Lies that grow: one lie needs three more

Tests: 2 of 11 right · Exam: 2 of 4 right · Kind: ★ · Understood: 12 of 15 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72

Lesson 430 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 · ★ · right ✓

Mate in Boston: «that's wicked awesome». What does «wicked» mean there?

1. Very — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 5
2. Evil — score 5
3. Scary — score 5
4. Boring — score 5

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 with score 5, tied with another option at 5 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 430, line 18: ««Wicked» in Boston and New England means «very»; «chuffed» (UK) means pleased; «our kid» (North West England) means a brother, sister or son.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «wicked» (+3); the same action «mean» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 2 · ★ · wrong ✗

Mum in Manchester: «Our kid, you dug a hole and then built a house in it.» What does she mean?

1. Jake made a small problem huge with more lies — ✓ the right answer · no support
2. Jake has to dig the garden — no support
3. Jake would make a really good builder one day — no support
4. Jake lost his bus pass down a hole — ← Mova's choice · score 4

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 4 with score 4, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 430, line 3: «Jake in Manchester swapped his bus pass for sweets and told Mum he'd lost it. Where? «On the bus.» Which bus? «The 86.» Nothing was handed in — and then Mum sa…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «lose» (+3); the same doer «jake» (+1). The right option, 1, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 3 · ★ · wrong ✗

Kid: «just keep adding stuff, they'll never check». What usually happens?

1. People get bored and stop asking — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Adding lots of details makes a lie turn true — no support
3. The bigger the story, the more ways to check it — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. Bigger stories are always believed by grown-ups — 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 · ★ · wrong ✗

Theo: «it was a cinema for sick people, coach». Why does this make things worse?

1. Sick people really do go to special cinemas — score 4
2. It's a bigger, sillier lie on top of the first — ✓ the right answer · score 0
3. Coaches love stories about cinemas — score 3
4. It sounds completely true to the coach — ← Mova's choice · score 7

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 4 with score 7, against 4 for the next best. Its support: lesson 430, line 4: «Some lies grow into nonsense. Lucy in Auckland «went to Disneyland», then «met Elsa», then got «her real crown». Theo skipped football for «a cold»; the coach…», reached through the cause of the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «coach» (+4); a different action (counts against) (+3). The right option, 2, scored 0. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 5 · ★ · wrong ✗

Callum's dad was chuffed about the hat-trick. How did he feel?

1. Angry and upset — ← Mova's choice · score 13
2. Pleased and proud — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. Scared and worried — score 8
4. Bored and tired — score 8

Why: It took the question to ask what something is like. It chose option 1 with score 13, against 8 for the next best. Its support: lesson 404, line 3: «Every family is different. Theo's parents allow 12 games at ten, but only if they play the first hour with him. Zara's family has a rule that any new game live…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «feel» (+4); the same doer «dad» (+4); it fills the role the question asks for (+4); the same property (+2). Against it: one says «not», the other does not (counts against) (-1). The right option, 2, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 6 · ★ · wrong ✗

What would have happened if Hamza had said «I got a 4» at the start?

1. They would have kicked him out of the house — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Nothing, because nobody cares about tests anyway — no support
3. His parents would help him practise, with no sad lie — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. They'd put the 4 on the fridge — 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 ✗

Ava's new: she wants friends fast. What's better than a made-up horse?

1. A made-up famous uncle who plays football — no support
2. A made-up pony instead — no support
3. Real things about her, even small ones — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. Saying nothing at all forever — ← 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 345, line 1: «Letting someone take your punishment is like stealing from them: you take their good name and their free time. Finn in Cork drew with chalk on the school wall,…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «say» (+2); the same thing acted on «nothing» (+2). The right option, 3, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 8 · ★ · wrong ✗

Lucy: «and Elsa gave me her REAL crown». Her friend says «yeah nah» and changes the subject. Why is that worse than a fight?

