Day and night, shadows and sundials

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

Lesson 118 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 ✗

Mila's brother: "The Sun goes to bed, duh." ("Duh" means that's obvious.) Dad: "Nah, we're the ones turning." Who's right?

1. The brother: the Sun goes down under the ground — no support
2. Neither: the Moon covers the Sun at night — ← Mova's choice · score 5
3. Dad: the Earth spins and our side turns away from the Sun — ✓ the right answer · score 4
4. Both: the Sun and the Earth swap places at night — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 5, against 4 for the next best. Its support: lesson 8, line 4: «The Moon is about 400 times smaller across than the Sun but also about 400 times closer, so in our sky they look almost the same size, which is why the Moon ca…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «cover» (+2); the same receiver «sun» (+2); the same doer «moon» (+1). The right option, 3, scored 4. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 2 · wrong ✗

Josh at 6 pm: "Bruh, my shadow's grown, I'm a giant now!" ("Bruh" means mate.) What really happened?

1. Josh grew taller since lunchtime — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. The ground slopes more in the evening — no support
3. The Sun is low, so his shadow is long — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. Shadows grow bigger all day long — 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 ✗

Ollie's mate, in Leeds in July: "Your sundial's busted, mate, it says 1 and my watch says 2." What's going on?

1. Sundials always run exactly one hour slow, everywhere on Earth — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. The watch is broken and needs a new battery — no support
3. The sundial is broken and needs a new stick — no support
4. Summer time puts clocks 1 hour ahead of Sun time — ✓ 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 4 · wrong ✗

Leo kicks his sundial on a grey day: "Useless piece of junk!" What's true?

1. It works in the rain but not in fog — ← Mova's choice · score 0
2. It's broken for good now and will never work again, so bin it — no support
3. It's fine, but it works only when the Sun makes a shadow — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. It works even better on cloudy days — score 0

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 0, tied with another option at 0 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 118, line 11: «A sundial does not work on a cloudy day or at night, because there is no shadow.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «work» (+2); the same doer «sundial» (+1). Against it: one says «not», the other does not (counts against) (-3). The right option, 3, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 5 · wrong ✗

Jade, in London: "Why's it pitch black at half four in December when it's light at 9 in June?"

1. The clocks go back 5 hours every winter — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. The Sun takes a winter break in December — no support
3. The Sun is further away in winter, so it's dimmer — no support
4. The Earth's tilt makes northern winter days short and summer days long — ✓ 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 · wrong ✗

Freya, from south London: "My cousin in Norway plays footy at midnight in June, bare light out there." ("Bare" means loads of.) Is that possible?

1. No, the Sun sets by 10 pm everywhere in the world — ← Mova's choice · score 5
2. Yes, in the far north the Sun doesn't set for weeks in summer — ✓ the right answer · score 3
3. No, Norway has 12 hours of night all year — no support
4. Only if there is a full moon that night — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 5, against 3 for the next best. Its support: lesson 118, line 4: «Because the Earth is tilted, places far from the equator have long summer days and short winter days: in London the Sun sets at about 9:20 pm in late June and…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «set» (+4); the same doer «sun» (+1). The right option, 2, scored 3. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 7 · right ✓

Nathan's friend in Glasgow: "Sunset at 7 every day of the year? Dinnae talk mince." ("Dinnae talk mince" is Scots for don't talk rubbish.) Who's right?

1. Nathan: near the equator day length hardly changes — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. The friend: sunset changes by hours everywhere — no support
3. Nathan: but only because Singapore is so very small and flat — no support
4. The friend: Singapore never has a sunset — 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 ✗

What would happen if the Earth stopped spinning but still went round the Sun?

1. Each place would get months of day, then months of night — ✓ the right answer · no support
2. It would be daytime everywhere at once — ← Mova's choice · score 2
3. Day and night would stay exactly the same as they are now — score 2
4. Sundial shadows would move faster than now — no support

Why: It took the question to ask what happens next. It chose option 2 with score 2, tied with another option at 2 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 112, line 1: «The Earth takes about 365 days and 6 hours to go once round the Sun, but a calendar can only count whole days. So every year the calendar falls about 6 hours b…», reached through what followed the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «earth» (+2). The right option, 1, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 9 · wrong ✗

Ava's gran, at 5 am: "Up with the larks, are we?" What does she mean?

1. You've been out birdwatching — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. You're up very early — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. You stayed up all night — no support
4. You're as noisy as a bird — 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 ✗

A cartoon shows the Sun on a little track, driving round the Earth each day. Put it right.

1. The Earth spins, and that makes the Sun seem to cross the sky — ✓ the right answer · score 3
2. The Sun really drives round, but much faster — no support
3. The Earth goes round the Sun once every day — ← Mova's choice · score 5
4. The Sun and the Earth both stand still — score 3

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 5, against 3 for the next best. Its support: lesson 112, line 1: «The Earth takes about 365 days and 6 hours to go once round the Sun, but a calendar can only count whole days. So every year the calendar falls about 6 hours b…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same place «sun» (+2); the same doer «earth» (+1); the same property (+1); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+1). The right option, 1, scored 3. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 11 · wrong ✗

Kofi's dad: "Up at sparrow's, mate, no whinging." ("Whinging" means moaning.) Kofi: "What's a sparrow got to do with it?" Best answer?

1. It means sleeping in late like a lazy bird — ← Mova's choice · score 8
2. It means feeding the sparrows before school — score 8
3. It means getting up as soon as a sparrow lands on your roof — score 8
4. "Sparrow's" means first light, when birds start to sing — ✓ the right answer · score 8

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. 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 118, line 17: «"Up with the larks" means up very early, a "night owl" stays up late, and in Australia "sparrow's" means very early, at first light.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «mean» (+6); the same doer «sparrow» (+2). The right option, 4, scored 8. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 1 · formal language · wrong ✗

Identify the principal reason for the alternation of day and night.

1. The periodic obscuring of the Sun by the Moon — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. The rotation of the Earth upon its axis approximately once in twenty-four hours — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. The revolution of the Sun about a stationary Earth once daily — no support
4. The diminution of the Sun's light at fixed 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

Exam question 2 · formal language · wrong ✗

Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning the length of shadows.

1. Shadows are shortest at sunrise and at sunset — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Shadows are longest when the Sun attains its greatest height — no support
3. Shadows are of constant length throughout the day — no support
4. Shadows are shortest when the Sun attains its greatest height, about midday — ✓ the right answer · 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 · wrong ✗

Given that British Summer Time is in force, ascertain the time indicated by a watch when a sundial indicates one o'clock in the afternoon.

1. One o'clock in the afternoon — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Two o'clock in the afternoon — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. Three o'clock in the afternoon — no support
4. Twelve o'clock noon — 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 ✓

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the duration of daylight at the equator?

1. Daylight varies by some five hours between summer and winter — no support
2. Day and night are each approximately twelve hours throughout the year — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 7
3. Daylight persists for several weeks during the summer — no support
4. Daylight is absent for several weeks during the winter — no support

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 2 with score 7, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 118, line 15: «Near the equator, as in Singapore, day and night are each about 12 hours long all year.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same thing acted on «12 hours» (+5); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/world/118-day-night-shadows-sundials/