The air presses on everything

Tests: 6 of 11 right · Exam: 2 of 4 right · Kind: plain · Understood: 10 of 15 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72

Lesson 14 of the physics 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 ✓

mate says air don't weigh nothing, it's just air. right?

1. Yes, air is weightless — no support
2. No, air has weight, a classroom's air weighs as much as several kids — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 7
3. Yes, only wet air has weight — score 5
4. No, but only air inside a balloon weighs anything — score 3

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 7, against 5 for the next best. Its support: lesson 14, line 6: «Air has weight; the air in an ordinary classroom weighs about as much as several children together.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «weigh» (+3); the same thing acted on «much» (+3); the same doer «air» (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 2 · right ✓

A sealed crisp packet goes up a high mountain in your bag. What happens to it?

1. It gets squashed flat — no support
2. It shrinks to half its size — no support
3. It stays exactly the same — no support
4. It puffs up like a pillow — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · 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 14, line 15: «High above the ground the air is thin and presses less; down low it presses harder, so a sealed crisp packet carried up a high mountain puffs up like a pillow.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «puff up» (+2); the same circumstance (+2). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 3 · wrong ✗

In a cartoon a straw sucks up a whole pond from a long way off. What goes wrong in real life?

1. Even a perfect pump cannot lift water more than about 10 metres up a straw — ✓ the right answer · score 9
2. Real straws only work with cold water — ← Mova's choice · score 14
3. Straws can lift water as high as you like — score 8
4. Real straws work better the longer they are — score 14

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 2 with score 14, tied with another option at 14 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 14, line 9: «A straw with a hole in its side stops working, because air leaks in and the pressure inside the straw cannot drop; and even a perfect pump cannot lift water mo…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+6); the same action «work» (+4); the same doer «straw» (+4). The right option, 1, scored 9. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 4 · wrong ✗

Ugh my juice box straw keeps just gurgling, nothing comes up. What's the likely problem?

1. Straws only work if you suck with your teeth closed tight — ← Mova's choice · score 6
2. There's a hole or split letting air into the straw — ✓ the right answer · score 5
3. You need to blow hard into it first to get it going — no support
4. The juice is too heavy to be pushed up such a thin straw — no support

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 with score 6, against 5 for the next best. Its support: lesson 14, line 9: «A straw with a hole in its side stops working, because air leaks in and the pressure inside the straw cannot drop; and even a perfect pump cannot lift water mo…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «work» (+3); the same doer «straw» (+3). The right option, 2, scored 5. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 5 · wrong ✗

What would happen if you tried the upside-down card trick with a bent, floppy card and a wobble?

1. The water would float up out of the glass — ← Mova's choice · score 2
2. The water would still stay in for ever — score 2
3. Air gets in and the water pours out — ✓ the right answer · score 2
4. The card would stick even harder — score 2

Why: It took the question to ask what happens next. It chose option 1 with score 2, tied with another option at 2 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 10, line 17: «A wine glass sings when you rub its rim with a wet finger, because the finger sticks and slips in time with the glass's own wobble; more water makes the note l…», reached through what followed the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «more water» (+4). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-2). The right option, 3, scored 2. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 6 · wrong ✗

How does a dropper or pipette keep liquid inside until you squeeze?

1. The liquid freezes inside the glass tube — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. The same way a finger over a straw does: air pushes up from below — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. Magnets in the bulb hold the liquid up — no support
4. It has a tiny glue inside the tip — 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 ✓

Your brother blows a balloon until it bangs. Why did it burst?

1. The rubber could not stretch any more against the air pushing out — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 5
2. The balloon got too cold to hold the air — score 3
3. The air inside suddenly turned heavy — score 3
4. Balloons always burst after a set number of breaths, however big they are — no support

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 1 with score 5, against 3 for the next best. Its support: lesson 12, line 3: «Air pushes up just like water, only more gently, so a helium balloon or a hot-air balloon floats in the air like wood floats in a pond.», reached through the cause of the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same circumstance (+5); a different action (counts against) (+1). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 8 · right ✓

Which is true about the push of the air?

1. It presses on every side, up, down and sideways — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 4
2. It only presses on things when the wind is blowing hard — no support
3. It only presses on things that are outdoors, never indoors — no support
4. It only presses downwards, from the sky above us onto the ground — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 4, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 14, line 2: «It presses from every side at once, up, down and sideways, on you, on the table and on the top of your juice.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «press» (+2); the same circumstance (+2); the same property (+1). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 9 · right ✓

shut up about the sucker, it just sticks cos it's rubber innit

1. Yes, rubber is naturally sticky on shiny tiles, just like a strip of tape — no support
2. No, the outside air pushes it on once the air behind is squeezed out — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 7
3. Yes, rubber and tiles are magnetic — no support
4. No, it sticks because the tiles are cold — score 4

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 7, against 4 for the next best. Its support: lesson 14, line 13: «A sucker sticks because pressing it squeezes the air out from behind it, and the outside air then holds it on.», reached through a sentence linked to the one the question matched. What matched: the same action «squeeze out» (+4); the same thing acted on «air» (+3). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 10 · right ✓

A football that is pumped up hard is weighed, then the air is let out. What changes?

1. It weighs nothing at all with the air in — no support
2. It weighs a little less without the air — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 3
3. It weighs much more without the air — score 2
4. Its weight stays exactly the same — no support

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 2 with score 3, against 2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 14, line 6: «Air has weight; the air in an ordinary classroom weighs about as much as several children together.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «weigh» (+2); the same circumstance (+2). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 11 · wrong ✗

Why do your ears feel blocked and then pop in a lift going fast down a tall tower?

1. The lift is too noisy for your ears — no support
2. The lift shakes the water in your ears — score 0
3. The lift's lights hurt your ears — ← Mova's choice · score 5
4. The air pressure grows quickly and the eardrum is pushed until air evens out — ✓ the right answer · no support

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 3 with score 5, against 0 for the next best. Its support: lesson 13, line 7: «Divers equalise their ears (even out the push inside them, for example by pinching the nose and blowing gently) as they go down, and come up slowly, because sh…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «hurt» (+4); the same thing acted on «ears» (+2). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-1). The right option, 4, 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 agency whereby a beverage is caused to ascend a drinking straw.

1. An attractive force exerted by the mouth directly upon the liquid in the cup — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. The pressure exerted by the surrounding atmosphere upon the beverage — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. The elasticity of the material of the straw — no support
4. The intrinsic buoyancy of the beverage in air — 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 2 · formal language · right ✓

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the atmosphere?

1. It possesses weight and exerts pressure upon all surfaces — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. It is entirely devoid of weight — no support
3. It exerts pressure solely in a downward direction, from the sky towards the ground — no support
4. It exerts pressure solely upon liquids — 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 ✗

It is given that a closed vessel is sealed at high altitude and subsequently conveyed to ground level. State the anticipated consequence.

1. The vessel expands owing to the reduced external pressure at ground level — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. The vessel remains wholly unaltered — no support
3. The vessel is compressed by the greater external pressure — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. The vessel rises spontaneously — 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 reason for which the human body is not crushed by atmospheric pressure.

1. Internal pressures counterbalance the external pressure — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. The skin is impermeable to pressure — no support
3. The atmosphere exerts no pressure whatsoever upon living tissue — no support
4. Atmospheric pressure acts exclusively at night — 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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