Correlation is not cause: ice cream and sunburn

Tests: 3 of 12 right · Exam: 0 of 4 right · Kind: ★ · Understood: 10 of 16 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72

Lesson 180 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 ✗

Mia's brother: "So if I wear clown shoes I'll ace my reading test? Sick, I'm buying size 20." Why is it funny?

1. His reading test is mostly about clowns and shoes — no support
2. Size 20 shoes are only ever sold to real clowns — no support
3. Bigger shoes really do make you better at reading — ← Mova's choice · score 1
4. Feet don't help reading; age causes both — ✓ the right answer · no support

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 3 with score 1, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 169, line 14: «Good running shoes can help a little if they fit, but training matters far more for speed.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same property (+3). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-1); a different thing acted on (counts against) (-1). The right option, 4, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 2 · ★ · right ✓

What would happen if a town sent fewer firefighters to big fires?

1. The fires would probably do more damage — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 7
2. There would be much less damage, with fewer hoses — no support
3. Nothing would change at all, the damage stays the same — no support
4. The fires would shrink straight away on their own — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 7, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 180, line 3: «Then check which way the arrow points: big fires get more firefighters and do more damage; hospitals are full of ill people because ill people go there to get…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «big fires» (+3); the same thing acted on «more damage» (+3); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 3 · ★ · wrong ✗

Gran: "I'm not going in that hospital, it's full of ill folk." Grandson: "Gran, that's like saying umbrellas cause rain." Why is his comparison good?

1. Hospitals sell umbrellas to ill people — no support
2. Umbrellas really do cause the rain — no support
3. Rain makes people go to hospital — ← Mova's choice · score 1
4. Umbrellas appear because of rain, as ill people appear in hospitals — ✓ the right answer · no support

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 3 with score 1, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 50, line 12: «Rain forms when moist air rises and cools so that its water vapour turns into droplets.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «form» (+1). The right option, 4, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 4 · ★ · wrong ✗

Dad in Scotland on a dreich day: "Washed the motor again, and look, rain. I'm cursed." What is true?

1. Washing a car really does cause rain, so he should stop doing it — ← Mova's choice · score 4
2. It rains after some washes and not others, like any day — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. Dad is cursed by the weather — no support
4. Rain only falls on clean cars — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 4, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 180, line 4: «And check what you forget: Dad remembers the rainy days after washing the car and forgets all the sunny ones.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «wash» (+4). The right option, 2, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 5 · ★ · right ✓

In a cartoon a scientist eats a giant chocolate bar and a Nobel medal drops from the sky. Put the cartoon right.

1. Rich countries have more chocolate and more labs; chocolate doesn't win prizes — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 2
2. Eating chocolate is how scientists win prizes — no support
3. Medals really fall when you eat chocolate — no support
4. Nobel Prizes are only given to chocolate makers — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 2, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 127, line 18: «Almost all living things have body clocks, even plants and bacteria; scientists who found how they work won the Nobel Prize in 2017.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «win» (+4). Against it: one says «not», the other does not (counts against) (-2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 6 · ★ · wrong ✗

Kai: "Lighters make you ill, no cap." His aunt: "A lighter's just a lighter, Kai." Who is right?

1. Neither; lung disease has no cause — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Kai; the gas in the lighter causes it — no support
3. Both; lighters and smoking are equal — no support
4. His aunt; smoking is the cause — ✓ 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 ✗

Harry: "Did your dad drink milk as a baby giraffe, Grandad?" What is he poking fun at?

1. His grandad being very tall — no support
2. Milk being good food — no support
3. The idea that baby giraffes drink milk every night — ← Mova's choice · score 6
4. The idea that milk alone made the family tall — ✓ the right answer · no support

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 3 with score 6, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 75, line 5: «A newborn kangaroo is about the size of a jelly bean; it crawls into its mother's pouch, drinks milk there for months, and only then hops out into the world.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «drink» (+4); a different doer (counts against) (+2); it fills the role the question asks for (+1). Against it: the same thing acted on «milk» (-1). The right option, 4, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 8 · ★ · wrong ✗

Aussie lifeguard: "It's hot, heaps of people swimming. Grab your togs, but the ice cream's not the danger, mate." What danger does he mean?

