"Because I said so" and other dead-end reasons

Tests: 4 of 11 right · Exam: 1 of 4 right · Kind: plain · Understood: 5 of 15 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72

Lesson 163 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 · right ✓

Ethan, under his breath: "Love that for me. Very informative." What is he being sarcastic about?

1. The answer gave him no reason at all — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. Liking the word "informative" — no support
3. Mum telling him too much — no support
4. His bedtime being too late — 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 2 · right ✓

Ava: "Phones are bad because they're bad. Wow. Somebody write that down, it's science." What is she mocking?

1. The circle of saying the answer as the reason — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 14
2. Science lessons at school — no support
3. People who write things down instead of remembering them in their heads — no support
4. Her dad for not owning a phone — no support

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 with score 14, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 163, line 2: «Other dead ends sound like reasons but go nowhere: "Phones are bad because they're bad" just says the answer twice. "You're not going because I don't like it,…», reached through what was said in the sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+6); the same action «say» (+5); the same thing acted on (+4). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 3 · right ✓

Tyler: "Back in your day you didn't have the internet, Grandpa." What point is he making?

1. The old way is not automatically the right way now — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. The internet is a good reason not to eat your peas — no support
3. Grandpa is far too old to understand anything at all — no support
4. Peas were only invented after the internet came along — 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 ✗

Mia: "Mum, you wear a jumper in July. You're not a thermometer." What should actually decide about the coat?

1. Whatever Mia feels at that moment — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Whatever Mum feels at that moment — no support
3. A check of the real weather, and maybe taking it just in case — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. Never wearing coats at all — 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 ✗

Ollie's sister: "Bro got scammed by his own dad." What does she mean?

1. Ollie tricked Dad out of the carrots — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Dad gave Ollie more dessert than he had promised him at first — no support
3. Dad changed the deal after Ollie kept his side — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. Dad sold Ollie's dessert — 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 ✗

Ruby: "I might get hurt on the stairs too. Should I live in the hallway?" What is the better question for Mum to ask?

1. Why does Ruby even want to go outside to play at all? — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. How can Ruby avoid going up and down the stairs forever? — no support
3. Who is going to carry Ruby up the stairs every single night? — no support
4. What can we do to make playing outside safe enough? — ✓ 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 7 · wrong ✗

What would happen if Mum tasted her tea before saying "I'm the adult, so I'd know"?

1. She'd find the tea tasted much sweeter than it usually does — ← Mova's choice · score 7
2. She'd find the salt and see that Leo was right — ✓ the right answer · score 5
3. She'd prove that adults are never wrong — score 2
4. She'd prove the sugar bowl was right — score 0

Why: It took the question to ask what happens next. It chose option 1 with score 7, against 5 for the next best. Its support: lesson 163, line 17: «Words people use: "back in my day" is how older people start a story about the past (Gen X and boomers), "love that for me" is sarcastic for "how useless", "br…», reached through what followed the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «feel» (+5); the same doer «mums» (+2). The right option, 2, scored 5. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 8 · wrong ✗

Sienna: "Dad, it's hair dye. It washes out in six weeks. I'm not joining the circus, I can't even juggle." What is true?

1. Dad is right that dye lasts forever — ← Mova's choice · score 5
2. Each step needs its own reason; blue hair usually just means blue hair — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. Sienna should join the circus to prove him wrong — no support
4. Blue hair always leads to the circus — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 5, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 163, line 15: «Hair dye that washes out lasts a few weeks; a parent may still say no, but should give a real reason, such as school rules.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «last» (+3); the same doer «hair dye» (+2). The right option, 2, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 9 · wrong ✗

Zoe: "It's a loop, Mum. You've made a loop." Is she being rude to her mum?

1. No, she is just agreeing with everything that Mum has said — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Yes, she is calling Mum stupid — no support
3. No, she is naming the reasoning, not insulting Mum — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. Yes, loops are a rude word — 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 ✗

Jess: "Both ways work, Dad. You're not the Dishwasher King." Mum: "He is, actually, in his head." Which is true?

1. Some ways can be better, but the test is clean dishes — ✓ the right answer · score 0
2. Mum's way must be wrong, because Dad said so and he knows dishwashers — no support
3. Dishwashers only work one way — ← Mova's choice · score 2
4. Plates must always go at the back — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 2, against 0 for the next best. Its support: lesson 128, line 3: «Cats work the same way with 4 a year after the second: a 10-year-old cat is like a person of about 56, middle-aged.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «work» (+2). The right option, 1, scored 0. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 11 · right ✓

Big brother, rough: "Shut up asking why, it's bedtime cos it is." What kind of answer is that?

1. A clear scientific reason — score 2
2. An appeal to the weather forecast — no support
3. A fair deal with a promise — no support
4. A dead end that repeats the rule instead of a reason — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 4

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 4 with score 4, against 2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 163, line 7: «Saying the answer again in other words as the reason is going in circles; grown-ups call it circular reasoning or begging the question.», reached through the cause of the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same circumstance (+4). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 1 · formal language · right ✓

Identify the principal deficiency of the response "Because I said so" when offered in reply to the question "Why?".

1. It identifies the person deciding but supplies no reason — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. It relies too heavily upon scientific evidence that a child cannot follow — no support
3. It contradicts the established bedtime — no support
4. It is excessively detailed for a child — 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 sleep requirement of children aged nine to ten years.

1. Approximately five to six hours nightly — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Approximately nine to eleven hours nightly — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. Approximately fourteen to sixteen hours nightly — no support
4. No particular quantity is required — 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 ✗

Which of the following most accurately characterises an argument whereby a conclusion is offered as its own justification?

1. A controlled experiment — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. An appeal to tradition — no support
3. Circular reasoning — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. A fair agreement — 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 ✗

Determine the term properly applied to the imposition of an additional condition after the original condition of an agreement has been satisfied.

1. The slippery slope — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Moving the goalposts — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. Confirmation bias — no support
4. Appeal to authority — 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

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