Soft words for hard things: death and dying, illness and the body
Tests: 2 of 12 right · Exam: 2 of 4 right · Kind: ★ · Understood: 5 of 16 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72
Lesson 3 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 young racing driver met an untimely end at Monza." What happened?
- 1. The driver came late to Monza — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. The driver finished last at Monza — no support
- 3. The driver retired at Monza — no support
- 4. The young driver died at Monza — ✓ 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 2 · ★ · wrong ✗
Chatty: "School's out, I'm under the weather anyway, staying in." Why is the speaker staying in?
- 1. They are scared of storms — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. They feel a bit ill — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. They are being punished — no support
- 4. It is raining — 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 ✗
Ellie says "the fallen means soldiers who fell off their horses, right?" What is true?
- 1. Yes, it means soldiers who tripped — ← Mova's choice · score 8
- 2. Yes, it means riders who fell — no support
- 3. No, it means soldiers who were killed in war — ✓ the right answer · score 8
- 4. No, it means soldiers who lost a battle — score 8
Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 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 3, line 16: «"The fallen" means soldiers killed in war.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «mean» (+4); the same thing acted on «soldiers» (+4). The right option, 3, scored 8. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 4 · ★ · wrong ✗
Dad: "This sofa's on its last legs, we'll need a new one." What is true about the sofa?
- 1. It was bought last — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. It has only one leg left — no support
- 3. It is old and nearly worn out — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 4. It is going to be moved — 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 · ★ · right ✓
A Londoner in a film: "Cross me and you're brown bread." What kind of remark is it?
- 1. An offer of some fresh food from his kitchen — no support
- 2. A threat to kill, in rhyming slang — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 4
- 3. A joke about a sunburn — no support
- 4. A compliment about baking — no support
Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 2 with score 4, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 3, line 5: «Vivid example: a Londoner who says "he's brown bread" is using rhyming slang, where "bread" rhymes with "dead".», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «bread» (+3); the same action «rhyme» (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 6 · ★ · wrong ✗
A notice: "Mr Lee's family invite friends to a celebration of life on Saturday." What is happening?
- 1. Mr Lee's birthday party — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. Mr Lee's wedding — no support
- 3. A memorial for Mr Lee, who has died — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 4. Mr Lee's retirement party — 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 ✗
Gossip: "Uncle Jim? Snuffed it last year, God rest him." What do you learn?
- 1. Uncle Jim moved last year — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. Uncle Jim died last year — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. Uncle Jim stopped smoking last year — no support
- 4. Uncle Jim caught a cold last year — 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 ✗
News: "Sales of the new phone have flatlined." What does "flatlined" mean here?
- 1. Sales went up fast — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. The phone died — no support
- 3. The phone went flat — no support
- 4. Sales stopped growing — ✓ 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 ✗
A grave says "In memory of our dearly departed mother." Who is buried there?
- 1. A mother who moved abroad — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. A mother who left the family — no support
- 3. The family's dead mother — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 4. A dear neighbour — 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 teacher says "Josh is a bit off colour, so he went home." Why did Josh go home?
- 1. He spilt paint on his clothes — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. He felt unwell — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. His uniform was the wrong colour — no support
- 4. He was naughty — 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 ✓
Grandma says "When I was young, we didn't say cancer, we said the big C." Why did people do that?
- 1. They were afraid to say the frightening word — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 4
- 2. It was shorter to write — no support
- 3. It was a kind of letter game — no support
- 4. It was a medical code — no support
Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 4, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 3, line 4: «Euphemisms also soften illness: people say they are "under the weather" instead of "ill", and older people said "the big C" because they were afraid even to sa…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «say» (+2); the same doer «people» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 12 · ★ · wrong ✗
Which phrase about death would you use in a polite speech, not a joke?
- 1. Made the ultimate sacrifice — ✓ the right answer · score 8
- 2. Assumed room temperature — score 8
- 3. Gone to the big sleep — ← Mova's choice · score 10
- 4. Pushing up the daisies — score 8
Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 3 with score 10, against 8 for the next best. Its support: lesson 1, line 16: «"Shuffled off this mortal coil" means died; it comes from Shakespeare's Hamlet and is used jokingly.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+6); the same doer «dust» (+4). The right option, 1, scored 8. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Exam question 1 · formal language · wrong ✗
Identify the plain meaning of the designation "funeral director".
- 1. A cleric who conducts religious services — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. An official who registers deaths — no support
- 3. An undertaker who arranges funerals — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 4. A person who directs films concerning death — 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 · right ✓
It is given that a commemorative inscription refers to "the fallen". Determine to whom the inscription refers.
- 1. Soldiers who deserted their posts — no support
- 2. Soldiers wounded in war — no support
- 3. Soldiers killed in war — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 6
- 4. Soldiers who returned home — no support
Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 6, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 3, line 16: «"The fallen" means soldiers killed in war.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «kill» (+2); the same thing acted on «soldiers» (+2); the same place «war» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Exam question 3 · formal language · right ✓
Select the response that most accurately characterises the expression "under the weather".
- 1. An informal expression signifying mild illness — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. A formal term signifying a grave illness — no support
- 3. An expression signifying shelter from a storm — no support
- 4. A meteorological term signifying heavy rain — 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 meaning of the expression "pre-need arrangements" as employed in commercial funeral literature.
- 1. Arrangements for a medical procedure — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. Preparations made before a storm — no support
- 3. Payment for one's own funeral in advance — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 4. Provisions for the needs of children — 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/3-death-and-feeling-poorly/