Other calendars: Chinese New Year, Islamic and Jewish calendars, and Christmas in Ukraine

Tests: 1 of 11 right · Exam: 2 of 4 right · Kind: plain · Understood: 7 of 15 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72

Lesson 117 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 ✗

Mei's mate: "Isn't New Year 1 Jan, end of?" Mei: "Not in our house, bestie." What's the best answer?

1. Chinese New Year is on 1 January too, just with fireworks — no support
2. Only 1 January is a real New Year; the others are pretend — ← Mova's choice · score 13
3. Chinese New Year is only for people who live in China — no support
4. Different calendars have different New Years; Chinese New Year follows the Moon — ✓ the right answer · score 8

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 2 with score 13, against 8 for the next best. Its support: lesson 114, line 10: «An age gap between two people never changes: if Ruby is 9 and her brother 6, the gap is always 3 years.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+5); it fills the role the question asks for (+4); the same thing acted on «3 years» (+2); a different doer (counts against) (+2). The right option, 4, scored 8. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 2 · wrong ✗

Mei: "I'm a Dragon cos I'm a 2016 baby, no cap!" ("No cap" means honestly.) What's right?

1. She's a Horse, like the year 2026 — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. She's right, 2016 was a Dragon year — no support
3. She's a Monkey; the last Dragon year was 2024 — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. She has no animal at all, as she was born abroad — 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 · wrong ✗

What would happen to the season of Ramadan over about 33 years?

1. It would stay in the very same month — score 2
2. It would happen twice every single year — score 7
3. It would move through all four seasons and come back — ✓ the right answer · score 5
4. It would move only one day later over all those years — ← Mova's choice · score 8

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 8, against 7 for the next best. Its support: lesson 9, line 18: «Without leap years, the seasons would slowly move to different months.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «move» (+4); the same property (+3); the same doer «seasons» (+1). The right option, 3, scored 5. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 4 · right ✓

Yusuf, in London: "Fasting in summer is long, innit, the days go on forever." Why would fasting in winter feel shorter?

1. Winter days are short, so dawn to sunset is fewer hours — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 7
2. The Sun sets right at noon in the middle of a British winter — no support
3. In winter Ramadan has only 20 days — no support
4. People do not fast at all in winter — no support

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 1 with score 7, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 28, line 1: «Winter is hard for animals: it is cold, days are short, and food like insects, fruit and fresh leaves becomes scarce, though seeds and nuts can still be found.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+3); the same doer «days» (+2); the same property (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 5 · wrong ✗

Aisha's uncle in Bradford: "We wait for the moon, habibti." ("Habibti" means my dear, in Arabic.) Her cousin in another country had Eid a day earlier. How can that be?

1. Eid lasts one hour, so places take turns — no support
2. Some places use moon sightings, others calculations, so dates can differ by a day — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. The Moon is new a week later in Bradford — ← Mova's choice · score 9
4. One of them must have read the wrong year — no support

Why: It took the question to ask what something is like. It chose option 3 with score 9, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 117, line 1: «A calendar can follow the Sun, the Moon, or both. The Sun gives the year and its seasons; the Moon gives a month of about 29 and a half days, from one new moon…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+5); the same doer «moon» (+3); the same property (+1). The right option, 2, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 6 · wrong ✗

Noa: "Shabbat starts Friday at sunset, 7:45 pm, and ends after dark on Saturday." About how long is it?

1. About 12 hours — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. About 48 hours — no support
3. About 25 hours — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. About 7 hours — 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 ✗

Dmytro's mate from Newcastle: "Howay man, did they shift Christmas or what?" ("Howay" means come on.) What's true?

1. Ukraine moved its state Christmas from the Julian date to 25 December in 2023 — ✓ the right answer · no support
2. Christmas moved because the Bible was rewritten — no support
3. Nobody in Ukraine keeps 7 January any more — no support
4. Christmas was always on 25 December in Ukraine — ← Mova's choice · score 4

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 4 with score 4, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 97, line 6: «Christmas is on 25 December and celebrates the birth of Jesus.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «christmas» (+2); the same place «25» (+1); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+1). The right option, 1, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 8 · wrong ✗

Dmytro's babusia (grandma): "Two New Years, mate, sorted!" ("Sorted" means great.) Why does she get two?

1. She counts the New Years of two different countries — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Ukraine has a New Year every six months — no support
3. The Old New Year, 14 January, is 1 January in the Julian calendar — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. The second one is really her birthday party — 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 ✗

Priya: "Diwali's November this year and October last year, it's well random." Is it random?

1. Yes, it can fall in any month at all — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. No, it follows the Moon and Sun, so it moves but stays in autumn — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. Yes, a new date is drawn out of a hat each year — no support
4. No, it is on the very same date every year — 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 10 · wrong ✗

Arash, whose gran lives in Bristol: "Our New Year's the first day of spring, proper job!" ("Proper job" is West Country for great.) When is it?

1. About 21 June, midsummer — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Exactly 1 January, like us — no support
3. About 20 or 21 March — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. About 1 September each year — 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 · wrong ✗

A video game shows Chinese New Year fireworks on 1 January. What's wrong?

1. Chinese New Year has no fireworks — no support
2. Nothing, Chinese New Year is always on 1 January everywhere — ← Mova's choice · score 2
3. Chinese New Year is in high summer — no support
4. Chinese New Year falls between 21 January and 20 February — ✓ the right answer · no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 2, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 117, line 3: «The Chinese and Jewish calendars follow both. Their months follow the Moon, but in some years they add a whole extra month, like a runner stopping to let a fri…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «chinese new year» (+1); the same property (+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 ✗

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the Islamic calendar?

1. It is identical with the Julian calendar — score 5
2. It adds a thirteenth month in seven of every nineteen years — ← Mova's choice · score 7
3. It is purely solar, its year being 365 days — score 5
4. It is purely lunar, its year being approximately 354 days — ✓ the right answer · score 5

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 2 with score 7, against 5 for the next best. Its support: lesson 117, line 9: «The Islamic calendar follows only the Moon: 12 months of 29 or 30 days, about 354 days a year.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+3); the same property (+2); the same doer «islamic calendar» (+1); a different action (counts against) (+1). The right option, 4, scored 5. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 2 · formal language · wrong ✗

Ascertain the date in the Gregorian calendar corresponding at present to 25 December in the Julian calendar.

1. 19 January — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. 25 December — no support
3. 7 January — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. 14 January — 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 · right ✓

Identify the principal reason for which Rosh Hashanah invariably occurs in September or October.

1. An additional month is inserted in certain years, keeping the calendar in step with the Sun — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. The Jewish calendar disregards the Moon entirely — no support
3. The festival is observed only once in every nineteen years — no support
4. The festival is fixed by law upon the first of September — 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 ✓

Given that the Chinese zodiac comprises twelve animals in recurring succession and that 2024 was a Year of the Dragon, determine the animal of the year 2036.

1. The Dragon — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. The Monkey — no support
3. The Horse — no support
4. The Rat — 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/117-other-calendars/