Clocks before clocks: sundials, water clocks, candles and hourglasses

Tests: 4 of 11 right · Exam: 0 of 4 right · Kind: plain · Understood: 7 of 15 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72

Lesson 122 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 ✗

Jake: "Shadow clocks 3,500 years ago? That's older than my grandad, lol." How many 70-year lives fit into 3,500 years?

1. 35 — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. 50 — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. 5 — no support
4. 500 — 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 · wrong ✗

Ava, in a museum: "So it's a leaky bucket that tells the time? Bussin'." ("Bussin'" means really good.) What makes it work?

1. Someone pours in another cupful of water every single hour — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. The hole grows bigger every hour — no support
3. The water drips out at a steady speed past the marks — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. The water gets heavier every 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 3 · right ✓

Mia: "A Greek court with a water clock, that's like debate club, innit." What's the same?

1. Each speaker gets a fair, equal amount of time — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. Each speaker has to drink the water — no support
3. Speakers may only talk while it is raining outside the court — no support
4. The loudest speaker gets the most time — 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 · right ✓

What would happen if a candle clock stood by an open window on a windy night?

1. It would burn faster and show more time passed than really had — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 6
2. It would stop all the clocks in the house — score 0
3. It would show exactly the right time — score 6
4. It would burn much slower and show less time passed than really had — score 6

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 6, tied with another option at 6 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 122, line 2: «About 3,500 years ago the ancient Egyptians used shadow clocks and split the day into 12 hours, one reason our clocks still show 12. But a shadow needs sunshin…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «show» (+3); the same doer «clocks» (+3). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 5 · right ✓

Mei's gran in Singapore: "Incense clock is our old alarm, lah." ("Lah" just adds feeling at the end of a sentence.) How did it make a sound?

1. A bell was tied to the smoke — no support
2. The incense popped loudly every hour — no support
3. Balls on threads fell onto a metal plate — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 4
4. The stick sang as it burned — no support

Why: It took the question to ask what something is like. It chose option 3 with score 4, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 122, line 11: «In China and Japan, incense clocks burned slowly; balls tied on threads dropped onto a plate at set times, like an alarm.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same place «plate» (+4); the same doer «balls» (+2). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 6 · wrong ✗

Theo's mum: "Hard-boiled, so two turns of the egg timer, yeah?" Each turn is 3 minutes. How long do the eggs boil?

1. 2 minutes — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. 9 minutes — no support
3. 6 minutes — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. 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 7 · wrong ✗

A pirate cartoon shows the captain ringing "8 bells" because it's 8 o'clock. What did 8 bells really mean?

1. It was exactly eight o'clock in the morning on the ship — ← Mova's choice · score 7
2. Eight enemy ships had just been spotted on the horizon — no support
3. 8 half-hours had passed: the end of a 4-hour watch — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. Eight sailors were needed up on deck to help straight away — no support

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 1 with score 7, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 101, line 7: «When the long hand points at 12, the time is exactly o'clock.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same thing acted on «o'clock» (+5); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+2). The right option, 3, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 8 · wrong ✗

Jack: "Su Song's clock tower, 1088? That's sick." ("Sick" means brilliant.) How long before 2026 was that?

1. 1,938 years — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. 838 years — no support
3. 1,088 years — no support
4. 938 years — ✓ 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 9 · wrong ✗

Ruby, from Liverpool: "A clock with one hand? How'd they know the minutes, la?" ("La" means lad or mate.) What's true?

1. The single hand showed only the minutes — ← Mova's choice · score 5
2. Nobody had heard of hours back then — no support
3. They didn't need exact minutes; "about half past" was fine — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. They kept a second clock just for minutes — no support

Why: It took the question to ask what something is like. It chose option 1 with score 5, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 101, line 6: «On a clock with hands, the short hand shows the hour and the long hand shows the minutes.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «show» (+3); the same doer «short hand» (+2). The right option, 3, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 10 · wrong ✗

Freya at Salisbury: "No face, no hands? Proper useless, that." Why was it still useful?

1. It was never meant to tell the time — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. It struck a bell for each hour, which anyone could count — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. It showed the time by the colour of the bell — no support
4. It was only ever used by the few people who could read and write — 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 11 · right ✓

Your mate reckons hourglasses were invented after wristwatches. Put it right.

1. Hourglasses and wristwatches were invented on the same day — no support
2. He's right, hourglasses came after wristwatches — no support
3. Hourglasses were common in Europe about 700 years ago, long before wristwatches — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 1
4. Hourglasses were first made in the year 2000 — score 1

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 1, tied with another option at 1 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 122, line 12: «An hourglass times with sand falling through a narrow neck; hourglasses became common in Europe about 700 years ago.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same property (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 1 · formal language · wrong ✗

Identify the principal advantage of the water clock over the sundial.

1. Its operation requires no water or other liquid whatsoever — ← Mova's choice · score -2
2. Its operation does not depend upon sunshine — ✓ the right answer · score -2
3. It indicates the date as well as the hour — no support
4. It strikes a bell at every minute — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 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 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» (+1). Against it: one says «not», the other does not (counts against) (-3). The right option, 2, scored -2. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 2 · formal language · wrong ✗

Given that a ship's half-hour glass is turned eight times in succession, determine the aggregate period measured.

1. Forty minutes — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Two hours — no support
3. Four hours — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. Eight 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 3 · formal language · wrong ✗

Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning the origin of the word "clock".

1. It derives from an old word signifying "water thief" — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. It derives from an old word signifying "bell" — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. It derives from an old word signifying "shadow" — no support
4. It derives from the name of an ancient Egyptian king — 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 ✗

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the clock constructed in 1088 by Su Song?

1. A water-powered tower exceeding ten metres, displaying the motion of the stars — ✓ the right answer · score 4
2. A sundial carved upon the wall of a palace — no support
3. A pendulum clock of small dimensions for domestic use — ← Mova's choice · score 8
4. A candle clock enclosed within a lantern — no support

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 3 with score 8, against 4 for the next best. Its support: lesson 101, line 2: «The short hand tells the hour and the long hand tells the minutes. When the long hand points straight up at 12, it is exactly "o'clock": short hand on 7, long…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same thing acted on «seven» (+5); it fills the role the question asks for (+2); the same doer «clock» (+1). The right option, 1, scored 4. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/world/122-clocks-before-clocks/