"It worked once": one example is not all

Tests: 1 of 11 right · Exam: 0 of 4 right · Kind: ★ · Understood: 4 of 15 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72

Lesson 164 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 ✓

Mum: "Last time you were in wellies on a Saturday, Finn. Today you're in your school trousers, you absolute muppet." Who or what is she mocking?

1. The idea that last time proves today, not Finn himself — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. Finn's school trousers — no support
3. People who wear wellies — no support
4. Saturdays — 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 ✗

Kai: "Gran, one person won the lottery, doesn't mean we'll all win the lottery." Why is this a good comeback?

1. It proves smoking is good for you — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. It shows that one lucky case isn't the usual result — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. It shows Kai likes the lottery — no support
4. It means Gran should buy a lottery ticket every single week from now on — 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 ✗

Josh's sister: "Never get caught? The wrapper's on your pillow, genius." What is the real lesson here?

1. Sisters never notice missing chocolate, so next time it'll be fine to eat it — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. One time tells you little, and don't eat other people's chocolate — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. Hide wrappers better next time — no support
4. Always eat chocolate in your own room — 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 ✗

Daughter: "Mum, it was the oven being dramatic, not you being useless." What should Mum do?

1. Never bake again — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Change the temperature and try again — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. Buy a new cake tin — no support
4. Blame the recipe book — 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 ✗

Pat's sister: "Your cold went cos it was day seven, ya eejit." What is she saying?

1. The whiskey made the cold go away a lot faster than usual — ← Mova's choice · score 9
2. The cold would have gone anyway, without the drink — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. Colds always last exactly seven days, never more or less — score 2
4. Pat caught the cold from his sister in the first place — no support

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 with score 9, against 2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 94, line 9: «Antibiotics kill bacteria but not viruses, such as the viruses that cause colds.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «cause» (+6); it fills the role the question asks for (+2); the same thing acted on «colds» (+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 ✗

Harper: "My nan's dog licked the postman so much he had to change his shirt. So no, not all dogs, fam." What does her example do?

1. It shows one case can break an "all" rule — ✓ the right answer · no support
2. It proves her nan's dog is the only friendly one — score 5
3. It proves all dogs lick postmen — ← Mova's choice · score 9
4. It shows postmen don't like dogs — no support

Why: It took the question to ask what is done. It chose option 3 with score 9, against 5 for the next best. Its support: lesson 164, line 2: «Turning one example into a rule is called a hasty generalisation. One dog bit a postman, so "all dogs bite postmen"; one cake burned, so "I'm useless at baking…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «one dog» (+5); the same thing acted on «postman» (+4). The right option, 1, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 7 · ★ · wrong ✗

Teen: "Dad, the magic time was a fluke. It's Saturday, the whole town's here. Bummer." What is a fluke?

1. A rule that always works — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. A lucky one-off that happened by chance — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. The busiest time of day — no support
4. A type of parking ticket — 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 ✗

Alfie: "Nana, I put honey on my maths. Now it's sticky AND wrong." What trap is he laughing at?

1. Doing maths in the kitchen — no support
2. Stretching one success to everything — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. Thinking honey helps coughs — ← Mova's choice · score 1
4. Using too little honey — score 1

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. 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 164, line 5: «The mickey-taking hits the jump from one to all: "Nana, I put honey on my maths. Now it's sticky AND wrong." To really know, try many times, change one thing,…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+2); a different doer (counts against) (+1). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-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 ✗

What would happen if Chloe hid behind the sofa in a field during a storm?

1. She would not be safe; it was the house that protected her — ✓ the right answer · score -3
2. She would be safer than inside a house — ← Mova's choice · score 3
3. Lightning only ever strikes sofas that are left outdoors in fields — no support
4. She would be safe because sofas stop lightning — score 3

Why: It took the question to ask what happens next. It chose option 2 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 164, line 4: «Another cousin: getting better anyway. Uncle Pat's cold went after a hot drink, but colds go by themselves in about a week. Chloe hid behind the sofa in a stor…», reached through what followed the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «chloe» (+2); 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 10 · ★ · wrong ✗

Mum: "You've lost five in a row, Max. Your strategy is mid, love." What does she mean?

1. His plan is brilliant but unlucky — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. He should buy more brown streets — no support
3. Five losses in a row prove that the whole game must be broken — no support
4. His plan isn't good; that one win was luck — ✓ 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 11 · ★ · wrong ✗

In a film, a boy eats a funny mushroom once, feels fine, and says "all wild mushrooms are safe". Put it right.

1. All wild mushrooms are safe to eat — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Only red mushrooms are dangerous — no support
3. Some wild mushrooms are deadly; one safe one proves nothing — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. Cooking makes every mushroom safe — 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 · wrong ✗

Identify the principal error in concluding, from a single neighbour who smoked and attained the age of ninety-five, that smoking is not harmful.

1. The neighbour must have consumed honey regularly — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. The neighbour's age was insufficiently advanced — no support
3. Smoking was less common in former times — no support
4. A single fortunate case is set against evidence drawn from very large populations — ✓ 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

Exam question 2 · formal language · wrong ✗

Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning the duration of a common cold in the absence of treatment.

1. It ordinarily persists for several months — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. It never resolves without a glass of hot whiskey taken at bedtime — no support
3. It ordinarily resolves within approximately seven to ten days — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. It resolves within approximately one 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

Exam question 3 · formal language · wrong ✗

Which of the following most accurately characterises the derivation of a universal rule from one instance?

1. A controlled experiment — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. A hasty generalisation — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. A definition — no support
4. A survey of many cases — 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 what principally protects a person from lightning when sheltering behind a sofa during a thunderstorm.

1. The proximity of the floor — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. The surrounding house — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. The upholstery of the sofa — no support
4. The closing of the eyes — 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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