Cities: why they grow, and how water and sewers made them safe

Tests: 5 of 12 right · Exam: 1 of 4 right · Kind: plain · Understood: 7 of 16 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72

Lesson 73 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 ✗

Jaden: "Villages were chill tho, why'd anyone move to a stinky city?" ("Chill" means relaxed.) Best answer?

1. Nobody moved; cities just filled up with tourists — score 2
2. People were not allowed to leave their villages — no support
3. Cities were cleaner and healthier than villages, so people lived longer there — ← Mova's choice · score 4
4. Cities had jobs, markets, temples and safety that villages lacked — ✓ the right answer · score 4

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 3 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 30, line 12: «People moved from villages to work in factory towns, and cities like Manchester grew fast, crowded, smoky and dirty, which later led to sewers, clean water and…», reached through the cause of the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «people» (+4). The right option, 4, scored 4. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 2 · wrong ✗

Aroha's Kiwi dad: "Yeah nah, most folks in cities is pretty recent, eh." ("Yeah nah" means no.) Is he right?

1. Nah, most people already lived in cities back in the Stone Age — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. No, most people still live on farms even today — no support
3. No, it happened in Roman times — no support
4. Yes, more than half of people lived in cities only from 2007 — ✓ 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 3 · right ✓

In Europa Universalis, Kai clicks «develop» and his city grows in one second. What did real cities need?

1. Nothing at all; they grew on their own overnight — no support
2. Only a big army to protect the walls from enemies — score 2
3. Extra food from farms, trade, water and many years — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 6
4. One click from the ruler, just like in the game — score 6

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 3 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 56, line 10: «In 1414 a giraffe from Malindi, in today's Kenya, was brought to the Ming court, where people took it for a qilin, a lucky mythical beast, and painted it.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: a different thing acted on (counts against) (+3); the same action «take» (+2); the same doer «people» (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 4 · right ✓

Ella: "John Snow? Like, the Game of Thrones guy?" Dad: "Different one, love." What did the real John Snow do?

1. He mapped cholera cases in 1854 and found a poisoned water pump — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. He guarded a giant ice wall north of London — no support
3. He found the first germ on the Moon — no support
4. He invented the first sewers in 1666, after the Great Fire of London — 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 · wrong ✗

Charlie's mate: "Flush loos are ancient, the Romans had 'em in every house, no cap." What's more exact?

1. Every single home on Earth has one today — no support
2. Flush toilets were only invented in 2000 — no support
3. An early flush toilet came in 1596, and they became common in homes only in the 1800s and 1900s — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. Your mate's right: every Roman house had its own flush toilet, and nothing changed until today — ← Mova's choice · score 5

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 5, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 7, line 7: «Many Indus houses had bathrooms and toilets connected to covered drains along the streets, which carried dirty water away from people.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «many indus houses» (+2); the same thing acted on «bathrooms» (+2); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+1). The right option, 3, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 6 · wrong ✗

On an Edinburgh ghost tour the guide yells "Gardyloo!" and says, "Aye, hen, folk chucked muck oot the windaes every night." ("Hen" means dear; "oot the windaes" means out of the windows.) What's the fair picture?

1. Only the king was allowed to do it from his castle — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. It never happened; it's a story made up for ghost tours — no support
3. Everyone did it all the time, and the town council said it was fine — no support
4. It happened, but it was against the rules and people were fined — ✓ 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 · right ✓

Oscar's brother: "London just burnt down in 1666 and that was it, game over." What actually followed?

1. The city was rebuilt with brick and stone, and fire brigades and insurance grew — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 9
2. Fires were banned by law — score -2
3. The fire lasted only ten minutes, so not much needed rebuilding — no support
4. London was left empty for a hundred years while the ashes cooled — no support

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 with score 9, against -2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 73, line 13: «In 1666 the Great Fire of London burned much of the City for four days; afterwards new buildings had to be of brick and stone, and fire insurance and fire brig…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «fire insurance» (+5); the same action «grow» (+4). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 8 · right ✓

Leah's grandad: "Back in my day, kiddo, streets were proper dark." Before 1807, how were most London streets at night?

