Soft words for hard things: politics and government spin
Tests: 5 of 12 right · Exam: 2 of 4 right · Kind: ★ · Understood: 8 of 16 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72
Lesson 24 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 ✗
News: "After a full and frank exchange of views, the two leaders left without a statement." What happened at the meeting?
- 1. They went for a walk — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. They argued seriously — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. They swapped gifts — no support
- 4. They agreed on everything — 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 ✓
A minister says: "Mistakes were made, and lessons will be learned." What has he avoided saying?
- 1. Who made the mistakes — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 8
- 2. What day it is — no support
- 3. That lessons exist — no support
- 4. That anything went wrong — no support
Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 1 with score 8, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 24, line 3: «"Mistakes were made" is the classic example: it admits something went wrong but never says who made the mistakes.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «make» (+4); the same thing acted on «mistakes» (+4). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 3 · ★ · wrong ✗
"council's calling it efficiency savings, means the library's shut, innit" — what does the speaker understand?
- 1. The library got cheaper lights — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. Efficiency savings are budget cuts — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. The council saved money by luck — no support
- 4. The library is being enlarged — 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 ✓
A government announces "austerity measures". What will most people notice?
- 1. Higher pensions — no support
- 2. Less public spending on services — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 3
- 3. New hospitals and schools being built — no support
- 4. More free buses for everyone — 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 24, line 12: «"Austerity measures" means cuts in public spending.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same circumstance (+2); the same property (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 5 · ★ · wrong ✗
Report: "Thousands of internally displaced persons sheltered in schools." Which is true?
- 1. They moved abroad to another country to find work — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. They were tourists — no support
- 3. They were teachers — no support
- 4. They fled their homes but stayed in their country — ✓ 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 ✓
A spokesman says: "We are reviewing our options." What has the government decided?
- 1. Nothing yet — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. To resign — no support
- 3. To go to war — no support
- 4. To cut taxes — 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 ✗
The leaders held "constructive talks". Did they reach agreement?
- 1. No, they never met — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. Yes, they signed a treaty — no support
- 3. Probably not — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 4. Yes, on every point — 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 · ★ · wrong ✗
"they called it re-education but nobody could leave" — what was it really?
- 1. Forced political indoctrination — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. A holiday camp in the mountains — ← Mova's choice · score 7
- 3. A school trip — no support
- 4. A night class — no support
Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 2 with score 7, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 24, line 4: «Some words hide terrible things: governments have called prison camps "vocational training centres".», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+4); the same thing acted on «prison camps» (+2); the same action «call» (+1). The right option, 1, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 9 · ★ · wrong ✗
Sam says: "Tax relief means extra tax to help people." Is he right?
- 1. Yes, it is a new tax — no support
- 2. No, it means no taxes at all ever — ← Mova's choice · score 3
- 3. No, it means a tax cut — ✓ the right answer · score 3
- 4. Yes, it is a donation — no support
Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 3, tied with another option at 3 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 23, line 21: «"User fee" means a tax or charge for using a public service (US).», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «mean» (+2); the same thing acted on «tax» (+2). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-1). The right option, 3, scored 3. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 10 · ★ · right ✓
An old newspaper: "The plan was built for plausible deniability." What does it suggest?
- 1. Leaders could claim they did not know — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 11
- 2. The plan was on the news — no support
- 3. The plan was very believable to everyone — no support
- 4. Nobody could deny the plan — no support
Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 with score 11, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 24, line 7: «"Plausible deniability" means an arrangement that lets leaders deny they knew about something.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «know» (+6); the same doer «leaders» (+6). Against it: one says «not», the other does not (counts against) (-1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 11 · ★ · right ✓
A politician promises "investment in our roads". What does it mean in plain words?
- 1. Government spending on roads — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 10
- 2. Buying shares in a road company — no support
- 3. Selling the roads — no support
- 4. Putting money in a bank — no support
Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 with score 10, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 24, line 16: «"Investment" in a politician's mouth often just means government spending.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+4); the same doer «investment» (+3); the same thing acted on «government spending» (+2); the same action «mean» (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 12 · ★ · wrong ✗
A news report says a city was emptied by "population transfer". What happened to the people?
- 1. They were forced to leave their homes — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. They went on holiday — no support
- 3. They moved for new jobs by choice — ← Mova's choice · score 3
- 4. They were all counted for the census — no support
Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 3, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 21, line 19: «"Economic slowdown" means a recession or something close to one; a recession is a time when a country's businesses make and sell less, and many people lose the…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «many people» (+2); the same circumstance (+2). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-1). The right option, 1, 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 function of the expression "mistakes were made" in an official statement.
- 1. To deny that any error occurred — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. To attribute the error to a named official — no support
- 3. To acknowledge error whilst concealing the responsible party — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 4. To specify the date of the error — 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 two governments have issued a communiqué describing "a full and frank exchange of views". Select the response consistent with customary diplomatic usage.
- 1. The parties exchanged ceremonial gifts — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. The parties disagreed substantially — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. The parties concluded a binding treaty — no support
- 4. The parties declined to meet — 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 ✓
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises "entitlement reform" as the term is employed in American politics?
- 1. The reduction of pensions and welfare provision — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 1
- 2. The abolition of all taxation — no support
- 3. The augmentation of pensions and welfare provision — no support
- 4. The renaming of official titles — no support
Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 1 with score 1, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 24, line 14: «"Entitlement reform" means cutting pensions and welfare (US).», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «cut» (+2); the same thing acted on «pensions» (+2). Against it: one says «not», the other does not (counts against) (-3). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Exam question 4 · formal language · right ✓
Ascertain the plain meaning of "internally displaced person" as employed in international reports.
- 1. A person compelled to leave home who remains within his own country — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. A person confined indoors by illness — no support
- 3. A person employed within a government building — no support
- 4. A person who has emigrated voluntarily to a foreign land — 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/24-government-spin/