Soft words for hard things: illness, disability and the body
Tests: 5 of 12 right · Exam: 2 of 4 right · Kind: ★ · Understood: 4 of 16 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72
Lesson 5 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: "Three people were hurt. One is in a comfortable condition." What is true of that person?
- 1. Not hurt at all — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. Sitting in a soft bed reading — no support
- 3. Already at home — no support
- 4. Seriously hurt but stable — ✓ 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 · ★ · right ✓
Chatty: "ugh got a tummy bug, been up all night, not coming in" Why is the speaker staying home?
- 1. They have a stomach infection — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. They ate too much dinner — no support
- 3. They have homework — no support
- 4. A bug bit them — 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 ✗
Max says "my grandad's lost his marbles, he forgot my name again". What does Max mean?
- 1. His grandad lost a game — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. His grandad is becoming confused and forgetful — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. His grandad lost a bag of marbles in the park — no support
- 4. His grandad is playing a joke — 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 care home note: "Mr Wood is sometimes confused at night." What would a nurse probably do?
- 1. Watch over him because of his dementia — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. Send him home — no support
- 3. Give him a puzzle to keep him busy at night — no support
- 4. Teach him maths — 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 ✓
Gossip: "His wife? Went away for a rest after the baby, if you know what I mean." What is the speaker hinting at?
- 1. She spent time in a mental hospital — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 6
- 2. She went on a nice holiday by the seaside — no support
- 3. She slept a lot — score 3
- 4. She visited her mother — no support
Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 with score 6, against 3 for the next best. Its support: lesson 5, line 22: «"Went away for a rest" is an old-fashioned phrase for spending time in a psychiatric hospital, a hospital for illnesses of the mind.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «spend» (+4); the same place «psychiatric hospital» (+2); the same property (+1). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 6 · ★ · wrong ✗
A friend whispers "Ollie's got BO, no one wants to sit next to him." What is the problem?
- 1. Ollie is a bad sport — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. Ollie is very loud — no support
- 3. Ollie has a cold — no support
- 4. Ollie smells of sweat — ✓ the right answer · no support
Why: Nothing it remembers matched the question, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 7 · ★ · wrong ✗
Dad: "Bloody hell, Gran's been under the knife again." What happened to Gran?
- 1. She cut herself cooking — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. She had her hair cut — no support
- 3. She had another operation — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 4. She was attacked — 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 ✗
A doctor says "we've found a growth, but it's probably harmless". What is true?
- 1. A plant is growing in the room — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. Someone has grown taller — no support
- 3. The patient is perfectly healthy everywhere — no support
- 4. There is a lump that is probably not cancer — ✓ 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 ✗
Lily says "Uncle Joe's in recovery, so is he still in hospital?" What should she be told?
- 1. Yes, he is in a recovery room after an operation — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. Yes, it means he broke a bone — no support
- 3. No, it means he found something lost — no support
- 4. Not always; it means he is staying off an addiction — ✓ 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 ✓
Gran says "Don't sit in the garden all day, you'll get a touch of the sun." What is she warning about?
- 1. Mild sunstroke — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 4
- 2. Getting too cold — no support
- 3. Being touched by a bee — no support
- 4. A nice suntan — no support
Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 with score 4, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 5, line 20: «"A touch of the sun" means mild sunstroke (feeling ill from too much hot sun); it is old-fashioned and British.», 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 thing acted on «mild sunstroke» (+2); the same property (+1). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-1); a different doer (counts against) (-1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 11 · ★ · right ✓
An old letter: "Father is laid up with gout." Where is Father?
- 1. Stuck in bed, ill — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. Lying in the garden — no support
- 3. At work on a farm — no support
- 4. At the doctor's shop — 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 ✗
Which phrase is the respectful way to talk about autism?
- 1. Laid up — ← Mova's choice · score 5
- 2. Lost his marbles — score 4
- 3. On the spectrum — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 4. Fond of a drink — no support
Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 1 with score 5, against 4 for the next best. Its support: lesson 5, line 1: «Some illnesses used to be a secret or a shame, so people invented soft words to talk about them quietly: drinking too much, illness of the mind, and growths th…», 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 doer «illnesses» (+2). The right option, 3, 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 plain meaning of the expression "in a comfortable condition" as employed in a hospital bulletin.
- 1. Ready for discharge — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. Seriously ill but stable — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. Fully recovered and content — no support
- 4. Resting upon soft furnishings — 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 a radiograph is reported to show "a shadow on the lung". Determine what is thereby suggested.
- 1. The presence of a person behind the patient — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. A defect in the photographic apparatus — no support
- 3. The excellent health of the lung — no support
- 4. The possible presence of a tumour in the lung — ✓ 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 most accurately characterises the term "halitosis".
- 1. A medical term for bad breath — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. A colloquial term for a headache — no support
- 3. A medical term for baldness — no support
- 4. A colloquial term for hiccups — 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 · right ✓
Ascertain the meaning of the expression "self-medicating" when applied to a person's consumption of alcohol.
- 1. Taking prescribed medicine correctly and at the stated times — no support
- 2. Drinking alcohol in order to cope with difficulties — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 8
- 3. Manufacturing one's own medicine — no support
- 4. Treating others without qualification — no support
Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 8, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 4, line 25: «"Has a drinking problem" means is an alcoholic, a person who cannot stop drinking alcohol.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «drink» (+4); the same thing acted on «alcohol» (+4). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/euphemisms/5-drink-mind-and-body/