Ships, ports and submarines
Tests: 5 of 11 right · Exam: 3 of 4 right · Kind: ★ · Understood: 8 of 15 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72
Lesson 24 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 ✗
«a steel ship floats coz steel floats in salt water, simple» What is right?
- 1. No, ships float because their engines keep pushing them up out of the water — ← Mova's choice · score 8
- 2. No, a steel nail sinks; the ship floats because of its hollow shape — ✓ the right answer · score 8
- 3. Yes, but only in very cold water — score 3
- 4. Yes, all steel floats in salty water — no support
Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 8, tied with another option at 8 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 24, line 1: «A steel nail dropped in the bath sinks at once, yet a steel ship as long as three football pitches floats. The secret is shape: the hollow hull pushes aside a…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «float» (+4); the same doer «steel ship» (+4). The right option, 2, scored 8. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 2 · ★ · right ✓
Lily squashes her clay boat into a ball and puts it back in the bowl. What happens?
- 1. It sinks, because a lump pushes aside too little water — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 14
- 2. It spins round in the water — no support
- 3. It floats the same, because it is the same clay and the same weight as before — score 4
- 4. It floats higher, because it is rounder — no support
Why: It took the question to ask what happens next. It chose option 1 with score 14, against 4 for the next best. Its support: lesson 24, line 2: «If the ship pushes aside water that weighs as much as the whole ship before its deck reaches the waterline, it floats. A squashed lump of the same steel pushes…», reached through what followed the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «push» (+4); the same doer «squashed lump» (+4); the same thing acted on «little water» (+4); the same property (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 3 · ★ · wrong ✗
«let's play tag on the harbour wall, way more fun than the beach» What is the answer?
- 1. Yes, harbours are safe because the water is calm and the walls are wide — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. No, harbour edges are deep, cold water with ropes and boats — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. Only at high tide — no support
- 4. Yes, if you stay away from the lighthouse — 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 · ★ · wrong ✗
What would happen if a submarine's tanks could not be emptied of water?
- 1. Nothing, it would just switch on its lights — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. It could not rise back to the surface — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. It would float up and lie on its side in the water — no support
- 4. It would rise to the top much faster than usual — 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 ✗
«ugh, why do all the containers look the same, so boring» What is the smart answer?
- 1. Because nobody had paint of other colours — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. Because they all belong to one shop — no support
- 3. So that they all float together in a neat line when they get dropped in the sea — no support
- 4. So any crane, ship, train or lorry in the world can handle them — ✓ 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 6 · ★ · right ✓
In a pirate film, the captain steers by the lighthouse, but every lighthouse along the coast flashes the same. What is wrong?
- 1. Real lighthouses each flash their own pattern so sailors know which is which — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 12
- 2. Pirates never used lighthouses — no support
- 3. Nothing, all lighthouses look the same — no support
- 4. Lighthouses don't flash, they glow steadily — score 2
Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 12, against 2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 24, line 4: «Around the ships there is a whole world of machines: cranes stacking containers, lighthouses flashing their own patterns, locks lifting boats up hills of water…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «flash» (+4); the same doer «lighthouses» (+4); the same thing acted on «own patterns» (+4). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 7 · ★ · wrong ✗
«the bridge? nah, we just climb on the lock gates to cross, it's faster» What is right?
- 1. Only dangerous for little kids — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. Fine, if no boat is in the lock — no support
- 3. Stay back: locks are deep, the water is cold and gates move — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 4. Fine, lock gates are made for walking on, they have handrails all the way — 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 · ★ · wrong ✗
«that anchor's just a big hook, weighs like a bike, right» How heavy can a giant ship's anchor be?
- 1. Heavier than ten cars — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. About as heavy as one bike — no support
- 3. About as heavy as one family car — ← Mova's choice · score 3
- 4. About as heavy as a school bag — no support
Why: It took the question to ask what something is like. It chose option 3 with score 3, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 1, line 16: «A forklift truck lifts pallets on two steel forks, and a heavy counterweight at the back, which can weigh as much as a small car, stops it tipping forward; for…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same circumstance (+4); it fills the role the question asks for (+3). Against it: the same property (-1); a different doer (counts against) (-3). The right option, 1, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 9 · ★ · right ✓
«mate reckons lighthouses still have lonely keepers living in them» What is true for British lighthouses?
- 1. Every one has a keeper and a cat living in it — no support
- 2. They are all run by the RNLI's volunteers — no support
- 3. They now run automatically, without keepers — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 14
- 4. They are only switched on at Christmas time — no support
Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 14, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 24, line 13: «Each lighthouse flashes its own pattern, so sailors know which one they are seeing; British lighthouses now run automatically, without keepers.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «run» (+4); the same doer «british lighthouses» (+4); the same circumstance (+4); the same property (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 10 · ★ · right ✓
A fishing boat's screen shows a big blob halfway between the boat and the seabed. How did it see it?
- 1. Sonar sent a sound pulse and heard an echo from a shoal of fish — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. The boat's anchor touched the fish — no support
- 3. A diver swam down and took a photo — no support
- 4. A satellite looked down through the water from space and spotted the fish — 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 ✓
Count them: a ferry carries 30 cars and 4 lorries. How many vehicles?
- 1. 34 — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. 26 — no support
- 3. 30 — no support
- 4. 120 — 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 ✗
Identify the principal reason for which a vessel constructed of steel remains afloat, notwithstanding that a steel nail sinks.
- 1. Steel is rendered lighter upon immersion in sea water — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. The vessel is filled with a gas lighter than air — no support
- 3. Its hollow form displaces a volume of water the weight of which equals that of the vessel — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 4. The vessel is supported continually by the motion of the waves — 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 ✓
Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning the means whereby a submarine submerges and surfaces.
- 1. It descends exclusively by means of an anchor lowered to the seabed — no support
- 2. It admits water to its tanks in order to descend and expels that water with compressed air in order to ascend — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 14
- 3. It descends by extinguishing its lights and ascends by illuminating them — score 6
- 4. It is raised and lowered by the action of the tides alone — no support
Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 14, against 6 for the next best. Its support: lesson 24, line 9: «A submarine fills its tanks with water to sink and blows the water out with air to rise; its strong walls resist the squeeze of deep water, and some submarines…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «submarine» (+4); the same thing acted on «water» (+4); the same circumstance (+4); its «because» matches the remembered cause (+4). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Exam question 3 · formal language · right ✓
Ascertain the course of action recommended to a person who has fallen into cold water.
- 1. To float upon the back, to remain calm and to signal for assistance — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 4
- 2. To dive to a greater depth in search of warmer water — no support
- 3. To swim with maximum exertion directly away from the shore — no support
- 4. To remove all garments in order to swim with greater speed and less hindrance — 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 24, line 11: «A lifejacket's foam or gas-filled bag keeps your head above water; wear one on boats, and if you fall into cold water, float on your back, keep calm and wave o…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «float» (+2); the same place «back» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Exam question 4 · formal language · right ✓
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the operation of a canal lock?
- 1. A chamber enclosed by gates is filled or emptied so as to raise or lower a vessel between levels — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 3
- 2. Vessels are hauled up an inclined bank by draught horses — no support
- 3. The vessel's engine propels it up a waterfall — no support
- 4. The canal is tilted mechanically so that vessels may roll uphill — no support
Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 1 with score 3, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 24, line 15: «A canal lock lifts or lowers boats by filling or emptying a chamber between gates; the Panama Canal's locks lift ships about 26 metres. Locks are deep, so stay…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same thing acted on «chamber» (+2); the same circumstance (+2). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/technology/24-ships-ports-and-submarines/