Soft words for hard things: work, firing and the economy and business and advertising
Tests: 3 of 12 right · Exam: 1 of 4 right · Kind: ★ · Understood: 4 of 16 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72
Lesson 22 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 · ★ · right ✓
Estate agent's advert: "Bijou flat, deceptively spacious, in an up-and-coming area." What are you most likely to find?
- 1. A tiny flat in a run-down neighbourhood — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. A new flat on a building site — no support
- 3. A huge flat in a rich neighbourhood — no support
- 4. A flat full of jewels — 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 ✗
"aw it's fun-size, can i have 4 then" — what does the speaker know about the bar?
- 1. It has a toy inside — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. It is extra big — no support
- 3. It is small — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 4. It is a joke bar — 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 ✗
A letter from your phone company: "From June there will be a small price adjustment." What is going to happen?
- 1. Nothing will change — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. Your phone will be fixed — no support
- 3. You will pay less — no support
- 4. You will pay more — ✓ 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 ✓
"crap, told the boss his plan was rubbish in front of everyone. career-limiting move, eh" — what does the speaker fear?
- 1. Losing the job or a promotion — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. Getting a medal for honesty — no support
- 3. Moving to a smaller desk — no support
- 4. Being made the boss — 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 ✗
Lily says: "a pre-owned car means nobody has owned it yet." Is she right?
- 1. Yes, it is still in the factory — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. Yes, it is brand new — no support
- 3. No, it has had an owner before — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 4. No, it has never been driven — 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 ✗
Gran says: "I'm not a housewife, I'm a domestic engineer!" What is she doing?
- 1. Saying she builds houses — ← Mova's choice · score 10
- 2. Joking about the work of running a home — ✓ the right answer · score 5
- 3. Saying she works at the power plant — score 10
- 4. Saying she fixes cars — score 10
Why: It took the question to ask what is done. It chose option 1 with score 10, tied with another option at 10 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 19, line 10: «"Cash-strapped" means short of money, often said of councils, schools or families.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+6); the same action «say» (+4). The right option, 2, scored 5. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 7 · ★ · wrong ✗
A report says: "Many graduates (people who have finished university) are underemployed." What does it mean?
- 1. They earn too much money — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. They have far too much work and no time to rest — no support
- 3. They have no degrees — no support
- 4. They work fewer hours or in jobs below their skills — ✓ 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 8 · ★ · right ✓
House advert: "Full of character, needs some TLC." What should a buyer expect?
- 1. An old house needing repairs — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 8
- 2. A brand new house — no support
- 3. A house full of toys — no support
- 4. A house with famous owners — no support
Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 with score 8, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 22, line 23: «"Needs some TLC" ("tender loving care") means a place is in bad condition and needs repairs.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «need» (+6); it fills the role the question asks for (+2); the same thing acted on «repairs» (+1). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 9 · ★ · wrong ✗
The boss announces "efficiency gains" next year. What should the staff worry about?
- 1. Faster lifts — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. New chairs — no support
- 3. Some jobs may be cut — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 4. Free fruit in the kitchen — 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 ✗
News: "The number of jobseekers rose by 3,000 last month." What happened?
- 1. More companies were hiring — no support
- 2. More people were unemployed — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. More people found jobs — ← Mova's choice · score 2
- 4. More people retired — score -1
Why: It took the question to ask what happens next. It chose option 3 with score 2, against -1 for the next best. Its support: lesson 1, line 4: «So the same fact, "he died", can be said kindly, formally, in old-fashioned words or as a joke, and a clever listener hears both what happened and how the spea…», reached through what followed the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «feel» (+4). 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
Test 11 · ★ · wrong ✗
"she's on the bench again, no client since May" — what is true of her?
- 1. She plays football — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. She is a judge — no support
- 3. She is sitting in a park — no support
- 4. She has no project to work on — ✓ 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 12 · ★ · wrong ✗
A charity shop sign: "Pre-loved toys, all £1." What are the toys?
- 1. Brand new — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. Second-hand — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. Broken ones — no support
- 4. Handmade — 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 · wrong ✗
Identify the principal meaning of the descriptor "deceptively spacious" as employed in the particulars of a residential property.
- 1. The accommodation possesses elevated ceilings — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. The accommodation contains concealed chambers — no support
- 3. The accommodation is of limited dimensions — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 4. The accommodation is of exceptional dimensions — 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 ✗
It is given that a retailer announces a "price adjustment" in respect of its goods. Select the response most consistent with customary usage.
- 1. The prices are to remain unaltered — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. The goods are to be withdrawn from sale — no support
- 3. The prices are to be increased — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 4. The prices are to be reduced — 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 ✗
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises a person classified as "economically inactive"?
- 1. He is neither employed nor seeking employment — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. He abstains from all expenditure — ← Mova's choice · score 10
- 3. He is employed upon a low wage — no support
- 4. He is employed upon a part-time basis — no support
Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 2 with score 10, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 10, line 18: «"Well-upholstered" is a joking British way to say fat, as if the person were a padded sofa.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+6); the same doer «person» (+4). The right option, 1, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Exam question 4 · formal language · right ✓
Ascertain the plain meaning of the term "pre-owned" when applied to a motor vehicle offered for sale.
- 1. Previously used by another owner — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. Manufactured prior to the current year — no support
- 3. Reserved in advance for a purchaser — no support
- 4. Never previously driven — 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/euphemisms/22-jobs-shops-and-estate-agents/