Soft words for hard things: failure and mistakes

Tests: 6 of 12 right · Exam: 1 of 4 right · Kind: plain · Understood: 7 of 16 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72

Lesson 34 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 ✗

A school letter: "We regret to inform you that your application was unsuccessful." What does the family learn?

1. They must write again next week — no support
2. The child got a place — no support
3. The letter was sent by mistake — ← Mova's choice · score 3
4. The child did not get a place — ✓ the right answer · no support

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 3 with score 3, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 34, line 1: «Saying "no" or "you got it wrong" can hurt, so people dress failure up in softer clothes: a letter that says "we've decided to go in a different direction" rea…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+4); the same thing acted on «letter» (+2). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-3). The right option, 4, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 2 · right ✓

"Oi, you dropped a right clanger telling Gran about her surprise party!" What did the person do?

1. Dropped a heavy pot — score 4
2. Rang the doorbell — no support
3. Planned the party well — no support
4. Made an embarrassing mistake — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 11

Why: It took the question to ask what is done. It chose option 4 with score 11, against 4 for the next best. Its support: lesson 34, line 6: «"Dropped a clanger" (UK slang) means made an embarrassing mistake.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+5); the same action «make» (+4); the same thing acted on «embarrassing mistake» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 3 · right ✓

News: "After the failure of its app, the company announced an exciting pivot." What really happened?

1. The company closed forever — no support
2. The company's first plan failed and it changed plan — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 6
3. The company built a spinning app — no support
4. The company's app was a big hit — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 6, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 34, line 15: «"A pivot" (US business jargon) means a change of plan after the first plan failed.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «change» (+3); the same doer «plan» (+3). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 4 · wrong ✗

"Our school play was a total damp squib, half the audience left." How did the play go?

1. It was about fireworks — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. It was cancelled by rain — no support
3. It was a disappointing failure — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. It 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 5 · right ✓

Ben says: "'Teething problems' means a baby is getting teeth, so the new bus has babies on it?" Is he right?

1. No, it means faults in something new — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 6
2. No, it means the bus is old — no support
3. Yes, the bus driver has toothache — no support
4. Yes, babies are on the bus — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 6, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 34, line 9: «"Teething problems" (UK) means faults in something new.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same circumstance (+4); the same action «mean» (+2); the same thing acted on «faults» (+2). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 6 · wrong ✗

The minister on TV: "Mistakes were made, and lessons have been learned." What is she admitting?

1. That they won an award — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. That they did nothing wrong — no support
3. That they will go back to school — no support
4. That they failed — ✓ 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 7 · right ✓

"he says he misremembered the size of the fish lol, it was a goldfish" What really happened?

1. He forgot what fish are — no support
2. He told a false story — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 4
3. He remembered it exactly — no support
4. He caught a huge fish — no support

Why: It took the question to ask what happens next. It chose option 2 with score 4, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 34, line 20: «"Misremembered", said by an official, often means gave a false account.», reached through what followed the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «say» (+4). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 8 · right ✓

"Footie match? Could've gone better. We lost 5–0." How did the match go?

1. Badly — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. It was cancelled — no support
3. It was a draw — no support
4. Very well — 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 ✗

The film director writes back: "Thanks, but we've decided to go in a different direction." What does the actor learn?

1. He got the part — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. He must travel abroad — no support
3. The film is set on a road trip — no support
4. He did not get the part — ✓ 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 10 · right ✓

"Mum, I made a boo-boo — the cat's food went in the fish tank." How big is the mistake meant to sound?

1. Huge and dangerous — no support
2. Not a mistake at all — score 8
3. Small and silly — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 12
4. Clever and planned — no support

Why: It took the question to ask what something is like. It chose option 3 with score 12, against 8 for the next best. 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: it fills the role the question asks for (+6); the same thing acted on «silly mistake» (+4); the same property (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 11 · wrong ✗

The robot fell over during the contest. "Back to the drawing board, team." What does the leader mean?

1. We must draw the robot — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. We must start again — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. The robot is perfect — no support
4. We have won — 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 ✗

"Missed the open goal, that's an unforced error, you muppet!" Whose fault was the miss?

1. The referee's fault — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. The player's own fault — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. The other team's fault — no support
4. The wind's fault — 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 ✗

Whereas correspondence informs a candidate that the organisation "has decided to go in a different direction", identify the outcome conveyed thereby.

1. The candidate has been appointed to the position — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. The organisation requests the candidate's travel itinerary — no support
3. The candidate's application has been rejected — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. The organisation has relocated its premises — 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 ✓

Ascertain the meaning of the expression "a damp squib" as employed in respect of a public event in the United Kingdom.

1. An event curtailed by inclement weather that nonetheless succeeded — no support
2. An exhibition of marine fauna — no support
3. An event of exceptional brilliance — no support
4. A disappointing failure — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 4

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 4, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 34, line 21: «"A damp squib" (UK) means a disappointing failure, like a firework that does not go off.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same thing acted on «disappointing failure» (+2); the same property (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 3 · formal language · wrong ✗

It is given that a public official asserts that he "misremembered" the circumstances of an occurrence. Which of the following most accurately characterises the likely import of this assertion?

1. The official declined to provide any account — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. The official provided an exceptionally accurate account — no support
3. The official suffers from a diagnosed disorder of memory — no support
4. The official provided a false account — ✓ 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 4 · formal language · wrong ✗

Determine the meaning of the term "teething problems" when applied to a newly installed system.

1. Dental complaints among the system's operators — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Defects arising from excessive age — no support
3. Difficulties associated with the mastication of food — no support
4. Faults arising in something recently introduced — ✓ 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/34-failure-and-mistakes/