Straits: Bosporus, Gibraltar, Malacca, Hormuz and the other narrow doors

Tests: 3 of 11 right · Exam: 2 of 4 right · Kind: ★★ · Understood: 8 of 15 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72

Lesson 19 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 ✗

In Europa Universalis 5, a strait is just a crossing for armies and a good spot for a fort. What does the game leave out?

1. Nothing, because all real straits in the world are about the same width and depth — no support
2. That real ships can never sail through a strait, only armies walk — score 2
3. That real straits are only found on rivers, never between seas — ← Mova's choice · score 7
4. Straits differ hugely, from 14 km at Gibraltar to 800 km of rough sea at Drake — ✓ the right answer · no support

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 3 with score 7, against 2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 19, line 17: «Magellan found the Strait of Magellan near the tip of South America in 1520, while the wide Drake Passage, about 800 km across between Cape Horn and Antarctica…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «find» (+2); it fills the role the question asks for (+2); a different doer (counts against) (+2); the same thing acted on «strait» (+1). The right option, 4, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 2 · ★★ · wrong ✗

«what happens to petrol prices if ships can't get through hormuz» Which is the best answer?

1. Only the price of petrol in Iran would change, not anywhere else at all — no support
2. They would fall to almost nothing, because all the unsold oil would pile up in the Gulf — ← Mova's choice · score 4
3. Oil prices would likely jump, as about a fifth of the world's oil passes there — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. Nothing would change, because almost all oil travels by pipeline instead — no support

Why: It took the question to ask what happens next. It chose option 2 with score 4, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 19, line 1: «A strait is a narrow stretch of sea joining two larger bodies of water, like a door between two rooms. Ships that want to go from one room to the other must sq…», reached through what followed the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «ships» (+4). The right option, 3, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 3 · ★★ · wrong ✗

Why did Denmark grow rich from a narrow strait?

1. The best fish in Europe only lived in the Øresund's water — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Denmark sold barrels of the strait's clean water to Europe — no support
3. Denmark owned nearly every merchant ship in the Baltic Sea — no support
4. Every foreign ship through the Øresund had to pay a toll — ✓ 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 4 · ★★ · wrong ✗

Why did the Portuguese want to capture Malacca in 1511?

1. It was the only good harbour on the whole east coast of Africa for ships — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. It was the capital of the Chinese emperor and the richest and biggest city in all of China — no support
3. It had the biggest gold mine in Asia, worked by thousands of miners — no support
4. It controlled a narrow, busy sea route for the spice trade between two oceans — ✓ 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 5 · ★★ · right ✓

«the bosporus is like 50 km wide right» What is right?

1. It is about 50 km wide — no support
2. It is about 800 km wide — no support
3. It is dry land — no support
4. It is less than 1 km wide at its narrowest — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 8

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 8, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 19, line 7: «The Bosporus joins the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara, is less than 1 km wide at its narrowest, and divides Istanbul between Europe and Asia.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «bosporus» (+4); 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 6 · ★★ · right ✓

What would happen if a big ship blocked the narrow Bab-el-Mandeb?

1. The Red Sea would slowly start to dry up without the water from the ocean — no support
2. Ships could simply sail round it, as the strait there is hundreds of kilometres wide — score 4
3. Nothing much, because almost no ships use the Red Sea route these days — score 4
4. Ships between Suez and the Indian Ocean would be held up or go round Africa — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 10

Why: It took the question to ask what happens next. It chose option 4 with score 10, against 4 for the next best. Its support: lesson 19, line 14: «The Bab-el-Mandeb, between Yemen and the Horn of Africa, is about 30 km wide and links the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean; ships between the…», reached through what followed the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «ships» (+4); the same place «africa» (+4); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 7 · ★★ · right ✓

«why's constantinople such a big deal, it's just one city» Which is the best answer?

1. Whoever held it controlled all ships between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. It sat on the only gold mine in Europe, so every king wanted its money — no support
3. It had the only big church in the world, and pilgrims came to it from every country on Earth — no support
4. It was the only port where ships could sail between Europe and America — 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 ✗

«spain and morocco are like right next to each other innit» Is that right?

