus her golden comb and her warm woolen cloak — score 0
2. Red hair for white locks — ← Mova's choice · score 2
3. Black hair for white locks — ✓ the right answer · score -1
4. Black hair for white locks, and the mother's three days of waiting in the snow — no support

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 956, line 19: «The old lady thinks the red shoes "hideous," so they are "burnt."», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «old lady» (+3). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-1). The right option, 3, scored -1. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 8 · ★ · wrong ✗

bro the hothouse plants have hearts that actually beat??

1. No, they're only plants — ← Mova's choice · score 5
2. Yes, that's what she said — ✓ the right answer · score 4
3. Yes, that's what she said, and each beat keeps time with a child's heart — score 4
4. Yes, that's what she said, but the mother could not hear them at all — score 4

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 5, against 4 for the next best. Its support: lesson 822, line 20: «Old word: "hemlock" is a poisonous wild plant; the elves put it in their salad, which shows how strange their feast is.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same thing acted on «poisonous wild plant» (+2); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+2); the same doer «old word» (+1). The right option, 2, scored 4. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 9 · ★ · wrong ✗

did the clock stop when Death left, no cap?

1. Nope, it kept ticking — ← Mova's choice · score 5
2. Nope — no support
3. Yep, it stopped dead — ✓ the right answer · score 5
4. No — 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 320, line 10: «What: the crocodile swallowed a clock "which goes tick tick inside it", so Hook hears it coming and bolts.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «tick» (+4); the same doer «clock» (+1). The right option, 3, scored 5. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 10 · ★ · wrong ✗

the mom ran outside screaming for her kid, right?

1. Yeah, calling for her child through the snow, past every house on the lake shore — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Yeah, screaming down the lane — no support
3. Yeah, calling for her child — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. Yeah, she ran out crying — 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 · ★ · right ✓

so how long had she been up without sleep?

1. One night — no support
2. Three whole days and nights — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 3
3. About three days, I think — no support
4. Three full weeks by then — no support

Why: It took the question to ask what something is like. It chose option 2 with score 3, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 731, line 2: «She tries the spindle, it pricks her, and she falls into a deep sleep that spreads through the whole palace.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same circumstance (+2); it fills the role the question asks for (+1); a different action (counts against) (+1). Against it: the same property (-1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 12 · ★ · wrong ✗

fr, what's something that grows in the hothouse?

1. Hyacinths under glass bells, each one tended by the old woman at dawn and dusk — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Red roses in the window box — no support
3. Hyacinths under glass bells, all wrapped in straw against the cold winter nights — no support
4. Hyacinths under glass bells — ✓ 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 13 · ★ · right ✓

ok last one, what did Death do when she asked him?

1. Smiled and walked off slowly — no support
2. Nodded, could mean yes or no — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 6
3. Nodded slowly, which could mean yes or no, as the lantern flickered out in the snow — score 6
4. Nodded, which could mean yes or no, and then he carried the child off with him — score 6

Why: It took the question to ask what is done. It chose option 2 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 666, line 14: «"Suitors" means men who ask to marry a princess, and the princess had refused many royal suitors before the shepherd.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+3); the same action «mean» (+2); a different doer (counts against) (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 1 · formal language · wrong ✗

Which figure removes the infant from the mother's chamber during her brief slumber?

1. Death, the tall man in a dark cape — ← Mova's choice · score 1
2. The old man — score 1
3. Death, the old man in the horse-cloth — ✓ the right answer · score 1
4. The gardener, a grey-bearded man — score 1

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. 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 200, line 2: «Back in China the genii carry the princess home, and she wakes up calling for the young man who slept beside her.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+1); a different action (counts against) (+1). Against it: the same doer «young man» (-1). The right option, 3, scored 1. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 2 · formal language · wrong ✗

By what means does the lake consent to convey the bereaved mother across its waters?

1. Through a bargain for her cloak and a pair of boots — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. In exchange for her weeping eyes, which become pearls — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. In exchange for her weeping eyes, which the lake keeps as pearls in its cold depths below the ice — no support
4. In exchange for her weeping eyes, which become pearls, and a promise never to return to the shore — 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 ✗

What is the significance, within the hothouse, of an individual plant's withering?

1. It means the plant needs more water — ← Mova's choice · score 2
2. It shows the gardener is growing tired — no support
3. It marks a warning from the old woman — no support
4. It signifies the ending of a human life — ✓ 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 808, line 19: «The author's point: the butterfly says "I need freedom, sunshine, and a little flower for a companion," which shows he wants more than a warm, safe room.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «want» (+4); the same doer «plant» (+1). Against it: a different thing acted on (counts against) (-3). The right option, 4, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 4 · formal language · wrong ✗

What precisely does the old woman accept from the mother in return for her counsel?

1. A bundle of old white linen — ← Mova's choice · score 5
2. A basket of winter apples — score 5
3. Her silver ring and cloak — score 5
4. The mother's long black hair — ✓ the right answer · score 5

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. 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 302, line 11: «The mother's wish is hard to understand: she asks Death to take the child "into God's kingdom" rather than let it live in misery.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same circumstance (+2); the same action «take» (+1); a different doer (counts against) (+1); one says «not», the other does not (counts against) (+1). The right option, 4, scored 5. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

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