Soft words for hard things: school reports and teachers and animals and pets
Tests: 2 of 12 right · Exam: 2 of 4 right · Kind: ★ · Understood: 5 of 16 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72
Lesson 17 of the euphemisms 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 ✗
"teacher's having a quiet word with Jake, he's bricking it" — why is Jake scared?
- 1. He has to whisper a speech — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. He is getting a private telling-off — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. He won a secret prize — no support
- 4. He lost his 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
Test 2 · ★ · wrong ✗
A boy jokes: "I didn't fail, I achieved deferred success." What really happened?
- 1. He got full marks — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. He failed — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. He never took the test — no support
- 4. He passed the next day — 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 · ★ · right ✓
Grandpa: "That lad's well known to staff, I'll tell you that." What does Grandpa mean about the lad?
- 1. He is often in trouble — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 3
- 2. He works at the school — no support
- 3. He is the best pupil — no support
- 4. He is famous on TV — no support
Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 with score 3, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 17, line 16: «"Well known to staff" is a joking UK way to say the pupil is often in trouble.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same place «trouble» (+2); the same property (+1); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+1). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 4 · ★ · wrong ✗
A little girl says her hamster "went to live on a farm". Her big sister rolls her eyes. Why?
- 1. Hamsters hate farms — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. The hamster probably died — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. The farm is too far away — no support
- 4. The sister wanted the hamster — 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 ✗
A news headline: "Primary school placed in special measures after damning report." What does it say about the school?
- 1. It has new measuring tools — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. It is closing for a holiday — no support
- 3. It is failing and will be closely supervised — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 4. It got special money for being good — 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 ✓
"vet said we gotta put Bella to sleep :(" — what is going to happen to Bella?
- 1. Bella will stay the night at the vet — no support
- 2. Bella will have a nap after her jab — no support
- 3. Bella will get a long rest at the vet — no support
- 4. The vet will end her life gently — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 8
Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 4 with score 8, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 17, line 17: «"Put to sleep" means an animal was killed gently by a vet.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+6); the same doer «vet» (+4); the same property (+2). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-2); a different thing acted on (counts against) (-2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 7 · ★ · wrong ✗
Liam reckons "reluctant reader" means someone who reads too much. Right?
- 1. Yes, it means a speed reader — score 4
- 2. Yes, it means a bookworm — score 4
- 3. No, it means a child who cannot see — ← Mova's choice · score 8
- 4. No, it means a child who dislikes or struggles with reading — ✓ the right answer · score 8
Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 8, tied with another option at 8 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 17, line 13: «"Reluctant reader" means a child who dislikes or struggles with reading.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «reluctant reader» (+4); the same action «mean» (+2); the same thing acted on «child» (+2). The right option, 4, scored 8. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 8 · ★ · wrong ✗
A council notice says three stray dogs were "humanely destroyed". What happened to the dogs?
- 1. They were given medicine — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. They were set free in the woods — no support
- 3. They found new owners — no support
- 4. They were killed — ✓ 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 9 · ★ · wrong ✗
"Dad says the dog's being done on Tuesday, done with what lol" — what is happening Tuesday?
- 1. The dog is finishing school — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. The dog is being cooked — no support
- 3. The dog is being neutered — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 4. The dog is being sold — 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 ✗
A US report card shows "Not yet" in reading. How did the pupil do?
- 1. Passed with honours — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. Failed — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. Absent — no support
- 4. Got the top grade — 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 ✗
The teacher writes: "Amir is a late bloomer; I expect great things." What is she saying now?
- 1. Amir is always late to school — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. Amir is ahead of the class — no support
- 3. Amir is behind for now but may catch up — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 4. Amir is great at gardening — 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 12 · ★ · wrong ✗
"Oi, you, the head wants to see you. Invited, like." What does the speaker mean?
- 1. You are made head boy — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. You are going to a party — no support
- 3. You are in trouble with the head — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 4. You won a prize from the head — 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 ✓
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises an animal described in an official notice as having been "humanely destroyed"?
- 1. The animal was rehoused with a family — no support
- 2. The animal was given medical treatment — no support
- 3. The animal was killed — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 4
- 4. The animal was released into the wild — 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 17, line 19: «"Humanely destroyed" (official) means an animal was killed by officials.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «kill» (+2); the same thing acted on «animal» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Exam question 2 · formal language · wrong ✗
It is given that a school has been placed in "special measures". Identify the principal implication of this designation.
- 1. The school has been granted additional funding for excellence — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. The school has adopted new systems of measurement — no support
- 3. The school is closed for a holiday period — no support
- 4. The school is failing and subject to close supervision — ✓ 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 · wrong ✗
Select the response consistent with the established meaning of the statement that a domestic cat has been "fixed", as used in the United States.
- 1. The cat has been repaired following injury — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. The cat has been neutered or spayed — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. The cat has been fitted with an identification tag — no support
- 4. The cat has been trained to remain stationary — 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 ✓
Whereas a pupil's report states that the pupil possesses "a vivid imagination", determine what may in fact be communicated.
- 1. The pupil excels in visual art — no support
- 2. The pupil tells untruths or daydreams — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 3
- 3. The pupil has exceptional eyesight — no support
- 4. The pupil excels in scientific enquiry — no support
Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 3, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 17, line 12: «"Vivid imagination" on a report can mean the pupil tells fibs or daydreams.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «tell» (+2); the same doer «pupil» (+2). Against it: a different thing acted on (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/euphemisms/17-school-and-pets/