1. No, they are on different oceans with Portugal between them — ← Mova's choice · score 8
2. Yes, only about 14 km of sea separate them at the narrowest — ✓ the right answer · score 3
3. No, Africa and Europe are thousands of km apart at Gibraltar — no support
4. Yes, a long road bridge has joined them at Gibraltar for years — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 8, against 3 for the next best. Its support: lesson 14, line 2: «Why do Brazilians speak Portuguese while their neighbours speak Spanish? In 1494, in the Treaty of Tordesillas, Spain and Portugal drew a line 370 leagues west…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «spain» (+4); the same circumstance (+4). The right option, 2, scored 3. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 9 · ★★ · wrong ✗

«why's the sea down by cape horn so bloody rough» Which is the best answer?

1. Huge icebergs break off Antarctica every day and their splashes make the waves — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Strong winds and currents race around the world there with no land to stop them — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. Underwater volcanoes keep boiling the water, so it bubbles and heaves all day — no support
4. It is very shallow there, so the waves smash on the sandy bottom like a puddle — 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 10 · ★★ · wrong ✗

«can u see france from dover lol» What is right?

1. No, the curve of the Earth always hides it, even at 33 km — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Yes, on a clear day, as the strait is only about 33 km wide — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. Yes, but only at night, when the lights of Calais are on — no support
4. No, France is about 500 km away across the open North Sea — 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 · ★★ · wrong ✗

Why do Russia's warships care about the Turkish Straits?

1. They are Russia's only way out to the Arctic Ocean and the frozen seas of the far north — ← Mova's choice · score 0
2. They lead straight from the Black Sea to the Pacific Ocean — no support
3. They are the only sea way from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. They are where Russia builds and repairs all its warships — no support

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 1 with score 0, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 19, line 14: «The Bab-el-Mandeb, between Yemen and the Horn of Africa, is about 30 km wide and links the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean; ships between the…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same thing acted on «red sea» (+1); the same circumstance (+1). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-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 ✗

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the geographical function of a strait?

1. A strait is an enclosed lake without outlet — ← Mova's choice · score 2
2. A strait is an artificial waterway excavated by human labour — score 2
3. A strait is a narrow passage of sea connecting two larger bodies of water — ✓ the right answer · score 2
4. A strait is a narrow isthmus of land connecting two continents — score 2

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 1 with score 2, tied with another option at 2 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 2, line 17: «In EU5 the far north has cold, harsh locations and the tropics hot ones, which follows latitude quite well (the further from the equator, the lower and weaker…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+3); the same doer «tropics hot ones» (+1). Against it: a different thing acted on (counts against) (-2). The right option, 3, scored 2. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 2 · formal language · right ✓

Identify the states between whose coasts the Strait of Hormuz is situated.

1. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the Sultanate of Oman — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Arab Republic of Egypt — no support
3. The Republic of Turkey and the Hellenic Republic — no support
4. The Republic of Iraq and the State of Kuwait — 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 ✗

Ascertain the principal consequence of the Sound Dues levied by the Kingdom of Denmark between 1429 and 1857.

1. The Øresund was closed to all foreign shipping in perpetuity, and the Baltic trade consequently ceased — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Swedish vessels were exempted from all tolls and thereby obtained a monopoly of the Baltic trade — no support
3. Every foreign vessel transiting the Øresund was obliged to pay a toll, a substantial source of Danish revenue — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. Danish vessels were prohibited from entering the Baltic Sea, which thereby passed under Swedish control — 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 ✓

Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning the Strait of Gibraltar.

1. It separates Spain from Morocco, is about fourteen kilometres wide at its narrowest, and is the sole natural entrance to the Mediterranean from the Atlantic — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 14
2. It separates France from Algeria, measures approximately three hundred kilometres in width, and is merely one of several natural entrances to the Mediterranean Sea — score 3
3. It is one of several natural entrances to the Mediterranean from the Atlantic, the others lying along the coasts of Portugal and southern France — no support
4. It connects the Black Sea with the Aegean Sea and is controlled under the Montreux Convention concluded between the maritime powers in 1936 — score 5

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 14, against 5 for the next best. Its support: lesson 19, line 9: «The Strait of Gibraltar is only about 14 km wide at its narrowest, separating Spain in Europe from Morocco in Africa, and it is the only natural entrance to th…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «strait» (+4); the same thing acted on «only natural entrance» (+4); the same circumstance (+4); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

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