Reading a story: characters, plot and setting
Tests: 6 of 10 right · Exam: 2 of 4 right · Kind: ★ · Understood: 8 of 14 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72
Lesson 22 of the english 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 ✓
«Nell's just bored, that's why she got the towel». Which clue shows she is kind, not bored?
- 1. She helps the kitten even after it hisses at her — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 9
- 2. She has an old towel in a cupboard — no support
- 3. She lives near some bins — no support
- 4. She went inside the house — no support
Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 1 with score 9, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 22, line 1: «Every story has characters (who), a setting (where and when) and a plot (what happens). Read this: «Nell found the stray kitten behind the bins. It was thin an…», 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 «kitten» (+3); the same action «hiss» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 2 · ★ · right ✓
★★ Cause and effect: Hansel drops breadcrumbs; birds eat them. What is the effect?
- 1. Hansel gets more bread — no support
- 2. The witch helps them home — score 2
- 3. The children can't find the way home — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 4
- 4. The birds get sick and fly away — no support
Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 3 with score 4, against 2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 22, line 2: «Most stories climb a story mountain: an opening, a build-up, a problem, a resolution where the problem is sorted, and an ending. In Hansel and Gretel, an old f…», reached through a sentence linked to the one the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+3); the same action «find» (+2); the same thing acted on «way» (+2); the same property (+1). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-1); one says «not», the other does not (counts against) (-3). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 3 · ★ · wrong ✗
★★ A girl in a story says she «didn't even want» the part in the play, after she didn't get it. Which story is like this?
- 1. The race where Tim helped his friend — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. The kitten behind the bins — no support
- 3. Hansel and Gretel and the breadcrumbs — no support
- 4. The fox and the sour grapes — ✓ 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 · ★ · right ✓
«the setting is the bit where she sets the table lol». What's right?
- 1. The setting is where and when the story happens — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 8
- 2. The setting is the title — no support
- 3. Yes, setting means setting the table — no support
- 4. The setting is the last chapter — no support
Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 8, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 22, line 6: «The setting is where and when a story happens.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «setting» (+3); the same property (+3); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 5 · ★ · right ✓
★★★ «Ravi pretended he wasn't scared of the dark. But every night he left the hall light on "by accident".» Which is the best summary of Ravi?
- 1. He loves electricity — no support
- 2. He is not scared and keeps forgetting to switch off the light in the hall — no support
- 3. He is scared of the dark but doesn't want to admit it — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 1
- 4. He wants to annoy his family on purpose — no support
Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 1, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 22, line 4: «Small marks can carry big meaning. «Ravi pretended he wasn't scared of the dark. But every night he left the hall light on "by accident".» The quotation marks…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same circumstance (+4); the same property (+3); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+2). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-2); one says «not», the other does not (counts against) (-6). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 6 · ★ · right ✓
★★★ A summary of Tim's race: which is best?
- 1. Tim runs in a race — no support
- 2. Tim gives up winning to help a fallen friend, and is happy — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 11
- 3. Tim wins the race easily — score 4
- 4. Tim has trainers, there is a race, a friend falls, Tim stops, he helps, he runs again, he comes last, he smiles, he goes home — score 10
Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 11, against 10 for the next best. Its support: lesson 22, line 3: «Stories carry big ideas. Tim wants to win the race, but stops to help a friend who falls; he comes last and smiles. The message: kindness matters more than win…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «help» (+4); the same receiver «friend» (+4); the same doer «tim» (+3). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 7 · ★ · wrong ✗
In a cartoon, a hero is good at everything and never changes. Why do many good stories let characters change?
- 1. Readers hate characters who change — ← Mova's choice · score 4
- 2. Changing characters is against the rules — score 2
- 3. It makes the book shorter — no support
- 4. It shows they learned something from the problem — ✓ the right answer · score 3
Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 1 with score 4, against 3 for the next best. Its support: lesson 22, line 8: «In many good stories a character changes by the end, showing what they learned from the problem.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «change» (+2); the same doer «character» (+2). The right option, 4, scored 3. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 8 · ★ · right ✓
What would happen to a story with no problem in the middle?
- 1. Not much would happen, so it might be dull — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. It would be more exciting than any other kind of story — no support
- 3. It would have no setting — no support
- 4. It couldn't have characters — 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 ✗
Mum: «Did you like the ending?» Leo: «Nah, it was mid.» Mum: «Why?» Leo: «Dunno.» What's missing from Leo's opinion?
- 1. A better title — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. More slang — no support
- 3. A reason — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 4. A spelling — 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 ✗
«the wee boy's a right numpty, he keeps losing his shoes». Why might an author make a character keep making the same mistake?
- 1. Because the author forgot what happened earlier — no support
- 2. For humour, or to show him change later — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. To make the book shorter — no support
- 4. To teach readers to lose shoes — ← Mova's choice · score 3
Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 4 with score 3, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 22, line 4: «Small marks can carry big meaning. «Ravi pretended he wasn't scared of the dark. But every night he left the hall light on "by accident".» The quotation marks…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same thing acted on «shoes» (+3); the same action «lose» (+2). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-2). The right option, 2, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Exam question 1 · formal language · wrong ✗
Identify the principal trait demonstrated by a character who assists a hostile, hissing kitten.
- 1. Greed, in that she hoped to sell the animal for a sum of money — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. Cowardice — no support
- 3. Kindness and patience — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 4. Indifference — 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 ✗
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the setting of a narrative?
- 1. The author's name — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. The moral, or lesson, which the reader is intended to draw from the narrative — no support
- 3. The place and time in which the events occur — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 4. The sequence of events — 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 ✓
Ascertain the moral conveyed by the fable in which a fox, unable to reach certain grapes, declares them to be sour.
- 1. That persons may disparage what they are unable to obtain — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. That foxes are unable to climb — no support
- 3. That grapes are injurious to foxes — no support
- 4. That one ought always to consume fruit at every available opportunity — 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 ✓
Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning the failure of the breadcrumb trail in the tale of Hansel and Gretel.
- 1. The breadcrumbs were consumed by birds — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 2
- 2. The breadcrumbs dissolved in heavy rain that fell throughout the night — no support
- 3. The breadcrumbs were collected by Gretel — no support
- 4. The trail was too short — 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 22, line 2: «Most stories climb a story mountain: an opening, a build-up, a problem, a resolution where the problem is sorted, and an ending. In Hansel and Gretel, an old f…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same thing acted on «breadcrumbs» (+3). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/english/22-reading-a-story-characters-plot-and-setting/