Deserts

Tests: 8 of 11 right · Exam: 2 of 4 right · Kind: plain · Understood: 10 of 15 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72

Lesson 18 of the geography 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 ✗

Josh says: «Antarctica can't be a desert, it's all ice!» What is the best answer?

1. It is only a desert in summer — ← Mova's choice · score 5
2. Josh is right, deserts must be sandy — no support
3. It is a desert because very little snow falls there each year — ✓ the right answer · score 5
4. It is a desert because it is hot — score 5

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. 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 18, line 15: «The Gobi Desert in Mongolia and China is a cold desert, with winters below minus 30 degrees Celsius, and some of the first known dinosaur egg nests were found…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «gobi desert» (+2); the same thing acted on «cold desert» (+2); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+1). The right option, 3, scored 5. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 2 · wrong ✗

«the sahara's all sand dunes like in the films right» What is right?

1. No, it is mostly ice and snow, up in the high mountains — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Only about a quarter is dunes; most is rock and gravel — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. Yes, every bit of it is sand, as deep as a house — no support
4. No, it is mostly grass — 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 3 · right ✓

In Europa Universalis 5 the Sahara looks like an empty barrier. What is wrong with that picture?

1. Camel caravans crossed it for centuries, linking West and North Africa — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 5
2. It was full of big cities, with rivers and green fields between them all — no support
3. Nothing, nobody ever crossed it — no support
4. It was a sea in 1337 — 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 18, line 4: «In Europa Universalis 5 the Sahara looks like an empty wall between North and West Africa. Really camel caravans crossed it for centuries, carrying salt, gold,…», reached through a sentence linked to the one the question matched. What matched: the same action «cross» (+2); the same doer «camel caravans» (+2); the same circumstance (+2). Against it: a different thing acted on (counts against) (-1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 4 · right ✓

«why'd camels be better than horses in the desert, horses are faster» Which is the best answer?

1. Camels are faster than horses — score 3
2. Horses cannot walk on sand at all, they sink straight in up to their knees — score 2
3. Camels go much longer without water and cope with heat and sand — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 7
4. Camels eat sand — no support

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 3 with score 7, against 3 for the next best. Its support: lesson 18, line 14: «Camels, which can go a long time without water, carry heavy loads and cope with heat and sand, made regular caravans across the Sahara possible, carrying salt,…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «cope» (+3); the same circumstance (+3); the same doer «camels» (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 5 · right ✓

What would happen to a desert town if its oasis well dried up for good?

1. The sand would turn into soil — no support
2. Rain would start falling instead to fill the well up again — score 2
3. Nothing, people can live there quite well without water — no support
4. People would have to bring water from far away or leave — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 4

Why: It took the question to ask what happens next. It chose option 4 with score 4, against 2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 9, line 14: «New York City is the largest city in the United States, with about 8.5 million people, and began as the Dutch town of New Amsterdam, taken by the English in 16…», reached through what followed the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «take» (+4). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 6 · wrong ✗

«how do they know the sahara was green, were they there lol» Which is the best answer?

1. A film from that time shows it — ← Mova's choice · score 4
2. The camels told them — no support
3. Rock paintings of swimmers and cattle, and old lake beds, show it — ✓ the right answer · score 3
4. Nobody knows, it is only a guess made from looking at the sand today — no support

Why: It took the question to ask what something is like. It chose option 1 with score 4, against 3 for the next best. Its support: lesson 18, line 2: «Films show the Sahara as endless golden dunes, but only about a quarter of it is sand; most of it is bare rock and gravel plains.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «show» (+2); the same doer «films» (+2). The right option, 3, scored 3. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 7 · right ✓

«why do scientists test mars rovers in the atacama» Which is the best answer?

1. It has red sand that fell down from Mars a long time ago — no support
2. Its soil is so dry and lifeless that it is a lot like Mars — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 7
3. It is the hottest place on Earth, just as hot as Mars is — no support
4. It is the closest place to Mars — no support

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 2 with score 7, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 18, line 10: «The Atacama Desert in Chile is the driest non-polar desert, and some of its weather stations have never recorded measurable rain; its soil is so dry and lifele…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «soil» (+3); the same property (+2); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 8 · right ✓

«death valley's the hottest place ever, 100 percent proven» What is the fairest answer?

1. Yes, it is proven beyond any doubt by every single expert who has looked — no support
2. No, Antarctica is hotter — no support
3. It holds the record of 56.7 degrees, but some experts doubt that reading — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 12
4. No, London is hotter — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 12, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 18, line 11: «Death Valley in California holds the record for the highest air temperature, 56.7 degrees Celsius in 1913, though some experts doubt that reading.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «hold» (+4); the same doer «death valley» (+4); the same thing acted on «record» (+4). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 9 · right ✓

«why does the sand burn my feet when the air's not even that hot» Which is the best answer?

1. The air is actually hotter than the sand — no support
2. The sand makes its own fire — score 4
3. The ground soaks up sunlight and gets much hotter than the air above — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 12
4. Feet are colder than the air — score 3

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 3 with score 12, against 4 for the next best. Its support: lesson 18, line 5: «Think of a beach in July: the sand burns your feet even when the air feels fine, because the ground soaks up sunlight and gets much hotter than the air above i…», reached through the cause of the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «soak up» (+4); the same doer «ground» (+4); the same thing acted on «sunlight» (+4). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 10 · right ✓

«why do most aussies live on the coast?? the outback's massive» Which is the best answer?

1. It is against the law to live inland — no support
2. Most of the inland is very dry, while the coasts get more rain — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 6
3. The outback is under the sea — no support
4. The inland is covered in ice — no support

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 2 with score 6, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 13, line 7: «Algeria is the largest country in Africa by area, and most of it is Sahara desert, so most Algerians live near the Mediterranean coast.», reached through the cause of the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «most» (+4); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 11 · right ✓

«ugh the gobi's a desert so it's boiling all year yeah» What is right?

1. Yes, it never goes below 30 degrees, not even on the coldest winter nights — no support
2. No, it is a cold desert with winters below minus 30 degrees — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 6
3. Yes, it is hot every day — no support
4. No, it is a rainforest — 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 18, line 15: «The Gobi Desert in Mongolia and China is a cold desert, with winters below minus 30 degrees Celsius, and some of the first known dinosaur egg nests were found…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same thing acted on «cold desert» (+4); the same property (+2); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+2). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 1 · formal language · wrong ✗

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the defining property of a desert?

1. A desert is a region of high temperature irrespective of precipitation — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. A desert is a region devoid of all living organisms — no support
3. A desert is a region necessarily covered by sand dunes — no support
4. A desert is a region receiving very little precipitation, customarily under some two hundred and fifty millimetres a year — ✓ 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 2 · formal language · wrong ✗

Identify the largest desert upon the Earth.

1. The Sahara Desert — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. The Arabian Desert — no support
3. The Gobi Desert — no support
4. Antarctica — ✓ 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 consistent with the established facts concerning the surface of the Sahara.

1. About one quarter of the Sahara is covered by sand dunes, the remainder being chiefly rock and gravel — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. The Sahara consists principally of permanent lakes — no support
3. The Sahara consists principally of grassland — no support
4. The Sahara is covered in its entirety by sand dunes — 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 principal reason for the location of numerous great deserts at approximately thirty degrees of latitude north and south of the equator.

1. Dry air, having discharged its moisture over the tropics, descends in those latitudes, thereby inhibiting the formation of cloud — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. Those latitudes lie closest to the Sun — no support
3. Those latitudes receive no sunlight — no support
4. Those latitudes are encircled by mountain ranges — 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/geography/18-deserts/