1. The sun melting the ice cream — ← Mova's choice · score 6
2. Swimming in deep water; swim where lifeguards are — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. Eating ice cream in hot weather, which gives you cramp — score 6
4. Wearing togs in the sea — score 0

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. 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 180, line 17: «Words people use: "sick" (young people) means great; "ace" means do really well at; "it's giving" means "it looks like"; "no cap" means honestly; "a Magnum" is…», reached through what was said in the sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+5); the same thing acted on «ice cream» (+3). Against it: a different doer (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 · ★ · right ✓

Mum: "Eat your breakfast, it makes you clever." Ruby: "I'm eating it. I'm not suddenly doing calculus." Which is fairest?

1. Calculus is only for children who skip breakfast — no support
2. Breakfast has no effect on anyone at all — no support
3. Breakfast turns every child into a genius — no support
4. Breakfast probably helps you concentrate, but it isn't the whole story — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 6

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 6, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 180, line 11: «Breakfast probably helps you concentrate, but families who make breakfast may differ in other ways too, so careful tests compare similar families.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «help» (+4); the same doer «breakfast» (+1); the same property (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 10 · ★ · wrong ✗

Leo: "Ice cream causes sunburn, it's giving science." What is the better science?

1. Sunburn is what makes people want ice cream — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Eat ice cream only in winter to stay safe — no support
3. Look for a third thing, the sun, that causes both — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. Stop eating ice cream altogether to avoid getting sunburn — 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 headline: "Kids who own more books get better marks!" What should you ask first?

1. How heavy are all the books if you weigh them? — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Which of the books have the nicest, shiniest covers? — no support
3. What else is different about those families? — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. Are the books brand new or bought second-hand? — 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 12 · ★ · wrong ✗

Your friend notices that whenever the school bell rings, everyone stands up. "The bell pushes us up!" What is the better explanation?

1. Bells and standing happen together by pure luck — no support
2. The bell is a signal that it's time to go, so people choose to stand — ✓ the right answer · score 1
3. The bell's sound waves lift children out of chairs — score 0
4. Standing up makes the bell ring — ← Mova's choice · score 5

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 4 with score 5, against 1 for the next best. Its support: lesson 4, line 14: «Saturn has the brightest rings, made of pieces of ice and rock.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «make» (+4); it fills the role the question asks for (+1). The right option, 2, scored 1. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 1 · formal language · wrong ✗

Identify the principal reason for which the simultaneous increase of ice-cream sales and of sunburn does not demonstrate that the former causes the latter.

1. The two quantities never increase together — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Ice cream invariably protects the skin of those who consume it from sunburn — no support
3. Both are caused by a third factor, namely hot and sunny weather — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. Sunburn is the cause of ice-cream consumption — 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 ✗

It is given that larger fires are attended by a greater number of firefighters and also occasion greater damage. Select the response consistent with the established facts.

1. Firefighters are the principal cause of the damage — no support
2. The number of firefighters has no relation to the fire — no support
3. The damage summons the firefighters to the fire — ← Mova's choice · score 2
4. The size of the fire determines both quantities, and firefighters reduce the damage — ✓ the right answer · no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 2, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 180, line 9: «Big fires get more firefighters and also do more damage, while the firefighters reduce the damage; mixing up which way the cause goes is called reverse causati…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same circumstance (+2). The right option, 4, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 3 · formal language · wrong ✗

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the inference that hospitals cause illness because their occupants are frequently ill?

1. It is consistent with the established facts — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. It inverts cause and effect, since ill persons attend hospitals — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. It is an instance of the fence-post error — no support
4. It is a sound inference from the observation of hospital patients — 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 ✗

Ascertain the factor which principally explains the association between national chocolate consumption and the number of Nobel Prizes awarded.

1. The judges' preference for chocolate — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. The wealth of the countries concerned — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. The colour of the prize medal — no support
4. The nutritional properties of chocolate — 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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