1. Mostly dark, apart from lamps, candles and torches — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. As bright as daytime — no support
3. Lit by bright neon signs over the shops — no support
4. Lit by rows of electric street lamps on every corner — 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 · wrong ✗

Ollie's big bro: "The Tube's older than your great-great-grandad, bruv." ("Bruv" means brother, mate.) Is he right?

1. No, the Romans built it — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Yes, it opened in 1863, over 160 years ago — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. No, it opened in 2000 — no support
4. No, it opened in 1990 — 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 ✓

Ava's friend: "Central Park was just a forest they forgot to cut down." What's true?

1. Your friend's right: it's an old forest that no one ever touched — no support
2. It was planned from 1858 to give the city green space — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 5
3. It was made by beavers — no support
4. It's a farm owned by the mayor of New York — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 5, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 73, line 16: «Central Park in New York was planned from 1858 to give crowded city people green space; it did not just happen.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «plan» (+2); the same place «1858» (+2); its «because» matches the remembered cause (+2). Against it: a different thing acted on (counts against) (-1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 11 · wrong ✗

Mila turns the tap and her teacher says, "Not everyone can do that." What would happen if a city had no clean water and no sewers?

1. Diseases like cholera would spread fast — ✓ the right answer · no support
2. People would be healthier than they are now — no support
3. Nothing, because rain water is always clean — score 5
4. The city would grow faster than ever — ← Mova's choice · score 6

Why: It took the question to ask what happens next. It chose option 4 with score 6, against 5 for the next best. Its support: lesson 30, line 12: «People moved from villages to work in factory towns, and cities like Manchester grew fast, crowded, smoky and dirty, which later led to sewers, clean water and…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «cities» (+3); the same property (+2); the same action «grow» (+1). The right option, 1, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 12 · wrong ✗

Finn holds his nose by the Thames. "Was London always this whiffy?" ("Whiffy" means smelly.) Guide: "Worse in 1858!" Why did things get better?

1. Bazalgette's sewers carried waste away from the river in the city — ✓ the right answer · no support
2. The river was filled in with concrete, so there was nothing left to smell — ← Mova's choice · score 4
3. People stopped going to the toilet — no support
4. Everyone moved out of London — no support

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 2 with score 4, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 40, line 14: «In 1840 Māori chiefs and the British signed the Treaty of Waitangi; the English and Māori versions said different things, which led to disputes and wars.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «lead» (+2); the same doer «different things» (+2). The right option, 1, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 1 · formal language · wrong ✗

Identify the principal consequence of the investigation undertaken by John Snow in the year eighteen hundred and fifty-four.

1. It led to the abolition of all public water pumps in Europe — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. It established that cholera is transmitted by foul air rising from the river — no support
3. It assisted in demonstrating that contaminated water transmits cholera — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. It resulted in the construction of the first flush toilet — 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 ✗

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the proportion of humanity residing in urban areas prior to the twenty-first century?

1. It was nil until the nineteenth century — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. It was precisely one half from the year eighteen hundred — no support
3. It was a minority, the majority being reached only in two thousand and seven — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. It was the overwhelming majority since antiquity, as the records of Rome attest — 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 response consistent with the established facts concerning the works of Joseph Bazalgette.

1. He planned Central Park in New York — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. He designed the first underground railway in Paris — no support
3. He constructed an extensive sewer system in London following the Great Stink of eighteen hundred and fifty-eight — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. He extinguished the Great Fire of sixteen hundred and sixty-six — 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 approximate number of persons who at present lack safe drinking water within the home.

1. Approximately two billion — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. No persons whatsoever at the present time — no support
3. Approximately two thousand persons — no support
4. Approximately two hundred million — 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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