Describing: senses, showing and precise words
Tests: 2 of 11 right · Exam: 2 of 4 right · Kind: ★ · Understood: 9 of 15 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72
Lesson 41 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 · ★ · wrong ✗
Your mate goes "more adjectives means better writing, bro, just stack 'em." What is the truth?
- 1. Adjectives are banned in good writing — no support
- 2. Only adverbs make writing better — ← Mova's choice · score 0
- 3. The more adjectives you stack, the better your writing always gets — no support
- 4. One precise word beats a pile of same-meaning ones — ✓ the right answer · no support
Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 0, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 36, line 8: «Dashes give a stronger break than brackets or commas, and can make writing more dramatic; used too often they lose their effect.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «make» (+1). Against it: a different doer (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 2 · ★ · wrong ✗
★★★ Which sentence shows that Tom is nervous without using any feeling word?
- 1. Tom was not calm at all, he was nervous. — no support
- 2. Tom tapped his pencil, then tapped it again. — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. Tom felt nervousness in his nervous body. — no support
- 4. Tom was nervous and a bit worried today. — ← Mova's choice · score 4
Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 4 with score 4, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 13, line 16: «Using a list word in your own sentence checks its meaning as well as its spelling.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+3); the same thing acted on «list word» (+1). The right option, 2, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 3 · ★ · wrong ✗
In a cartoon, a character says "The food was nice, the room was nice, I felt nice." Why is that funny?
- 1. Food is never nice in any cartoon you watch — no support
- 2. The character is secretly speaking French — ← Mova's choice · score 3
- 3. It uses one dull word for everything — ✓ the right answer · score 1
- 4. "Nice" is a very rude word in English — no support
Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 2 with score 3, against 1 for the next best. Its support: lesson 35, line 5: «Inside the marks, characters talk their own way, dialect and slang included: "'Wee eejit,' said Da" (Belfast for "little idiot", said fondly) is perfectly punc…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «talk» (+2); the same doer «characters» (+1). The right option, 3, scored 1. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 4 · ★ · wrong ✗
What would happen if a story only described what things look like?
- 1. It would miss the sounds, smells and feelings — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. It would be the most vivid story ever written — ← Mova's choice · score 4
- 3. It would turn into a poem — score 2
- 4. Readers would not be able to see anything — no support
Why: It took the question to ask what happens next. It chose option 2 with score 4, against 2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 37, line 2: «Many teachers use TiPToP to know when to start a new paragraph: a change of Time, Place, Topic or Person; a Year 3 story written as one giant block is like a l…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «write» (+2); the same thing acted on «year story» (+2). The right option, 1, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 5 · ★ · wrong ✗
A dad from Leeds, dry: "Your monster's 'very scary'. Brilliant. Can't wait to be terrified." ("Dry" means saying it with a straight face.) What does he want?
- 1. The word "very" written three times — ← Mova's choice · score 1
- 2. A second monster that is less scary — no support
- 3. Details that show the monster is scary — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 4. A bigger font for "very scary" — no support
Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 with score 1, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 41, line 8: «Piling up words that mean the same thing (big, huge, enormous) does not add meaning; one well-chosen word is stronger.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+1). The right option, 3, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 6 · ★ · wrong ✗
★★★ Which pair is a weak verb + adverb and the strong verb that replaces it?
- 1. said quietly / shouted — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. ran quickly / walked — no support
- 3. looked angrily / smiled — no support
- 4. ate greedily / gobbled — ✓ 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 7 · ★ · wrong ✗
A Gen Alpha cousin says "This cake is bussin', it's giving birthday." ("Bussin'" means really good.) In a story, which line shows the cake best?
- 1. The cake was a cake that was really cake. — score 6
- 2. The cake was bussin' and very nice and very good and nice. — no support
- 3. It was giving cake, the cake was cakey. — ← Mova's choice · score 7
- 4. The icing was thick and the sponge still warm. — ✓ the right answer · no support
Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 3 with score 7, against 6 for the next best. Its support: lesson 30, line 2: «Jack writes «The boy which lives next door.» Which is for things, so it should be «The boy who lives next door.» Gran in Yorkshire says, «That's the lass what…», 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 «way» (+3). The right option, 4, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 8 · ★ · wrong ✗
A lad in Cardiff says "It was lush." ("Lush" means lovely in Wales.) His teacher asks him to show it. Which works?
- 1. Lush is a Welsh word that means lovely. — ← Mova's choice · score 6
- 2. Waves fizzed on the shells and the air tasted of salt. — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. It was very lush indeed, honestly lush. — no support
- 4. It was lush and lush and really lush. — no support
Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 1 with score 6, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 25, line 17: «Slang: «lush» (Wales) means lovely; «mid» means average.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+4); the same doer «lush» (+2). The right option, 2, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 9 · ★ · right ✓
★★★ Which simile is a cliché?
- 1. as cold as ice — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. as cold as a spoon left in the freezer — no support
- 3. as cold as Monday-morning pavement — no support
- 4. as cold as the back of a fridge door — 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 · ★ · right ✓
Why do readers enjoy "show, don't tell"?
- 1. Telling is not allowed in any published books — score 3
- 2. It means the story has no words in it, only pictures — no support
- 3. They get to work out the feeling themselves — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 7
- 4. It is always much shorter than just telling — no support
Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 3 with score 7, against 3 for the next best. Its support: lesson 41, line 3: «Show, don't tell: instead of "She was scared", write what fear looks like ("Her hands shook. She held her breath and listened") and let the reader work out the…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same thing acted on «feeling» (+3); the same action «work out» (+2); the same doer «reader» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 11 · ★ · wrong ✗
Which sentence uses hearing?
- 1. The roof felt cold to touch. — no support
- 2. Rain drummed on the tin roof. — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. The roof was made of red tin. — ← Mova's choice · score 4
- 4. The roof smelled of rust. — no support
Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 3 with score 4, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 21, line 8: «Very short sentences or paragraphs can build tension or make a moment stand out.», 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 action «make» (+1); the same doer «short sentences» (+1). 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 · right ✓
Identify the description that employs the sense of hearing.
- 1. The floorboards creaked beneath his boots. — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. The floorboards were brown and old. — no support
- 3. The floorboards were rough beneath his feet. — no support
- 4. The floorboards smelled of wax polish. — 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 most accurately characterises the principle "show, don't tell"?
- 1. Description is to be avoided in favour of dialogue — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. Pictures are to be inserted in place of words — no support
- 3. Every emotion must be named explicitly in each sentence — no support
- 4. Emotions are conveyed through actions and details rather than named — ✓ 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
Exam question 3 · formal language · right ✓
Select the verb that most precisely replaces the phrase "walked slowly and heavily".
- 1. trudged — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. went — no support
- 3. moved — no support
- 4. sprinted — 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 · wrong ✗
Ascertain the principal deficiency of the sentence "The big, huge, enormous, massive dog barked".
- 1. It contains no verb of any description — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. It accumulates synonyms that add no further meaning — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. It is a question lacking a question mark — no support
- 4. It is composed entirely in the passive voice — 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
This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/english/41-describing-senses-showing-and-precise-words/