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Kipling's word games: «Best Beloved», the 'Stute Fish, «Humph!» and the great grey-green, greasy Limpopo

Tests: 5 of 12 right · Exam: 2 of 4 right · Kind: ★★★ · Understood: 9 of 16 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72

Lesson 42 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 ✓

«why does he keep saying the same Dingo line, is he lazy or what» What is the better answer?

  • 1. The printer copied the same line by mistake — no support
  • 2. It is a refrain: listeners wait for it and join in — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 4
  • 3. He forgot that he had already written it on the page before — no support
  • 4. It is a spell that makes the Dingo run — 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 42, line 10: «A refrain is a line repeated again and again in a story or song, like «Yellow-Dog Dingo, always hungry», which comes back every time the Dingo runs; listeners…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «wait» (+2); the same doer «listeners» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 2 · ★★★ · wrong ✗

Mia writes «the silly, slippery, slithering snake». Which of Kipling's tricks is she using?

  • 1. A pun — ← Mova's choice · score 4
  • 2. A refrain — no support
  • 3. A clipped word — no support
  • 4. Alliteration — ✓ the right answer · no support

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 with score 4, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 42, line 12: «The Camel's «Humph!» turning into a «hump» is a pun, a joke that uses two words that sound alike; in British English «to have the hump» still means to be sulky.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+3); the same thing acted on «two words» (+1). The right option, 4, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 3 · ★★★ · right ✓

★★ Which word is NOT a clipped word?

  • 1. Butterfly — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
  • 2. Phone — no support
  • 3. Flu — no support
  • 4. Maths — 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 · ★★★ · right ✓

«Kipling can't spell, 'curtiosity' isn't even a word» What would you say?

  • 1. He really could not spell — no support
  • 2. It was the right spelling in 1902 — no support
  • 3. He made the mistake on purpose to sound like a little child — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 8
  • 4. It is the American spelling of curiosity — score 6

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 3 with score 8, against 6 for the next best. Its support: lesson 42, line 8: ««'Satiable curtiosity» is baby-talk for «insatiable curiosity», wanting to know things so much you are never satisfied; «curtiosity» is a made-up mistake, and…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same circumstance (+5); the same action «sound» (+2); the same doer «kipling» (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 5 · ★★★ · wrong ✗

A comic has «CRASH!», «BANG!» and «WHOOSH!». What are these words called?

  • 1. Refrains — no support
  • 2. Onomatopoeia — ✓ the right answer · no support
  • 3. Puns — ← Mova's choice · score 12
  • 4. Alliteration — no support

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 3 with score 12, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 28, line 6: «A pun is a joke using a word or phrase with two meanings, or two words that sound the same; a bad pun that makes people groan is called a groaner.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «pun» (+4); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+3); it fills the role the question asks for (+3); the same thing acted on «joke» (+2). The right option, 2, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 6 · ★★★ · wrong ✗

Grandad grumbles «don't mind him, he's got the hump». What does he mean?

  • 1. He has eaten too much — ← Mova's choice · no support
  • 2. He has a bad back after gardening — no support
  • 3. He has turned into a camel — no support
  • 4. He is in a sulky mood — ✓ 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 · ★★★ · wrong ✗

★★ Your friend says «a leopard can't change its spots» about a boy who keeps cheating. What does she mean?

  • 1. The boy has spots and needs a doctor — score 4
  • 2. The boy likes leopards — no support
  • 3. Leopards really can change their spots if they try — ← Mova's choice · score 5
  • 4. People don't easily change what they are really like — ✓ the right answer · no support

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 3 with score 5, against 4 for the next best. Its support: lesson 42, line 3: «He also plays with what words mean. The lazy Camel only ever says «Humph!», so the Djinn gives him a «humph» on his back, «we call it hump now, not to hurt his…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «change» (+2); it fills the role the question asks for (+2); the same doer «leopard» (+1); the same thing acted on «spots» (+1). Against it: one says «not», the other does not (counts against) (-1). The right option, 4, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 8 · ★★★ · wrong ✗

«bruv he cried crocodile tears when he lost the game, proper actor» What does that mean?

