Olympiad: decoding a short French text ★★★

Tests: 5 of 11 right · Exam: 2 of 4 right · Kind: ★★★ · Understood: 7 of 15 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72

Lesson 39 of the french 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 ✗

★★★ Emma from Leeds reads "on a nagé dans la mer" and goes, "Easy, they swam with their mum, like." What's the trap?

1. Nagé means walked, not swam — no support
2. Nothing, la mer means mum — ← Mova's choice · score 3
3. On a means they will, not they did — no support
4. La mer is the sea; mother is la mère — ✓ the right answer · no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 3, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 18, line 18: «Slang here: "la" (Liverpool) means mate; "bare" (London) means lots of; "me mam" (Leeds) means my mum; "wicked" (Boston) means very; "proper lush" (West Countr…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «mean» (+2); the same thing acted on «mum» (+2). Against it: a different doer (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 2 · ★★★ · right ✓

★★★ Leo from Dublin asks, "Who's the master, and why's he got cheese in a tree?" Which retelling is right?

1. Mr Crow, in a tree, holds a cheese — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 8
2. A master chef is hiding cheese in a tree — no support
3. A crow is fishing from a tree — no support
4. A fox is up a tree eating cheese — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 8, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 39, line 7: «"Maître Corbeau, sur un arbre perché, tenait en son bec un fromage" is the start of a fable by La Fontaine (1668): Mr Crow, perched in a tree, held a cheese in…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «hold» (+3); the same thing acted on «cheese» (+3); the same doer «mr crow» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 3 · ★★★ · wrong ✗

★★★ Olivia from Bath reads 9,50 € and gasps, "Nine hundred and fifty euros for chips?!" How much would two kids' menus really cost?

1. 18 euros 50 — ← Mova's choice · score 6
2. 9 euros 50 — score 6
3. 19 euros — ✓ the right answer · score 6
4. 1,900 euros — score 6

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. 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 34, line 15: «Martinique, Guadeloupe, La Réunion and French Guiana (la Guyane) are part of France; people there use the euro and often speak a Creole as well as French.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+5); the same thing acted on «euro» (+3). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-2). The right option, 3, scored 6. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 4 · ★★★ · wrong ✗

★★★ Jacob from Cardiff reads "Défense de marcher sur la pelouse" and goes, "Defence of marching? Is there an army, butt?" (butt = mate, in Wales) What does the sign really say?

1. Soldiers march on the lawn — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Don't walk on the grass — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. Protect the marching band — no support
4. Walk only on the lawn — 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 ✓

★★★ Ruby from Belfast doesn't know singes and answers un citron to the riddle. Why is that weak?

1. Nothing, citron is the right answer — no support
2. Monkeys love bananas, not lemons — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 3
3. Lemons are never yellow in France — no support
4. Citron is the French word for banana — no support

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 2 with score 3, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 39, line 10: «"Je suis un fruit jaune. Les singes m'adorent. Qui suis-je ?" - I am a yellow fruit, monkeys love me, who am I? The answer is une banane; les singes are monkey…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «love» (+2); the same doer «monkeys» (+2). Against it: a different thing acted on (counts against) (-1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 6 · ★★★ · wrong ✗

★★★ Kai from Auckland plans a picnic in Paris for the morning. The forecast says "il pleut le matin, mais l'après-midi il y a du soleil". What should he do?

1. Bring sun cream for the morning — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Keep the picnic in the morning — no support
3. Cancel the whole day, it's snowing — no support
4. Move the picnic to the afternoon — ✓ 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 · ★★★ · wrong ✗

★★★ Mia from Ohio thinks farine is "a farm" and sucre is "a sucker". What does she actually need to buy?

1. A farm, three eggs, milk and a sweet — ← Mova's choice · score 6
2. Fruit, two eggs, milk and lots of sugar — no support
3. Flour, three eggs, butter and salt — score 6
4. Flour, 3 eggs, milk, a little sugar — ✓ the right answer · score 6

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. 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 26, line 3: «Picture a French farm: un cheval in the field becomes des chevaux, un oiseau on the roof becomes des oiseaux, and you cannot see un œil but deux yeux.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+5); the same thing acted on «french farm» (+3). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-2). The right option, 4, scored 6. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 8 · ★★★ · right ✓

★★★ Harvey from Kent sees "Perdu : petit chat noir" on a lamppost and goes, "Bargain, a cat for sale!" What is it really, and what should he do if he sees the cat?

1. A cat for sale; ring and offer money — no support
2. A free cat; take it home — no support
3. A cat show; buy a ticket — no support
4. A lost cat; call the number on the poster — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 8

Why: It took the question to ask what is done. It chose option 4 with score 8, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 39, line 13: «"Perdu : petit chat noir, yeux verts. Il s'appelle Minou." means "Lost: small black cat with green eyes, called Minou".», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+6); the same action «call» (+4). Against it: a different thing acted on (counts against) (-2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 9 · ★★★ · right ✓

★★★ Josh from Leeds says, "14h05 to 16h50? Two hours fifty-five, sorted." Which way of counting is right?

1. 2 h to 16h05, then 45 min — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. 3 h to 17h05, then 15 min more — no support
3. 1 h to 15h05, then 45 min — no support
4. Nowhere, it really is 2 h 55 — 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 · ★★★ · wrong ✗

★★★ Sophie from Glasgow reads "je vais à la librairie... J'achète un livre sur les chevaux" and says, "She's borrowing a horse book from the library, aye?" Which word proves she's wrong?

1. sur, about — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. j'achète, I'm buying — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. avec, with — no support
4. samedi, Saturday — 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 ✓

★★★ Tom's gran from Somerset reads the fridge note and goes, "Eat all the chocolate, my lover - Mum says so!" Which two little words did she miss?

1. ne and pas, which make it "don't" — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 13
2. le and la, which make it plural — no support
3. tout and le, which make it some — no support
4. est and dans, which make it there — score 10

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 with score 13, against 10 for the next best. Its support: lesson 39, line 16: «"Le goûter est dans le placard. Ne mangez pas tout le chocolat !" means the after-school snack is in the cupboard - don't eat all the chocolate; ne ... pas mak…», 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 thing acted on «chocolate» (+4); the same doer «ne» (+3); the same action «make» (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 1 · formal language · wrong ✗

Ascertain the activity undertaken by the writer of the postcard on the preceding day, as stated in the phrase "Hier, on a nagé dans la mer".

1. Walking along the shore — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Swimming in the sea — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. Sailing upon the sea — no support
4. Swimming with her mother — 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

Exam question 2 · formal language · right ✓

Identify the sum denoted by the inscription "9,50 €" upon a French menu.

1. Nine euros and fifty cents — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. Ninety-five euros — no support
3. Nine hundred and fifty euros — no support
4. Ninety-five cents — 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 ✗

Select the rendering most consistent with the notice "Défense de marcher sur la pelouse".

1. The lawn is to be defended by the public — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Walking upon the lawn is prohibited — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. Marching upon the lawn is encouraged — no support
4. The lawn is reserved for military exercises — 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 ✓

It is given that a train departs at 14h05 and arrives at 16h50. Determine the duration of the journey.

1. Two hours and forty-five minutes — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. One hour and forty-five minutes — no support
3. Three hours and forty-five minutes — no support
4. Two hours and fifty-five minutes — 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/french/39-olympiad-decoding-a-short-french-text/