Explorers: around Africa and Columbus
Tests: 6 of 10 right · Exam: 2 of 4 right · Kind: ★ · Understood: 10 of 14 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72
Lesson 26 of the history 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 ✗
teacher in a cartoon says columbus proved the earth was round. fix it
- 1. No, he proved it was flat — no support
- 2. Educated people already knew; he was wrong about its size — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. No, Magellan proved it was square, and Columbus agreed — no support
- 4. Yes, he proved it in 1492 — ← Mova's choice · score 3
Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 3, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 26, line 12: «In 1492 Columbus sailed with three ships, the Niña, the Pinta and the Santa María, and after about five weeks from the Canary Islands reached an island in the…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «columbus» (+2); the same place «1492» (+2). Against it: a different action (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 2 · ★ · right ✓
Your pizza has tomato sauce. What would an Italian pizza in 1400 have lacked?
- 1. Tomatoes, which came from America — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. Cheese, which came from Australia — no support
- 3. Salt, which came from Canada — no support
- 4. Bread, which came from China — 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 · ★ · wrong ✗
A book says Columbus discovered an empty land. What is wrong with that?
- 1. It was full of Vikings only — no support
- 2. He landed in Asia — ← Mova's choice · score 4
- 3. Millions of people already lived there — ✓ the right answer · score 4
- 4. Nothing, it was empty land with only animals living there — no support
Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 4, tied with another option at 4 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 26, line 13: «Columbus thought he was near Asia, in the lands then called the Indies, so he called the people he met Indians.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «columbus» (+2); the same place «asia» (+2). The right option, 3, scored 4. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 4 · ★ · wrong ✗
Can someone be both brave and cruel? Which fits Columbus?
- 1. Only a hero with no faults at all, kind to everyone he met — ← Mova's choice · score 4
- 2. Only a villain who could not sail — no support
- 3. A skilful sailor and also a harsh governor — ✓ the right answer · score 3
- 4. Neither, he never sailed — score 1
Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 4, against 3 for the next best. Its support: lesson 26, line 14: «The first people Columbus met were the Taíno, who farmed, fished and made hammocks and canoes; within a few decades most of them had died from disease, forced…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «meet» (+2); the same doer «columbus» (+2). The right option, 3, scored 3. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 5 · ★ · right ✓
If the Earth really were as small as Columbus thought, where would he have landed?
- 1. In Antarctica — no support
- 2. In Asia, as he hoped — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 8
- 3. On the Moon — no support
- 4. Back in Spain the next day — no support
Why: It took the question to ask where. It chose option 2 with score 8, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 26, line 13: «Columbus thought he was near Asia, in the lands then called the Indies, so he called the people he met Indians.», reached through what was said in the sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+6); the same place «asia» (+4). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 6 · ★ · right ✓
lads say the Irish always had potatoes, its like their thing. true?
- 1. Yes, potatoes grew in Ireland since the Ice Age — no support
- 2. No, the Irish never ate potatoes — no support
- 3. Yes, Vikings brought them from Norway — no support
- 4. No, potatoes came from South America after 1492 — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · 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 26, line 16: «In the Columbian Exchange horses, cows and wheat went to the Americas, while potatoes, maize, tomatoes and chocolate came to Europe.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «come» (+2); the same doer «potatoes» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 7 · ★ · right ✓
Why did Portugal and Spain think they could split the world on a map?
- 1. Everyone in the world had voted for it in Rome — no support
- 2. They acted without asking the people who lived there — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 3
- 3. The lands were empty — no support
- 4. The Pope lived in Brazil — 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 26, line 18: «In 1494 Spain and Portugal agreed a line on the map, the Treaty of Tordesillas, splitting new lands between them without asking the people who lived there, whi…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «spain» (+2); the same action «ask» (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 8 · ★ · right ✓
Who reached the Americas long before Columbus, apart from the people living there?
- 1. Vikings, around the year 1000 — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 14
- 2. Nobody at all — score 5
- 3. The Romans, in wooden ships with oars — score 5
- 4. The Mongols, by horse — score 9
Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 1 with score 14, against 9 for the next best. Its support: lesson 26, line 5: «Long before him, Vikings had reached North America around the year 1000, and Chinese fleets under Zheng He had sailed as far as East Africa in the early 1400s.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+6); the same doer «vikings» (+4); the same action «reach» (+3); the same property (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 9 · ★ · wrong ✗
Why would a new sea route to India make Portugal rich?
- 1. India paid Portugal to visit with gold every year — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. It could buy spices directly and sell them in Europe — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. Spices were free in Portugal for everyone — no support
- 4. Ships could carry gold mines — 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 · ★ · right ✓
How long did Columbus sail from the Canary Islands to the Caribbean in 1492?
- 1. About five weeks — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 12
- 2. About five days only — score 12
- 3. About five short hours — score 12
- 4. About five years — score 12
Why: It took the question to ask what something is like. It chose option 1 with score 12, tied with another option at 12 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 26, line 12: «In 1492 Columbus sailed with three ships, the Niña, the Pinta and the Santa María, and after about five weeks from the Canary Islands reached an island in the…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «sail» (+4); the same doer «columbus» (+4); the same circumstance (+4). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Exam question 1 · formal language · wrong ✗
Identify the principal error in the calculations of Christopher Columbus.
- 1. He believed the Earth to be flat and that ships could fall off — ← Mova's choice · score 8
- 2. He miscounted his ships — no support
- 3. He mistook west for east — score 4
- 4. He greatly underestimated the size of the Earth — ✓ the right answer · no support
Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 8, against 4 for the next best. Its support: lesson 26, line 3: «Christopher Columbus had another plan: sail west to reach Asia; he knew the Earth was round, like everyone educated, but he thought it was much smaller than it…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «think» (+4); the same doer «christopher» (+4). The right option, 4, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Exam question 2 · formal language · right ✓
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the voyage of Vasco da Gama in fourteen hundred and ninety-eight?
- 1. He crossed the Pacific Ocean and returned by way of the Arctic seas — score 8
- 2. He reached China overland — score 10
- 3. He discovered the Strait of Magellan — score 8
- 4. He reached India by sea around the southern extremity of Africa — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 15
Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 4 with score 15, against 10 for the next best. Its support: lesson 26, line 8: «In 1498 Vasco da Gama sailed around the southern tip of Africa and reached India by sea, and Portugal grew rich from the spice trade.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+4); the same action «reach» (+3); the same doer «vasco da gama» (+3); the same circumstance (+3). · 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 Treaty of Tordesillas of fourteen hundred and ninety-four.
- 1. It divided newly reached lands between Spain and Portugal without consulting their inhabitants — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. It granted the Americas to England — no support
- 3. It was agreed by the Taíno — no support
- 4. It ended the Hundred Years' War — 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 4 · formal language · wrong ✗
Ascertain which of the following was conveyed from the Americas to Europe in the course of the Columbian Exchange.
- 1. Cattle — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. Horses — no support
- 3. Wheat and barley — no support
- 4. Maize — ✓ 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
This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/history/26-explorers-around-africa-and-columbus/