  • 1. He laughed until he cried — ← Mova's choice · no support
  • 2. He was really, truly heartbroken — no support
  • 3. He pretended to be sad — ✓ the right answer · no support
  • 4. He cried so much he made a river — 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 ✓

★ Kipling's Stone Age names describe the person, like Tegumai's «Man-who-does-not-put-his-foot-forward-in-a-hurry». What would a Stone Age name for a boy who is always hungry look like?

  • 1. Hungry Boy Smith — no support
  • 2. Boy-who-is-always-hungry — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 3
  • 3. Mr Always — no support
  • 4. Boy 3 — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 3, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 38, line 8: «In Middle English "girl" meant any young child, boy or girl; later it narrowed to mean only a female child; narrowing is when a word comes to mean something mo…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «child» (+2); the same thing acted on «female child» (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 10 · ★★★ · right ✓

A scientist calls an idea «a just-so story». What does she mean?

  • 1. It was written by Kipling himself — score 2
  • 2. It has been tested many times and is certainly true — score 2
  • 3. It sounds neat but nobody has tested it — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 7
  • 4. It is a bedtime story for babies — 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 42, line 16: ««Just so» means «exactly right, word for word»; scientists today call a neat-sounding explanation that nobody has tested «a just-so story».», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «test» (+4); the same doer «nobody» (+4). Against it: a different thing acted on (counts against) (-1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 11 · ★★★ · wrong ✗

★★★ Kipling writes «the Djinn in charge of All Deserts» with capitals. What does that do?

  • 1. It makes the title sound grand and important — ✓ the right answer · score 6
  • 2. It shows where a new sentence begins — no support
  • 3. It is a mistake by the printer — no support
  • 4. It shows that the words are being shouted loudly — ← Mova's choice · score 7

Why: It took the question to ask what is done. It chose option 4 with score 7, against 6 for the next best. Its support: lesson 30, line 12: «Writing in all capitals usually feels like shouting in a text, but some older people use capitals because they are easier to read.», 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 action «shout» (+3). The right option, 1, scored 6. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 12 · ★★★ · wrong ✗

«'Stute» drops letters from the front of the word. Which of these drops letters from the front too?

  • 1. Maths, from mathematics — ← Mova's choice · no support
  • 2. Exam, from examination — no support
  • 3. Bus, from omnibus — ✓ the right answer · no support
  • 4. Gym, from gymnasium — 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 ✓

Identify the device employed in the phrase «the great grey-green, greasy Limpopo River».

  • 1. Alliteration, the repetition of an initial sound in neighbouring words — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
  • 2. A pun, the exploitation of words of similar sound — no support
  • 3. Onomatopoeia, the imitation of a sound by a word — no support
  • 4. A refrain, the repetition of an entire line — 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 word «'Stute»?

  • 1. It is the American spelling of «student» — ← Mova's choice · score 9
  • 2. It is a word of the Tegumai language, signifying «a small fish of the sea» — score 9
  • 3. It is a clipped form of «astute», the apostrophe marking omitted letters — ✓ the right answer · score 9
  • 4. It is a contraction of «it is cute» — score 9

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 1 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 42, line 1: «Kipling wrote the «Just So Stories» to be read aloud, the way he first told them to his own children at bedtime, so the words are made to be heard: they repeat…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+5); the same doer «words» (+4). The right option, 3, scored 9. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 3 · formal language · wrong ✗

Select the response consistent with the account given of the Camel's hump.

  • 1. It is explained by the author as a consequence of his diet of thorns — ← Mova's choice · no support
  • 2. It is described as a reservoir of water — no support
  • 3. It is attributed to the burdens placed upon him by Man — no support
  • 4. It is the subject of a pun upon the Camel's habitual utterance «Humph!» — ✓ 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 · right ✓

Ascertain the meaning of the expression «a month of Sundays».

  • 1. A very long period of time — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
  • 2. A month without any working days — no support
  • 3. A period of exactly four weeks — no support
  • 4. A holiday taken on Sundays — 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/42-kipling-s-word-games-best-beloved-stute-fish-humph-and-the-great-grey-green-greasy-limpopo/