"Five more minutes" and other waiting games

Tests: 5 of 12 right · Exam: 2 of 4 right · Kind: ★★ · Understood: 8 of 16 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72

Lesson 109 of the world 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 ✗

Zara's brother at the theme park: "Wait's 45 mins? Nah, I ain't standing here for an hour." Put him right.

1. It is an hour and 45 minutes — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. It is 45 minutes, 15 less than an hour — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. It is 45 seconds, not minutes — no support
4. He's right, 45 minutes is an hour — 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 2 · ★★ · right ✓

Tia, staring at the toaster: "This is taking forever!" It takes 2 minutes. Why does it feel long?

1. The toaster has stopped working — no support
2. Staring and waiting makes time feel slower — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 4
3. Toasters slow down when you watch them — no support
4. 2 minutes is longer than it sounds, about 20 — 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 5, line 3: «Light from the Sun takes about eight minutes to reach us, while light from the next nearest star takes more than four years.», reached through the cause of the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «reach» (+4). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 3 · ★★ · wrong ✗

Jake, fidgeting in the waiting room: "How long's patient?" What is the best answer?

1. Patient means until the doctor goes home — no support
2. Patient means waiting calmly, not an amount of time — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. Patient means one hour at the doctor's — no support
4. Patient means exactly 10 minutes — ← Mova's choice · score 5

Why: It took the question to ask what something is like. It chose option 4 with score 5, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 109, line 12: «Doctors often run late because some patients need more time than planned; arriving at 10:00 for 10:10 and being called at 10:35 means 25 minutes after the book…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «mean» (+4); it fills the role the question asks for (+2). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-1). The right option, 2, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 4 · ★★ · wrong ✗

Phoebe asks every 5 minutes. Mum: "Ask once more and it's never." What would work better?

1. Ask once, then ask "what time?" — ✓ the right answer · score 1
2. Cry and cry until Mum finally says yes — no support
3. Ask Dad every 5 minutes instead of Mum — ← Mova's choice · score 5
4. Ask every single minute instead, nicely — score 5

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 3 with score 5, tied with another option at 5 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 109, line 13: «Asking every 5 minutes for 30 minutes means asking 6 times, because 30 ÷ 5 = 6.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «ask» (+3); the same property (+2). The right option, 1, scored 1. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 5 · ★★ · wrong ✗

Rhys sees "Next bus 4 min", then, 4 minutes later, "Next bus 2 min". "You're having a laugh," he says. What's going on?

1. The sign shows seconds, not minutes — no support
2. Buses run backwards when they are late — score 4
3. The sign is broken and the bus has gone — ← Mova's choice · score 5
4. The sign guesses, and traffic changed the guess — ✓ the right answer · no support

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 3 with score 5, against 4 for the next best. Its support: lesson 104, line 1: «A timetable is a promise written as a list of times: when the bus comes, when the train leaves and arrives, when the cartoon starts, when lunch ends. It lets t…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+3); the same doer «bus» (+2). The right option, 4, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 6 · ★★ · right ✓

A Joburg (Johannesburg, South Africa) cousin says, "Lekker, I'll fetch you just now." Should you be at the gate this second?

1. Yes, and she is already outside — no support
2. Yes, "just now" always means this second — no support
3. No, "just now" can mean a bit later in South Africa — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 5
4. No, it means tomorrow — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 5, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 109, line 2: «Many waiting words are stretchy, not exact: "in a bit", "back in a jiffy", "a tick", "a mo", "two shakes". In South Africa "now now" means soon, maybe in a whi…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «mean» (+3); the same circumstance (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 7 · ★★ · wrong ✗

Isaac texts, "where u at??" His mate: "omw". What's the most useful next text?

1. omw too — ← Mova's choice · score 7
2. Where are you? — no support
3. How many minutes away are you? — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. Are you on your way? — no support

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 with score 7, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 109, line 2: «Many waiting words are stretchy, not exact: "in a bit", "back in a jiffy", "a tick", "a mo", "two shakes". In South Africa "now now" means soon, maybe in a whi…», 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 «text» (+2); the same thing acted on «omw» (+2). The right option, 3, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 8 · ★★ · right ✓

What would happen if a queue had 6 people in front of you, each taking about 3 minutes?

1. You would wait about 18 minutes — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. You would wait about 9 minutes — no support
3. You would wait about 63 minutes — no support
4. You would wait about 3 minutes — 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 ✓

Esme rolls her eyes: "Classic, Mum said 10 and it's been 25." How much extra time was that?

1. 15 minutes — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 4
2. 35 minutes — score 4
3. 25 minutes — score 4
4. 2 and a half minutes — score 4

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. 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 109, line 1: «"Five more minutes!" Kai asks at 8:00 and finally stops at 8:25, when Dad pulls the plug: 25 minutes, five lots of five. People mean their promise, then lose t…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+3); the same thing acted on «plug» (+2). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 10 · ★★ · right ✓

Kai, salty (annoyed) when Dad pulls the plug at 8:25: "It was only five minutes!" He asked at 8:00. What's true?

1. It was 25 minutes, five times as long — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 3
2. It was 8 minutes — score 3
3. It was 2 and a half minutes — score 3
4. It was exactly five minutes — score 3

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 3, tied with another option at 3 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 90, line 10: «A minute is 60 seconds and an hour is 60 minutes.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same thing acted on «60 seconds» (+2); the same doer «minute» (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 11 · ★★ · wrong ✗

In a cartoon, the hero says "back in a jiffy" and returns 100 years later. What is a jiffy really meant to be?

1. Exactly 100 years — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. One week — no support
3. A short moment — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. One day — 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 12 · ★★ · wrong ✗

A Singapore aunt: "Wait, lah, 4 people in front, each 3 minutes only." How long is the wait?

1. 7 minutes — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. 1 minute — no support
3. 12 minutes — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. 43 minutes — 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 ✓

It is given that four persons precede an individual in a queue, each requiring approximately three minutes. Determine the anticipated waiting period.

1. Twelve minutes — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. Seven minutes — no support
3. Four minutes — no support
4. Fifteen minutes — 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 ✓

Whereas a request for "five more minutes" is made at 8:00 and play ceases at 8:25, ascertain the actual duration of further play.

1. Twenty-five minutes — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. Thirty minutes — no support
3. Five minutes exactly — no support
4. Twenty minutes — 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 ✗

Select the response that is consistent with the established facts concerning the expression "now now" in South African English.

1. It signifies "on the following day" — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. It signifies "never" — no support
3. It signifies "soon", possibly after some while — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. It signifies "at this precise instant" — 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 ✗

Identify the principal reason for which medical appointments frequently commence later than scheduled.

1. Physicians are obliged to commence one hour late — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. The youngest patients are always seen first — no support
3. Waiting rooms cause clocks to run slowly — no support
4. Certain patients require more time than was planned — ✓ 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

This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/world/109-five-more-minutes-and-waiting-games/