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Formal and informal: a mate versus the head teacher

Tests: 3 of 11 right · Exam: 1 of 4 right · Kind: plain · Understood: 4 of 15 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72

Lesson 16 of the language 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 · right ✓

Your mate goes "talking posh to teachers is well fake, bruv." What's the best reply?

  • 1. He's right, you should talk to the head exactly like a mate — no support
  • 2. Choosing a style for the person is a skill, not fakeness — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 6
  • 3. He's right, and teachers prefer slang because it is shorter — no support
  • 4. Talking politely is only needed if you are in trouble — 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 16, line 1: «Everyone has at least two ways of talking: informal (relaxed and chatty, for mates and family) and formal (careful and polite, for teachers, strangers and offi…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «choose» (+4); the same thing acted on «style» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 2 · right ✓

Your Gen Z cousin texts "that test was mid 💀". How is she feeling about the test?

  • 1. It was not great, kind of bad, and she's being dramatic about it — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
  • 2. The test was cancelled halfway through the lesson — no support
  • 3. She did brilliantly and is very proud of it — no support
  • 4. She is really ill and has to go home now — 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 · wrong ✗

What would happen if you wrote a job letter full of text speak like "u" and "thx"?

  • 1. It might look careless, so they may not take you seriously — ✓ the right answer · no support
  • 2. The letter would be sent back because computers can't read it — ← Mova's choice · score 4
  • 3. Nothing at all, every company prefers text speak these days — no support
  • 4. They would offer you the job straight away for being modern — 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 13, line 1: «A silent letter is written but not said, like the k in knee or the b in lamb; most of them are fossils of sounds people really said hundreds of years ago, befo…», reached through what followed the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «say» (+4). The right option, 1, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 4 · wrong ✗

A boomer neighbour says "kids today can't write a proper letter." Your sister writes to the council about the swings. Which opening is best?

  • 1. Oi, sort them swings out, they're well dead, yeah? — ← Mova's choice · no support
  • 2. Hello council, the swings, you know what I mean, ok? — no support
  • 3. To whom it may concern, ur swings r broke, fix them — no support
  • 4. I am writing about the broken swings in Oak Park. — ✓ 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 · wrong ✗

A Welsh lad says "Mam's tamping, I'm off home now in a minute." ("Mam" is mum.) How does his mum feel?

  • 1. Very happy and calm — ← Mova's choice · no support
  • 2. Very sleepy and tired — no support
  • 3. Very cross and annoyed with him — ✓ the right answer · no support
  • 4. Very hungry and thirsty — 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 · right ✓

Your American friend's teacher writes "Sloane is a conscientious student." Her friend says it sounds like an insult. Is it?

  • 1. No, it means careful and hard-working, so it's a compliment — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
  • 2. No, it means she is the tallest in her class — no support
  • 3. Yes, it means she never listens in lessons and chats — no support
  • 4. Yes, it means she copies other pupils' homework — 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 · wrong ✗

A Liverpool kid answers his mum's phone "Wha'?" ("Wha'" is a quick "what?") and it's the head teacher. What should he have said?

  • 1. Hello, who's calling, please? — ✓ the right answer · no support
  • 2. Wha', who is it, la, I'm busy — ← Mova's choice · score 4
  • 3. What do you want, I'm watching telly — no support
  • 4. Nothing, he should have just hung up — no support

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 2 with score 4, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 14, line 4: «Pairs of commas decide who said what: "The teacher said the pupil is a fool" and "The teacher, said the pupil, is a fool" swap who gets insulted.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+3); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+2); the same thing acted on «fool» (+1). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-2). The right option, 1, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 8 · wrong ✗

In a cartoon, a knight speaks to his best mate like a king's speech: "Prithee, good sir, pass the crisps." What's funny about it?

  • 1. Prithee is a word for crisps in old English — ← Mova's choice · no support
  • 2. He uses a very formal style for a chatty moment — ✓ the right answer · no support
  • 3. Knights were not allowed to eat crisps at all — no support
  • 4. Nothing, everyone talks to their mates like that — 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 ✗

Gran from Bristol says "Cheers, my lover" to the postman. Your friend from London is shocked. What's the truth?

  • 1. It means she wants the postman to go away — ← Mova's choice · no support
  • 2. It's a rude thing to say to a postman in Bristol — no support
  • 3. It's a friendly West Country greeting to anyone — ✓ the right answer · no support
  • 4. Gran is in love with the postman and is telling him — 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 · wrong ✗

An interviewer asks "What are you good at?" Which answer sounds most confident?

  • 1. I don't know, maybe everything, or maybe nothing. — ← Mova's choice · no support
  • 2. I'm good at organising; I ran the school fair. — ✓ the right answer · no support
  • 3. Like, um, yeah, I'm like good at loads of stuff, innit. — no support
  • 4. Stuff, really, all kinds of stuff, you know, things. — 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 ✗

Your little brother says "Alexa, weather, now!" and your mum says "Manners!" What is true?

  • 1. It's illegal to speak to a machine without saying please — ← Mova's choice · no support
  • 2. Machines feel hurt and cry when people don't say please — no support
  • 3. People disagree about manners with machines; with people, always be polite — ✓ the right answer · no support
  • 4. Alexa will delete his account if he doesn't say please — 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 1 · formal language · right ✓

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises formal language?

  • 1. Language composed principally of abbreviations and symbols — score 6
  • 2. Language that is careful, clear and courteous, appropriate to official purposes — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 10
  • 3. Language reserved exclusively for persons of advanced years — score 6
  • 4. Language that employs the greatest possible number of lengthy words in each sentence — score 5

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 2 with score 10, against 6 for the next best. Its support: lesson 1, line 15: «Babies babble ("ba-ba-ba") long before their first words; it is practice with the sounds of language, and every human group ever found has language.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same thing acted on «practice» (+4); it fills the role the question asks for (+4); the same doer «language» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 2 · formal language · wrong ✗

Identify the course of action most likely to secure the repair of defective equipment in a public park.

  • 1. Correspondence employing abusive language so as to convey urgency — ← Mova's choice · no support
  • 2. The composition of a letter entirely in capital letters — no support
  • 3. Correspondence stating the facts and requesting repair courteously — ✓ the right answer · no support
  • 4. The abstention from any communication with the authority concerned — 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 alteration of style between conversation with friends and correspondence with a head teacher.

  • 1. It constitutes evidence of dishonesty on the part of the writer — ← Mova's choice · no support
  • 2. It is prohibited by the regulations of most schools — no support
  • 3. It indicates an inability to speak the language properly — no support
  • 4. It constitutes a recognised linguistic competence — ✓ 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 4 · formal language · wrong ✗

Ascertain the meaning of the word "conscientious" as employed in a school report.

  • 1. Of unusually great height compared with peers — ← Mova's choice · no support
  • 2. Careful and diligent — ✓ the right answer · no support
  • 3. Inclined to excessive talking during lessons — no support
  • 4. Habitually late in the submission of homework — 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/language/16-formal-and-informal-a-mate-versus-the-head-teacher/