Why planes fly

Tests: 5 of 11 right · Exam: 3 of 4 right · Kind: ★ · Understood: 12 of 15 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72

Lesson 22 of the technology 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 ✗

«my dad said planes fly coz the air on top has to race to meet the air underneath» What is a better explanation?

1. The tilted wing pushes air down, and the air pushes the wing up — ✓ the right answer · score 6
2. Planes fly because the engines point upwards — score 8
3. Your dad is right, the air on top must race to meet the air underneath at the back — ← Mova's choice · score 12
4. Planes fly because they are lighter than air — score 8

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 12, against 8 for the next best. Its support: lesson 13, line 9: «A radiator warms the air next to it, which rises and moves round the room; it heats the room more by moving warm air than by glowing heat; radiators often sit…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «meet» (+4); the same doer «rising warm air» (+4); the same thing acted on «cold air» (+4). The right option, 1, scored 6. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 2 · ★ · wrong ✗

«bloody turbulence again, we're gonna fall out the sky» What is right?

1. Only if the wings bend, which means they are breaking off and the plane will drop — ← Mova's choice · score 4
2. Turbulence only happens when the pilot is careless — no support
3. Planes are built for much worse; just keep your seat belt on — ✓ the right answer · score 4
4. Yes, a big bump can make any plane fall — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 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 22, line 11: «Turbulence is bumpy air, like waves in the sky; planes are built to handle much worse, and the wings bend upwards a lot in flight on purpose.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «bend» (+2); the same doer «wings» (+2). The right option, 3, scored 4. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 3 · ★ · wrong ✗

You look out of the window at landing and the wing seems to grow and bend at the back. What is happening?

1. The wing is folding up to fit the gate — no support
2. The fuel is leaking out of the wing, so the wing shrinks and bends — ← Mova's choice · score 8
3. The wing is breaking because of the cold — no support
4. Flaps and slats are sliding out so the plane can fly slowly — ✓ the right answer · no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 8, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 22, line 4: «High up the air is thin and freezing, so the cabin is pumped full of air, the pilots and computers watch every number, and the wings even bend and change shape…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «bend» (+4); the same doer «wings» (+4). The right option, 4, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 4 · ★ · right ✓

«why did that plane leave a white line and the other one didn't» What is right?

1. Trails form only when the air up there is cold and damp enough — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 2
2. The second plane had its engines switched off — no support
3. Only one of them was spraying chemicals — no support
4. One plane was burning fuel, the other was gliding along without engines — no support

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 1 with score 2, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 22, line 1: «A plane flies because its wings are shaped and tilted so that, as air rushes past, they push air downwards, and the air pushes the wing up. This upward push is…», reached through the cause of the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «shape» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 5 · ★ · wrong ✗

What would happen if a big jet went along the runway at only 50 km/h?

1. It would fly, but only very low — score 2
2. It would lift off slowly and gently, like a big kite in the wind — ← Mova's choice · score 8
3. It would not get enough lift and would stay on the ground — ✓ the right answer · score 4
4. It would bounce up and down — score 2

Why: It took the question to ask what happens next. It chose option 2 with score 8, against 4 for the next best. Its support: lesson 22, line 6: «A big jet must travel at around 250 to 300 km/h along the runway before it can lift off.», reached through what followed the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «lift off» (+4); the same doer «jet» (+4). The right option, 3, scored 4. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 6 · ★ · right ✓

Nan's ears hurt as the plane comes down to land. What can she do?

1. Hold her breath for ten minutes — no support
2. Swallow, yawn or suck a sweet — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 10
3. Nothing at all, sore ears can't be helped — score 5
4. Put her hands over her ears tightly — no support

Why: It took the question to ask what is done. It chose option 2 with score 10, against 5 for the next best. Its support: lesson 22, line 14: «The cabin is pumped full of air, but its pressure is still lower than on the ground, so ears pop as the plane climbs and descends; swallowing, yawning or sucki…», 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 action «suck» (+4); the same thing acted on «sweet» (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 7 · ★ · wrong ✗

In a film, a man takes off his oxygen mask high up to chat and feels fine for an hour. What is wrong?

