Trick questions that catch quick thinkers

Tests: 4 of 11 right · Exam: 0 of 4 right · Kind: ★ · Understood: 8 of 15 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72

Lesson 181 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 ✗

Josh shouts "Bricks!" His sister: "He's been cooked by a feather." What did Josh get wrong?

1. Nothing; bricks are always heavier — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Bricks are lighter when they are wet — no support
3. Feathers are really heavier than bricks, kilo for kilo — no support
4. A kilo is a kilo, so they weigh the same — ✓ 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 2 · ★ · wrong ✗

Ellie's brother: "Bro thinks overtaking is teleporting." What should Ellie have told her mum?

1. "I didn't finish." — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. "I came third." — no support
3. "I came second." — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. "I came first." — 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 ✗

Finn scratches his head: "January's got 31... so it's got 28 in it too. Ohhh." So how many months have 28 days?

1. Four — ← Mova's choice · score 7
2. One — score 7
3. All 12 — ✓ the right answer · score 7
4. Seven — score 7

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 with score 7, tied with another option at 7 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 181, line 8: «All 12 months have at least 28 days; only February has just 28 (or 29 in a leap year).», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same property (+3); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+3); the same doer «12 months» (+1). The right option, 3, scored 7. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 4 · ★ · wrong ✗

Grandad: "You did the sum perfect, pet, just the wrong sum." Seventeen sheep, all but 9 run off. How many are left?

1. 17 — ← Mova's choice · score 8
2. 0 — no support
3. 8 — no support
4. 9 — ✓ the right answer · score 4

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 with score 8, against 4 for the next best. Its support: lesson 181, line 2: «"A farmer has 17 sheep. All but 9 run away. How many are left?" Mia does a perfect 17 − 9 = 8, but "all but 9" means "all except 9", so 9 are left. Right sum,…», 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 «perfect 17» (+3). The right option, 4, scored 4. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 5 · ★ · right ✓

Kai: "That's so sus, Dad." Dad: "Roosters are boys, Kai." What was the trap?

1. The question had a false idea built into it — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 5
2. The roof wasn't pointy enough for an egg to roll — no support
3. The wind was blowing the wrong way for the egg — no support
4. Hens are the ones that lay eggs on pointy roofs — score 2

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 5, against 2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 181, line 3: «Some hide a false idea inside the question: roosters don't lay eggs and electric trains make no smoke, so before you answer "which way?", check that the questi…», reached through a sentence linked to the one the question matched. What matched: the same thing acted on «false idea» (+3); the same place «question» (+2); a different doer (counts against) (+1). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 6 · ★ · right ✓

What would happen if the train in Mum's riddle were an old steam train going north, with the wind blowing south?

1. Then there would be smoke, and it would drift south — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. The smoke would always go north with the train — no support
3. The train couldn't move against the wind — no support
4. There would still be no smoke 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 7 · ★ · wrong ✗

Ruby: "June, obviously!" Auntie: "Whose mum is it?" What is the answer?

1. June — no support
2. April — ← Mova's choice · score 15
3. Mike — ✓ the right answer · score 5
4. Ruby — no support

Why: It took the question to ask a circumstance (with what, when, how). It chose option 2 with score 15, against 5 for the next best. Its support: lesson 181, line 12: «In "Mike's mum has three children: April, May and...", the third child is Mike.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+6); the same doer «mum» (+5); the same circumstance (+4). The right option, 3, scored 5. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 8 · ★ · wrong ✗

The nurse: "First one now, second at half past, third at the hour. Done in an hour, clever clogs." With 4 pills, one every half hour, starting now, how long until they're gone?

1. 1 hour — ← Mova's choice · score 8
2. 2 hours — score 8
3. 1 hour 30 minutes — ✓ the right answer · score 8
4. 2 hours 30 minutes — score 8

Why: It took the question to ask what something is like. 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 181, line 13: «Three pills, one every half hour, starting now, are taken at 0, 30 and 60 minutes, so they are all gone in one hour.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «start» (+4); the same circumstance (+4). The right option, 3, scored 8. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 9 · ★ · right ✓

Amira's grandpa, his son Dad, and Dad's son Omar go fishing. How many fathers are in the boat?

1. Two — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. Three — no support
3. Four — no support
4. One — 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 ✗

Big sister in Manchester: "Our kid tried to light the candle first. With his thoughts." What should come first?

1. The candle — ← Mova's choice · score 4
2. The match — ✓ the right answer · score 4
3. The lamp — score 4
4. Whatever is closest — no support

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 1 with score 4, tied with another option at 4 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 161, line 3: «The big trap is "it happened after, so it was caused by it". Nan drops a jar of jam after a black cat crosses the road, but coming first is not the same as cau…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «come» (+2); the same property (+2). The right option, 2, scored 4. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 11 · ★ · right ✓

In a cartoon the dog's rope stretches like chewing gum until he reaches the bone. Put the cartoon right.

1. The bone was only 3 metres away — no support
2. Real ropes stretch two metres easily when pulled hard — no support
3. Nobody said the rope was tied to anything — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 2
4. Dogs grow longer when they are hungry — 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 181, line 17: «A dog on a 3-metre rope can reach a bone 5 metres away if the other end of the rope isn't tied to anything.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «tie» (+4); the same circumstance (+2). Against it: a different thing acted on (counts against) (-1); one says «not», the other does not (counts against) (-3). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 1 · formal language · wrong ✗

It is given that a farmer possesses seventeen sheep and that all but nine of them abscond. Ascertain the number of sheep remaining in the farmer's possession.

1. Twenty-six — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Seventeen — no support
3. Eight — no support
4. Nine — ✓ 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 ✗

Determine the number of calendar months which contain twenty-eight days or more.

1. Two — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. One — no support
3. Eleven — no support
4. Twelve — ✓ 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 3 · formal language · wrong ✗

A patient is directed to take three pills, the first immediately and each subsequent pill thirty minutes after the preceding one. Compute the time elapsed until the final pill has been taken.

1. One hour and thirty minutes — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Two hours — no support
3. One hour — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. Thirty 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

Exam question 4 · formal language · wrong ✗

Select the response that is consistent with the established facts concerning a runner who overtakes the competitor in second place.

1. The runner thereby occupies first place — ← Mova's choice · score 7
2. The runner thereby occupies third place — score 7
3. The runner's position cannot be determined — no support
4. The runner thereby occupies second place — ✓ the right answer · score 7

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 7, tied with another option at 7 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 181, line 7: «If you overtake the runner in second place, you take second place; the leader is still ahead of you.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «take» (+4); the same thing acted on «second place» (+3). The right option, 4, scored 7. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

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