How empires fell: the map of the 20th century

Tests: 6 of 11 right · Exam: 1 of 4 right · Kind: ★ · Understood: 10 of 15 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72

Lesson 37 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 EU5 the colonial map of the Americas looks rock solid in 1836. What is the truth?

1. Spain still held Brazil — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. The colonies stayed under Spain and Portugal until about 1990 — no support
3. Most of Spanish America and Brazil were already independent by then — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. The Americas were empty until 1836 — 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 · ★ · right ✓

My mate says the Soviet Union just turned into Russia, simple. Right?

1. No, it split into 15 countries, including Ukraine and Kazakhstan — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 5
2. Yes, it all became one Russia — score 4
3. No, it joined the European Union as one big member — score 5
4. Yes, and Ukraine was never a separate country — no support

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 37, line 17: «The Soviet Union, the communist state that grew out of the Russian Empire, broke up into 15 countries in 1991, including Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Georgia and the B…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «soviet union» (+2); the same place «15 countries» (+2); the same action «break up» (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 3 · ★ · wrong ✗

If the First World War had not broken the four empires, which country would most likely not have reappeared in 1918?

1. Argentina — ← Mova's choice · score -1
2. Portugal — score -1
3. Thailand — score -1
4. Poland — ✓ the right answer · score -1

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 with score -1, tied with another option at -1 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 37, line 8: «After the First World War, the Austro-Hungarian, Russian, German and Ottoman empires broke apart, and countries such as Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Fin…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «reappear» (+4); the same doer «countries» (+1). Against it: one says «not», the other does not (counts against) (-6). The right option, 4, scored -1. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 4 · ★ · right ✓

Why did UN membership jump from 51 in 1945 to more than 140 by 1975?

1. Countries split into pieces for fun — no support
2. Many colonies became independent countries and joined — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 6
3. Every country joined twice — no support
4. The UN started letting big cities like London and Tokyo join — 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 37, line 12: «Between about 1945 and 1975, as empires weakened by the Second World War faced long campaigns for freedom, most colonies in Asia and Africa became independent…», reached through a sentence linked to the one the question matched. What matched: the same action «become» (+2); the same doer «most colonies» (+2); the same thing acted on «independent countries» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 5 · ★ · wrong ✗

did every colony just get handed freedom nice n easy

1. Yes, and they paid the colonies too — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. No, but only in South America — no support
3. Yes, every empire left politely and said sorry on the way out — no support
4. No, some like Algeria, Angola and Mozambique had to fight long wars — ✓ 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 6 · ★ · wrong ✗

A friend says Gandhi won India's freedom with a big army. What is wrong?

1. Gandhi was British — no support
2. India won freedom in 1922 — ← Mova's choice · score 2
3. He led peaceful campaigns such as the Salt March — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. Nothing, Gandhi was a great general who beat the British — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 2, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 37, line 13: «India won independence from Britain in 1947 after decades of peaceful campaigning led by figures such as Mahatma Gandhi, whose Salt March of 1930 protested aga…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «win» (+3); the same doer «india» (+1). Against it: a different thing acted on (counts against) (-2). The right option, 3, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 7 · ★ · right ✓

Your grandma says she remembers when Macau was Portuguese. Could she?

1. No, it was handed back to China in 1550 — no support
2. No, Macau was never Portuguese at all — no support
3. Yes, Portugal handed it back only in 1999 — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 5
4. Yes, but only in the 1800s — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 5, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 37, line 18: «Britain handed Hong Kong back to China in 1997 and Portugal handed Macau back in 1999, among the last pieces of the old European empires in Asia.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «portugal» (+2); the same place «1999» (+2); the same action «hand back» (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 8 · ★ · right ✓

Which happened last?

1. The Soviet Union broke up — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. The Ottoman Empire came to an end — no support
3. India won independence — no support
4. The Year of Africa — 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 · ★ · right ✓

Britain and France drew straight-line borders for Iraq, Syria and Jordan. What earlier lesson does this match?

1. Borders always follow rivers and mountain ridges — score 2
2. Borders that never change — score 2
3. Outsiders drawing borders on maps, as in Africa — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 9
4. Borders drawn by local people — score 9

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 9, tied with another option at 9 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 31, line 13: «When British India became independent in 1947, it was split into India and Pakistan, with a border drawn in a few weeks.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same thing acted on «border» (+6); the same action «draw» (+3). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 10 · ★ · wrong ✗

wait, Turkey isn't the Ottoman Empire?

1. Yes, the sultan still rules it from his palace in Istanbul — no support
2. No, the empire ended in 1922 and the republic began in 1923 — ✓ the right answer · score 5
3. No, Turkey was part of Greece — no support
4. Yes, it is the same empire under a new flag — ← Mova's choice · score 7

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 7, against 5 for the next best. Its support: lesson 28, line 12: «In the 1200s and 1300s the Mongol Empire controlled most of the Silk Road, making it safer for traders to cross.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same thing acted on «empire» (+6); the same doer «mongol empire» (+1). The right option, 2, scored 5. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 11 · ★ · right ✓

Which empire around 1920 covered about a quarter of the world's land?

1. The Ottoman Empire — score 11
2. The Spanish Empire — score 11
3. The British Empire — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 14
4. The Mughal Empire — score 11

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 3 with score 14, against 11 for the next best. Its support: lesson 37, line 1: «In 1914 a world map looked like a few huge patches of colour: European empires, with the USA and Japan, ruled most of the land and people on Earth, and the Bri…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «cover» (+5); the same property (+3); it fills the role the question asks for (+3); the same thing acted on «quarter» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 1 · formal language · right ✓

Identify the empires which were dissolved in consequence of the First World War.

1. The Austro-Hungarian, Russian, German and Ottoman empires — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 3
2. The British, French, Dutch and Portuguese empires — score 3
3. The Mughal, Safavid and Qing empires — no support
4. The Spanish and Venetian dominions in the Americas — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. 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 37, line 8: «After the First World War, the Austro-Hungarian, Russian, German and Ottoman empires broke apart, and countries such as Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Fin…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «hungarian german empires» (+2); the same property (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 2 · formal language · wrong ✗

State the designation conferred upon the year 1960 in respect of the African continent, and the reason therefor.

1. The Year of Empire, Britain having annexed Africa — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. The Year of Union, the African Union having been constituted — no support
3. The Year of Partition, Africa having been divided at Berlin — no support
4. The Year of Africa, seventeen states having attained independence therein — ✓ 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 · wrong ✗

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the dissolution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1991?

1. It was absorbed in its entirety by the European Union — ← Mova's choice · score 5
2. It was succeeded by a single state alone — score 5
3. It was succeeded by fifteen independent states — ✓ the right answer · score 5
4. It was partitioned between India and Pakistan — no support

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. 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 37, line 17: «The Soviet Union, the communist state that grew out of the Russian Empire, broke up into 15 countries in 1991, including Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Georgia and the B…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+4); the same doer «communist state» (+3). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-2). The right option, 3, scored 5. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 4 · formal language · wrong ✗

Ascertain the years in which Hong Kong and Macau were respectively restored to China.

1. 1810 and 1825 — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. 1997 and 1999 — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. 1947 and 1960 — no support
4. 1922 and 1923 — 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

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