Excuses and the lies that grow
Tests: 2 of 11 right · Exam: 1 of 4 right · Kind: ★ · Understood: 9 of 15 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72
Lesson 337 of the everyday 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 ✗
«been telling mum im at Tom's for weeks, never caught, so it's fine innit». What is right?
- 1. Fine until he's ten — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. Fine if Tom agrees — no support
- 3. Yes, if it worked for weeks it's fine, she's never been worried — no support
- 4. Not getting caught doesn't make it fine, and she needs to know where he is — ✓ 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 ✗
Mum's text: «Tom's mum says you weren't there. where were you. home NOW». What is the best thing to do?
- 1. Stay out longer, she'll calm down after an hour — ← Mova's choice · score 4
- 2. Say Tom's mum is confused — no support
- 3. Switch the phone off — no support
- 4. Go home at once and tell the truth about the park — ✓ the right answer · score 4
Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 with score 4, tied with another option at 4 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 337, line 1: «An excuse grows like a snowball. Liam in Toronto said he was at Tom's house when he was really at the park, because he wanted to stay out longer. It worked onc…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «stay out» (+5); the same property (+3). Against it: one says «not», the other does not (counts against) (-4). The right option, 4, scored 4. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 3 · ★ · wrong ✗
Piano teacher, dry: «All week, was it? Play me bar three.» What will most likely happen?
- 1. She'll believe him if he plays it really fast and loud — ← Mova's choice · score 6
- 2. She can't tell the difference — score 6
- 3. She'll give him a star anyway — no support
- 4. She'll hear he hasn't practised, so owning up is best — ✓ the right answer · no support
Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 6, tied with another option at 6 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 303, line 18: «Fix a hard bar by playing it slowly first; playing mistakes fast makes them a habit.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «play» (+5); the same thing acted on «bar» (+2). Against it: one says «not», the other does not (counts against) (-1). The right option, 4, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 4 · ★ · wrong ✗
Big sister: «just say ur 10, they never check». The boy is nine and small. What is wrong with that?
- 1. Rides never have rules — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. Nothing, it's a harmless fib that hurts nobody — no support
- 3. The rule is for safety, and they measure you anyway — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 4. Nine-year-olds are always tall enough — 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 ✓
Kid at break: «dont be a grass, say u fell». A boy keeps pushing him. What should he do?
- 1. Say he fell, to keep the peace with everyone — score 11
- 2. Push the boy back harder — score 2
- 3. Tell his teacher what really happens — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 14
- 4. Stay inside every playtime — no support
Why: It took the question to ask what is done. It chose option 3 with score 14, against 11 for the next best. Its support: lesson 285, line 6: «A boy in Leeds kept quiet when a friend showed him a knife in his bag; a few days later another pupil was cut in a fight, and he wished he had told a teacher.», 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 «tell» (+4); the same receiver «teacher» (+3); a different doer (counts against) (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 6 · ★ · wrong ✗
Dinner lady, sharp: «Them peas didn't eat themselves, love». What should the girl do?
- 1. Say a friend took them — ← Mova's choice · score 11
- 2. Say sorry and try a bite of each — ✓ the right answer · score 11
- 3. Say the peas fell on the floor — score 11
- 4. Say she's allergic to peas — score 11
Why: It took the question to ask what is done. It chose option 1 with score 11, tied with another option at 11 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 337, line 5: «Other children in Liam's class learned the same. A girl hid her peas under her plate and said she had eaten them; when the plate was lifted, the peas rolled ou…», 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 «say» (+4); a different doer (counts against) (+2). The right option, 2, scored 11. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 7 · ★ · wrong ✗
The trip letter turns up on the class website. Mum, hurt: «why'd you hide it?» What answer helps most?
- 1. «I didn't want you to have to pay for it» — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. «It never came, honest» — no support
- 3. «The website is wrong» — no support
- 4. The true one: «I was scared about the trip» — ✓ 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 8 · ★ · wrong ✗
Gran: «Was he really too tired to come? I'd made scones.» What would make it right?
