Soft words for hard things: failure and mistakes
Tests: 6 of 12 right · Exam: 1 of 4 right · Kind: plain · Understood: 5 of 16 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72
Lesson 33 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: "A computer glitch left 2,000 passengers stuck at the airport." What caused the trouble?
- 1. A strike by pilots — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. A fault in the computers — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. Too many passengers — no support
- 4. Bad weather — 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 ✗
"Your homework shows room for improvement, Sam." What is the teacher telling Sam?
- 1. He should do less homework — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. He needs a bigger room — no support
- 3. His homework is not good enough — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 4. His homework is perfect — 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 ✗
"Mate, the barbecue went proper pear-shaped, sausages all burnt." What happened?
- 1. The sausages were shaped like pears — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. They cooked pears — no support
- 3. The barbecue went wrong — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 4. The barbecue was a great success — 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 bank says: "Due to human error, some customers were charged twice." What happened?
- 1. A worker made a mistake — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. Customers made a mistake — no support
- 3. A machine broke on purpose — no support
- 4. Nothing went wrong at all — 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 ✓
"I called my teacher 'Mum' — just a slip of the tongue, but everyone laughed." What happened?
- 1. She bit her tongue — no support
- 2. She fell over in class — no support
- 3. She was rude on purpose — no support
- 4. She said the wrong word by mistake — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 8
Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 8, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 17, line 2: «A teacher may say "a quiet word" instead of "a telling-off", and an official report may say "special measures" for a failing school.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «say» (+3); the same doer «teacher» (+3); the same thing acted on «quiet word» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 6 · wrong ✗
The minister calls the failed bridge project "a minor setback". What should a careful listener think?
- 1. The bridge was moved back a bit — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. The project failed and he is making it sound small — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. The project is going perfectly — no support
- 4. The bridge is finished — 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 · right ✓
Tara says: "'The market had a correction' means it fixed its mistakes, yeah?" Is she right?
- 1. No, it means prices fell sharply — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. Yes, it got more customers — no support
- 3. No, it means the market closed — no support
- 4. Yes, it fixed its spelling — 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 ✗
"ugh, the whole plan went south when the car broke down" What happened to the plan?
- 1. It got better — no support
- 2. It was finished early — ← Mova's choice · score 5
- 3. It went wrong — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 4. They drove south — no support
Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 5, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 22, line 4: «Shops do it too: a "pre-owned" car is simply a used car, and a "price adjustment" is nearly always a price rise.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «pre-owned car» (+3); the same thing acted on «used car» (+2). The right option, 3, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 9 · right ✓
Report card: "Maths: below expectations." How is the pupil doing in maths?
- 1. It has not been marked — no support
- 2. About right — no support
- 3. Very well — score 6
- 4. Badly — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 12
Why: It took the question to ask what something is like. It chose option 4 with score 12, against 6 for the next best. Its support: lesson 16, line 18: «"Would benefit from" (more practice, more reading) means the pupil badly needs it.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+6); the same doer «pupil» (+4); the same property (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 10 · right ✓
"Our team came a cropper in the final, lost 6–0. Not our finest hour, ha." How did the team do?
- 1. They lost badly — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. They did not play — no support
- 3. They won the cup — no support
- 4. They drew the match — 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 ✓
"sorry I said 7 × 8 is 54, total brain fart, it's 56" What was the mistake?
- 1. A silly moment of forgetting — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 4
- 2. A trick on purpose — no support
- 3. A brain illness — no support
- 4. A rude joke — 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 33, line 12: «"A brain fart" (slang) means a silly mistake or a moment of forgetting.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same thing acted on «silly mistake» (+2); the same property (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 12 · wrong ✗
Boss on the phone: "The meeting went sideways, the client walked out." How did the meeting go?
- 1. Nobody came — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. It was moved to a new room — no support
- 3. Very well — no support
- 4. Badly — ✓ 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 · right ✓
In respect of an organisation's statement that a data loss was attributable to "human error", identify the meaning of the expression.
- 1. A mistake was committed by a person whose identity is not disclosed — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. The fault originated exclusively within automated machinery — no support
- 3. No mistake whatsoever was committed — no support
- 4. The loss was occasioned by adverse weather — 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 ✗
Whereas a financial bulletin reports "a correction" in share prices, which of the following statements most accurately characterises the event?
- 1. Errors in the published figures were rectified — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. Share prices rose to an unprecedented level — no support
- 3. Share prices declined sharply — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 4. Trading was suspended for administrative reasons — 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 ✗
It is given that a pupil's report states that the pupil's written work "needs improvement". Ascertain the assessment conveyed thereby.
- 1. The pupil has completed an excessive quantity of work — no support
- 2. The work is of an unsatisfactory standard — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. The pupil requires additional stationery — ← Mova's choice · score 5
- 4. The work is of an exemplary standard — no support
Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 5, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 16, line 18: «"Would benefit from" (more practice, more reading) means the pupil badly needs it.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «need» (+3); the same doer «pupil» (+3). Against it: a different thing acted on (counts against) (-1). The right option, 2, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Exam question 4 · formal language · wrong ✗
Determine the meaning of the expression "gone pear-shaped" as employed colloquially in the United Kingdom.
- 1. Become rounded in form — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. Gone wrong — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. Been supplemented with fruit — no support
- 4. Proceeded according to plan — 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
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