Soft words for hard things: war, the military and violence
Tests: 6 of 14 right · Exam: 1 of 4 right · Kind: ★ · Understood: 2 of 18 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72
Lesson 26 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: "The ministry confirms our losses in the eastern sector were light." What really happened?
- 1. They spent little money — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. Some of their soldiers were killed, but not many — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. They lost a football match in the eastern part of the country — no support
- 4. They lost a few maps and tools — 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 general says: "We carried out kinetic action against the depot overnight." What happened?
- 1. They attacked the depot with weapons — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. They held a sports day at the depot — no support
- 3. They inspected the depot quietly — no support
- 4. They moved the depot by lorry — 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 ✗
"Our forces made a tactical redeployment to the river line." Which is true?
- 1. The army got new weapons — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. The army went swimming — no support
- 3. The army retreated to the river — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 4. The army won a big battle — 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 · ★ · wrong ✗
Grandad: "My uncle came back from the war with battle fatigue, never the same after." What was wrong?
- 1. He just needed a good long sleep in his own bed — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. He had a broken leg — no support
- 3. He had a mental injury from combat — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 4. He was bored of marching — 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 leader calls the invasion of a neighbour a "special military operation". Why use that phrase?
- 1. Because it is a small parade — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. To avoid admitting it is a war — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. Because it is a medical operation — no support
- 4. Because it is a training game — 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 ✓
Mate: "lol my brother says a surgical strike means the army docs go on strike, right?" Is he right?
- 1. Yes, the army doctors stop working — no support
- 2. No, it is a punch in a boxing match — no support
- 3. Yes, it is a strike at a hospital — no support
- 4. No, it is a bombing claimed to hit only its target — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 6
Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 6, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 26, line 7: «"Surgical strike" means a bombing that is claimed to hit only its target, though it often hits more.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «surgical strike» (+4); the same thing acted on «bombing» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 7 · ★ · wrong ✗
History book: "The village was pacified in 1902." What most likely happened there?
- 1. The villagers held a big peace party with music and dancing — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. Its people were crushed by force until they stopped resisting — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. The village voted for a new mayor — no support
- 4. The village was moved to the seaside — 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 ✓
A report says the rebels chose "soft targets" like markets. What does it mean?
- 1. They attacked unprotected ordinary people — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. They picked targets that were easy to miss — no support
- 3. They attacked pillow shops — no support
- 4. They attacked well-guarded army bases — 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 ✗
"Bloody hell, they're calling a three-year war a 'conflict' now." What is the speaker angry about?
- 1. There was no fighting at all — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. A war is being given a softer name — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. A conflict is worse than a war — no support
- 4. The war only lasted three days — 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 ✓
A company boss: "We provide private military contractors abroad." What does the company sell?
- 1. Hired soldiers — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. Holidays for soldiers — no support
- 3. Building work — no support
- 4. Army food — 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 · ★ · right ✓
An Irish nan says: "That was during the Troubles, love." What time is she talking about?
- 1. The violent years in Northern Ireland, 1960s to 1998 — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. The years of the potato famine — no support
- 3. The time she had a cold — no support
- 4. A week when the car broke down and the roof leaked badly — 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 · ★ · right ✓
A minister: "The deterrent keeps Britain safe." What is he talking about?
- 1. Road safety signs — no support
- 2. Britain's nuclear weapons — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 4
- 3. A team of police dogs — no support
- 4. A big fence on the coast — no support
Why: It took the question to ask a circumstance (with what, when, how). It chose option 2 with score 4, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 26, line 22: «"The deterrent" is the British official way to say nuclear weapons, the most destructive bombs ever made.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+3); the same circumstance (+2). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 13 · ★ · wrong ✗
"We'll degrade their air defences," says the spokesman. What will really happen?
- 1. The defences will be given worse marks — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. The defences will be bought — no support
- 3. The defences will be painted grey — no support
- 4. The defences will be bombed and destroyed — ✓ 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 14 · ★ · wrong ✗
"They didn't run away — it was a strategic withdrawal!" says a boastful soldier. What really happened?
- 1. They held their ground — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. They attacked bravely — no support
- 3. They took a holiday — no support
- 4. They retreated — ✓ 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 1 · formal language · wrong ✗
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the expression "ethnic cleansing"?
- 1. It denotes the sanitation of public streets and squares by municipal authorities — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. It denotes instruction in personal hygiene — no support
- 3. It denotes the restoration of ancient buildings — no support
- 4. It denotes the expulsion or killing of an entire ethnic group from a territory — ✓ 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 2 · formal language · wrong ✗
Identify the meaning of "the final solution" as employed by the National Socialist regime.
- 1. The concluding treaty of the war — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. The reconstruction of German cities — no support
- 3. The final examination of officers — no support
- 4. The plan to murder all the Jews of Europe — ✓ 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 response that is consistent with the established meaning of a "pre-emptive strike".
- 1. An attack launched before the adversary has attacked — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. A cessation of labour prior to payment — no support
- 3. A warning shot discharged into the air — no support
- 4. A retaliation subsequent to an attack by the adversary — 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 ✗
It is given that a commander reports that a target was "serviced". Ascertain what occurred.
- 1. The target was inspected — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. The target was supplied with provisions — no support
- 3. The target was repaired — no support
- 4. The target was bombed or destroyed — ✓ 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
This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/euphemisms/26-war-and-the-military/