- 1. He sends someone else instead — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. He forgets about it — no support
- 3. He says sorry and visits her next week — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 4. He says he was too tired again — 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 ✗
Which is TRUE about a lie that has worked three times?
- 1. The next time it may be found out, and all three come out together — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. It only matters if you get caught the first time — no support
- 3. It is now completely safe, because three times shows that nobody ever checks — no support
- 4. It has become true — ← Mova's choice · 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 336, line 2: «A lie turns a small thing into a big one. Two biscuits are nothing much; a lie told to someone's face makes them wonder what else is not true.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «turn» (+5). Against it: the same doer «lie» (-1). The right option, 1, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 10 · ★ · wrong ✗
«u washed ur hands?» «yeah» (he didn't). Why is this lie worse than it sounds?
- 1. Hands don't carry germs — ← Mova's choice · score 7
- 2. Germs can spread and make the family ill — ✓ the right answer · score 4
- 3. Only grown-ups catch tummy bugs — no support
- 4. Soap is expensive — no support
Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 1 with score 7, against 4 for the next best. Its support: lesson 258, line 17: «On a farm you touch animals only with permission and wash your hands well afterwards, because they can carry germs such as E. coli.», reached through the cause of the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «carry» (+5); the same thing acted on «germs» (+5); the same doer «hands» (+2). Against it: one says «not», the other does not (counts against) (-5). The right option, 2, scored 4. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 11 · ★ · right ✓
A boy keeps saying he's tired to miss things. What does his mum begin to think?
- 1. That he needs more sleep, nothing else, and an early bedtime — no support
- 2. That his excuses can't be trusted, even when he is tired — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 9
- 3. That he is very honest — no support
- 4. That tiredness is catching — no support
Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 2 with score 9, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 323, line 6: «A boy in Canada shoved past people at a shop's door without saying excuse me; an old man lost his balance and fell, hurting his hip.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «excuse» (+5); the same doer «boy» (+4). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Exam question 1 · formal language · wrong ✗
Select the response that is consistent with the established facts concerning a deception which has repeatedly escaped discovery.
- 1. Prior success guarantees immunity from any consequence — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. Prior success affords no assurance that the deception will continue to escape discovery — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. A deception undiscovered on three occasions becomes truthful — no support
- 4. Repeated success renders the deception permissible, since no harm has thereby been occasioned — 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 principal reason for which parents require accurate knowledge of the whereabouts of a child.
- 1. It is of no practical significance — no support
- 2. It enables them to regulate his friendships entirely and to forbid any visits — no support
- 3. It enables them to ensure his safety and to locate him in an emergency — ✓ the right answer · score 4
- 4. It is required solely for the purpose of punishment — ← Mova's choice · score 6
Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 6, against 4 for the next best. Its support: lesson 19, line 21: «You never need a reason to say no and leave when something feels wrong.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «need» (+5); the same thing acted on «reason» (+2). Against it: one says «not», the other does not (counts against) (-1). The right option, 3, scored 4. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Exam question 3 · formal language · right ✓
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the reporting to a teacher of physical harm inflicted by another pupil?
- 1. It constitutes disloyalty and ought to be avoided — no support
- 2. It constitutes a proper request for assistance and not the telling of tales — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 4
- 3. It is invariably of no assistance to the pupil harmed — no support
- 4. It is appropriate solely where an injury requires hospital treatment — no support
Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 2 with score 4, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 337, line 4: «Some lies hurt the liar most. Liam said a bruise came from falling, when a boy had pushed him, because he did not want to be a tell-tale. The boy did it again.…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «tell» (+5); the same thing acted on «tales» (+3). Against it: one says «not», the other does not (counts against) (-4). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Exam question 4 · formal language · wrong ✗
Ascertain the purpose of minimum age and height requirements applicable to amusement rides.
- 1. They serve no purpose whatsoever — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. They serve to protect the safety of riders — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. They serve exclusively to increase the revenue of the operator — no support
- 4. They serve solely to diminish the enjoyment of younger 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/everyday/337-excuses-and-the-lies-that-grow/