1. It means she believes every word of it — ← Mova's choice · score 3
2. It means she secretly wants the crown — score 3
3. It means Lucy won — no support
4. It shows she has stopped believing Lucy — ✓ the right answer · score 3

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 1 with score 3, tied with another option at 3 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 60, line 6: «A girl in Texas trusted a new online friend because he knew her school and hobbies; he had simply read her public posts, and he used them to trick her into thi…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «think» (+3). The right option, 4, scored 3. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 9 · ★ · wrong ✗

Emily: «I'll bring the dentist note tomorrow, promise». What's the wise thing at this point?

1. Promise again for Thursday instead — no support
2. Say the dentist lost it — score 3
3. Write her own note — ← Mova's choice · score 5
4. Stop and admit there's no note — ✓ the right answer · no support

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 3 with score 5, against 3 for the next best. Its support: lesson 417, line 4: «The children found their own tricks. Priya put a kitchen timer shaped like a chicken next to her console; when it squawked, she stopped, because it is easier t…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «write» (+2); a different doer (counts against) (+2); it fills the role the question asks for (+1). The right option, 4, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 10 · ★ · right ✓

Teacher's sign on the wall: «If you're in a hole, stop digging.» What does it mean for lies?

1. Keep going until you're out of the hole — no support
2. Stop adding lies and tell the truth — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 5
3. Holes are dangerous at school — no support
4. Never play in the sandpit — no support

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 2 with score 5, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 430, line 17: «The earliest moment to stop a lie is the easiest one.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «stop» (+2); a different doer (counts against) (+2); it fills the role the question asks for (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 11 · ★ · wrong ✗

Freya says Amy's house, then Amy's gran's, then «the other gran». What does the changing story tell Mum?

1. That Amy has many grans — no support
2. That Freya is probably lying — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. That Freya is confused about houses — ← Mova's choice · score 10
4. Nothing at all — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 10, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 430, line 2: «That is how a lie grows. Every lie needs a bodyguard of new lies, because people ask the next question. Freya said she was at Amy's house; Mum rang Amy's mum,…», reached through what was said in the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «freya» (+4); the same circumstance (+4); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+2). The right option, 2, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 1 · formal language · right ✓

Identify the principal reason for which a single falsehood commonly necessitates further falsehoods.

1. The first falsehood is always forgotten — no support
2. Listeners request that further falsehoods be told to them — no support
3. Subsequent questions require additional invented answers — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 0
4. Falsehoods multiply of their own accord over time — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 0, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 1, line 18: «Falls are the most common reason children are taken to hospital with an injury.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «take» (+2). Against it: a different thing acted on (counts against) (-2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 2 · formal language · wrong ✗

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises an account which alters upon each successive enquiry?

1. It indicates superior memory on the part of the speaker — ← Mova's choice · score 13
2. It is of no evidential significance — score 9
3. It is a principal indication that the account is false — ✓ the right answer · score 11
4. It is a principal indication that the account is true — score 11

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 1 with score 13, against 11 for the next best. Its support: lesson 284, line 12: «Some accounts are bots or fake accounts that repeat the same thing to make an idea look more popular.», 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 doer «fake accounts» (+4); a different action (counts against) (+2); a different thing acted on (counts against) (+2). The right option, 3, scored 11. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 3 · formal language · right ✓

It is given that a pupil reported a mark of nine in place of an actual mark of four. Select the response consistent with the established facts.

1. The parents could assist with the mark of four, but the false report occasioned disappointment — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 5
2. The false mark improved the pupil's understanding of the subject — no support
3. The actual mark was of no importance whatever — no support
4. The parents preferred the false mark, it being the higher of the two and so a cause for pride — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 5, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 430, line 15: «Parents can help with a bad mark; they cannot help with a faked good one.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same circumstance (+3); the same action «help» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 4 · formal language · wrong ✗

Determine the most advantageous juncture at which to abandon a falsehood.

1. Solely upon discovery of the falsehood by another person — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Upon first perceiving the need for a further falsehood — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. Upon the telling of a third falsehood — no support
4. At no juncture whatever — 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/430-lies-that-grow-one-lie-needs-three-more/