Constellations and the night sky in winter and spring

Tests: 5 of 11 right · Exam: 1 of 4 right · Kind: plain · Understood: 6 of 15 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72

Lesson 20 of the space 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 ✓

My mate in Manchester says he can only see the Plough at Christmas. right?

1. No, from Britain it never sets, so any clear night will do — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 9
2. Yes, it is a winter-only pattern that hides all summer long — no support
3. No, it can only ever be seen from Australia and New Zealand — score 6
4. Yes, it only rises over Britain in the weeks around Christmas — score 5

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 9, against 6 for the next best. Its support: lesson 20, line 13: «The Plough, called the Big Dipper in North America, is part of Ursa Major and never sets from Britain or Canada, so it can be seen on any clear night of the ye…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «plough» (+4); the same action «set» (+3); the same place «britain» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 2 · wrong ✗

lost in the woods at night, which way's north??

1. Walk towards Orion's belt — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Follow the Moon wherever it is — no support
3. Face the brightest star you can see, that's always north — no support
4. Find Polaris with the Plough's Pointers and face it — ✓ 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 a game, Orion's belt is drawn as a W of five stars. What is wrong?

1. Nothing, that is exactly right — no support
2. Orion's belt is three stars in a row; the W is Cassiopeia — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 4
3. Orion's belt is a backwards question mark, like Leo's head — no support
4. Orion has no belt at all — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 4, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 20, line 11: «Betelgeuse, Sirius and Procyon form the Winter Triangle, a large shape of three bright stars in the winter evening sky; it is not one of the 88 constellations…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «belt» (+4); the same thing acted on «one» (+2); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+1). Against it: one says «not», the other does not (counts against) (-3). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 4 · right ✓

Why can't you see Orion on a summer evening, but you can on a winter one?

1. In summer we face the other way at night, and Orion is in the daytime sky — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 6
2. Orion only shines when the night air is cold, so in warm summer it fades out — no support
3. Orion moves to another galaxy in summer — score 4
4. Summer clouds always hide it — no support

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 1 with score 6, against 4 for the next best. Its support: lesson 20, line 8: «The evening constellations change through the year because the Earth moves round the Sun, so at night we face a different part of space each season; in summer…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «orion» (+3); the same place «daytime sky» (+2); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 5 · right ✓

Lily says the stars of a constellation are all close together out in space, like a family. true?

1. Yes, they are all the same distance away, like dots painted on one big ball — score 6
2. No, they only look close from the Earth and lie at very different distances — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 9
3. No, they are all inside the Solar System — no support
4. Yes, they are joined by lines in space — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 9, against 6 for the next best. Its support: lesson 20, line 18: «The stars of a constellation only look close together from the Earth; most are at very different distances from us.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «stars» (+4); the same action «look» (+3); the same property (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 6 · wrong ✗

If there were no agreed list of constellations, what would be harder?

1. Seeing the stars at night — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Keeping the stars from moving — no support
3. Finding the Moon — no support
4. Telling people exactly which part of the sky you mean — ✓ 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 ✗

Which pattern is not one of the 88 official constellations but a shape made by stars from three of them?

1. Taurus — no support
2. The Winter Triangle — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. Orion — ← Mova's choice · score 4
4. Leo — no support

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 3 with score 4, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 20, line 9: «Orion, the hunter, is the easiest winter constellation from Britain and North America, with three bright stars in a row making his belt.», 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 (+3); the same doer «orion» (+2); the same circumstance (+2); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+1). Against it: a different thing acted on (counts against) (-1); one says «not», the other does not (counts against) (-3). The right option, 2, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 8 · right ✓

You see a backwards question mark in the south on a spring evening. What are you looking at?

1. The Sickle of Leo — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. The Plough's handle — no support
3. Cassiopeia — no support
4. Orion's belt — 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 ✗

this app says Big Dipper but my nan says the Plough. who's right, for god's sake

1. Neither, it is really called the Sickle, after the farm tool — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Only the app is right, Plough is just an old nickname — no support
3. Both, they are two names for the same pattern — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. Only nan is right, Big Dipper is a made-up app name — 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 ✗

Which is true?

1. Cassiopeia only rises in summer — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Cassiopeia is on the other side of Polaris from the Plough — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. Cassiopeia is part of Orion — no support
4. Cassiopeia is the brightest single star in the northern sky — 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 11 · wrong ✗

Betelgeuse and Aldebaran are both orange-red winter stars. Which of them is a corner of the Winter Triangle?

1. Both of them — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Neither of them — no support
3. Aldebaran — no support
4. Betelgeuse — ✓ 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 1 · formal language · wrong ✗

State the number of constellations officially recognised by astronomers since the period nineteen hundred and twenty-two to nineteen hundred and thirty.

1. One hundred — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Eight — no support
3. Eighty-eight — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. Twelve — 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 · right ✓

Identify the principal reason for which the constellations visible in the evening sky vary in the course of a year.

1. The orbital motion of the Earth about the Sun — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 3
2. The motion of the stars about the Earth — no support
3. The extinction of the stars during summer — no support
4. The obscuration of the stars by seasonal clouds — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 3, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 20, line 8: «The evening constellations change through the year because the Earth moves round the Sun, so at night we face a different part of space each season; in summer…», reached through a sentence linked to the one the question matched. What matched: the same doer «earth» (+2); the same circumstance (+2). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 3 · formal language · wrong ✗

Ascertain the star to which the two terminal stars of the bowl of the Plough, designated the Pointers, are directed.

1. Sirius — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Polaris — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. Regulus — no support
4. Arcturus — 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 ✗

Select the response that is consistent with the established facts concerning the three stars which constitute the Winter Triangle.

1. Aldebaran, Altair and Vega — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Arcturus, Spica and Polaris — no support
3. Betelgeuse, Sirius and Procyon — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. Castor, Pollux and Regulus — 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/space/20-constellations-and-the-night-sky-in-winter-and-spring/