1. Oxygen masks are only for decoration — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Nothing, the air up there is just like the air on the ground, only colder — no support
3. Planes always carry fresh air from the ground — no support
4. Without the mask in thin air at that height he would soon pass out — ✓ 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 8 · ★ · right ✓

«autopilot does it all, pilots just nap lol» What is right?

1. No, pilots watch the computers and take over when needed — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 8
2. Yes, pilots sleep on every flight — no support
3. No, autopilot is only switched on at the gate — no support
4. Yes, the autopilot even talks to the passengers and brings the drinks round — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 8, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 22, line 9: «An autopilot is a computer that holds height, speed and direction and follows a planned route, while the pilots watch and take over; some planes can even land…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «watch» (+4); the same doer «pilots» (+4). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 9 · ★ · right ✓

Which is true about a glider?

1. It flies only because of the wind behind it — score 8
2. It is pushed by a small jet engine in the nose — no support
3. It has no engine and can fly for hours on rising warm air — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 10
4. It must land within a minute of being let go by the tow plane — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 10, against 8 for the next best. Its support: lesson 22, line 16: «A glider has no engine; it is towed up and then floats on rising warm air, and gliders can stay up for hours and fly hundreds of kilometres.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «glider» (+4); the same thing acted on «engine» (+4); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 10 · ★ · wrong ✗

Mia counts the wings: 4 toy planes on the shelf, each with 2 main wings. How many main wings?

1. 6 — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. 8 — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. 4 — no support
4. 10 — 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 · ★ · right ✓

«a jet engine is basically just a big hairdryer innit» What is a better description?

1. It is a giant propeller with no fuel — no support
2. It pulls the plane by sucking the air in front — score 6
3. Yes, it only blows warm air — no support
4. It sucks air in with a big fan, burns fuel in it and blasts gas out of the back — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 10

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 10, against 6 for the next best. Its support: lesson 22, line 7: «A jet engine sucks air in with a big fan, squeezes it, burns fuel in it and blasts hot gas out of the back; in a modern airliner engine most of the push comes…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «suck in» (+4); the same thing acted on «air» (+4); the same circumstance (+4). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 1 · formal language · right ✓

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the origin of the lift sustaining an aircraft in flight?

1. The heat of the engines causes the aircraft to ascend — score 4
2. The aircraft becomes lighter than air upon departing the ground — no support
3. The inclined wing deflects air downwards, whereupon the air exerts an upward force upon the wing — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 12
4. The air above the wing is obliged to rejoin the air beneath it at the trailing edge — score 4

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 3 with score 12, against 4 for the next best. Its support: lesson 22, line 11: «Turbulence is bumpy air, like waves in the sky; planes are built to handle much worse, and the wings bend upwards a lot in flight on purpose.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+5); the same action «bend» (+4); the same doer «wings» (+3). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 2 · formal language · wrong ✗

Identify the principal reason for which flaps and slats are deployed prior to landing.

1. They serve to collect precipitation and increase the mass of the aircraft — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. They are deployed solely in order to increase velocity — no support
3. They enlarge and curve the wing, permitting flight at a reduced speed — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. They are intended to abrade the runway and arrest the aircraft — 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 3 · formal language · right ✓

Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning vapour trails.

1. They consist of water vapour from the engine exhaust which has frozen into ice crystals in cold, humid air — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 4
2. They consist of smoke from fuel which has caught fire — no support
3. They consist of chemical substances dispersed deliberately in order to modify the weather — no support
4. They consist of dust raised from the surface of the wings — 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 22, line 13: «Airliners cruise about 10 to 12 km up, where the air is about minus 50 degrees; vapour trails are water from the engines freezing into ice crystals, and they f…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «vapour trails» (+2); the same circumstance (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 4 · formal language · right ✓

It is given that the cabin pressure has failed. Ascertain the reason for which an adult is instructed to fit his or her own mask before assisting a child.

1. The adult thereby remains conscious and capable of rendering assistance — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 4
2. Children are not affected by a reduction in pressure — no support
3. Adult passengers are accorded priority under all regulations — no support
4. The child's mask is released at a subsequent stage — 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 22, line 15: «If the cabin loses pressure, oxygen masks drop down, because in the thin air up there a person without a mask soon passes out; adults put their own mask on fir…», reached through a sentence linked to the one the question matched. What matched: the same action «stay» (+2); the same doer «adults» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/technology/22-why-planes-fly/