Thinking like a geographer: rivers, mountains and deserts

Tests: 5 of 13 right · Exam: 3 of 4 right · Kind: ★★★ · Understood: 12 of 17 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72

Lesson 50 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 ✓

Lake A has rivers flowing in but none flowing out, and it is in a hot dry land. Lake B has a river flowing out to the sea. Which lake is more likely to be salty?

1. Both are equally fresh — no support
2. Both are equally salty — no support
3. Lake A, because water only leaves it by evaporating — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 8
4. Lake B, because it is joined to the salty sea — score 5

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 3 with score 8, against 5 for the next best. Its support: lesson 43, line 15: «A lake is a body of water lying in a hollow of the land, and most lakes have fresh water.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same thing acted on «fresh water» (+3); it fills the role the question asks for (+3); the same doer «most lakes» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 2 · ★★★ · wrong ✗

A climber starts at 1,000 metres where it is 20 degrees, and climbs to 3,000 metres. About what temperature should she expect?

1. About 26 degrees — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. About 8 degrees — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. About 0 degrees exactly — no support
4. About 18 degrees — 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 ✓

A hot-air balloon rises and the passengers are getting cold, though they are getting a little closer to the Sun. Why?

1. Being closer to the Sun always makes things colder — score 2
2. The fire of the balloon cools the air around it — score 3
3. The balloon blocks the sunlight from reaching them — no support
4. The air higher up is colder because it is thinner and farther from the warm ground — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 5

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 4 with score 5, against 3 for the next best. Its support: lesson 50, line 3: «High in the mountains it is colder, even though you are a little closer to the Sun: sunlight warms the ground, the ground warms the air, and air that rises exp…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «air» (+4); the same property (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 4 · ★★★ · wrong ✗

A wet wind blows from the sea over a high mountain range. Where will the green forests most likely be?

1. On the far, dry side of the range — ← Mova's choice · score 3
2. Only on the very top of the mountains — no support
3. Equally on both sides — no support
4. On the slope facing the sea — ✓ the right answer · no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 3, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 50, line 5: «Mountains make deserts too: wet wind from the sea climbs the slope, cools and drops its rain on that side, and arrives dry on the far side, which lies in a rai…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same place «far side» (+2); the same property (+1). The right option, 4, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 5 · ★★★ · wrong ✗

Which is true?

1. Wherever there is water nearby, rain falls often — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. A desert must always be hot — no support
3. Deserts are found only far from the sea — no support
4. A place can be a desert even if it lies right beside an ocean — ✓ the right answer · 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 6 · ★★★ · wrong ✗

Seattle is on the Pacific coast, and Minneapolis, about as far north, lies far inland. Which is most likely true?

1. Both always have the same weather — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Seattle never has winter at all — no support
3. Seattle has a milder winter than Minneapolis — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. Seattle has a colder winter than Minneapolis — 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 ✗

If the Sun stopped evaporating water from the oceans, what would happen to the rivers after some time?

1. They would dry up, because no new rain would fall — ✓ the right answer · score 2
2. Nothing would change for the rivers — score 1
3. They would flow faster than ever before, full of sea water — ← Mova's choice · score 4
4. They would start flowing uphill — score 4

Why: It took the question to ask what happens next. It chose option 3 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 50, line 1: «Rivers flow to the sea because gravity pulls water downhill, and the sea is the lowest place it can reach; the sea does not overflow, because the Sun lifts jus…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «flow» (+2); the same doer «rivers» (+2). The right option, 1, scored 2. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 8 · ★★★ · wrong ✗

Why does the Mississippi flow south to the Gulf of Mexico and not north?

1. The land slopes down towards the Gulf of Mexico — ✓ the right answer · no support
2. The Gulf pulls water towards it with its salt — no support
3. Rivers in America must flow south by law of nature — ← Mova's choice · score 4
4. The north wind pushes the water south — no support

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 3 with score 4, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 44, line 12: «The Mississippi River flows south into the Gulf of Mexico.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «flow» (+3); the same property (+2). Against it: the same doer «mississippi river» (-1). The right option, 1, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 9 · ★★★ · wrong ✗

Which shows that being nearer the Sun is NOT what makes a place warm?

1. Mountain tops are nearer the Sun but colder than valleys — ✓ the right answer · no support
2. Deserts are hot in the daytime — no support
3. Summer is warmer than winter — ← Mova's choice · score 7
4. The equator is hotter than the poles — no support

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 3 with score 7, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 50, line 1: «Rivers flow to the sea because gravity pulls water downhill, and the sea is the lowest place it can reach; the sea does not overflow, because the Sun lifts jus…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+4); the same doer «sun» (+3). The right option, 1, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 10 · ★★★ · right ✓

if mountains are closer to the sun why's there snow on top

1. The rocks up there make cold — no support
2. Rising air thins and cools, so it is colder higher up — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 8
3. Snow is blown up from the sea — no support
4. The Sun cannot reach the peaks through the thick clouds — score -1

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 8, against -1 for the next best. Its support: lesson 50, line 3: «High in the mountains it is colder, even though you are a little closer to the Sun: sunlight warms the ground, the ground warms the air, and air that rises exp…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «cool» (+4); the same doer «air» (+4). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 11 · ★★★ · wrong ✗

rivers keep pouring into the sea, why doesn't it overflow

1. The rivers all stop flowing in winter — ← Mova's choice · score 8
2. The sea leaks away into the Earth — no support
3. It loses as much by evaporation — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. The fish drink up all the extra water — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 8, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 50, line 1: «Rivers flow to the sea because gravity pulls water downhill, and the sea is the lowest place it can reach; the sea does not overflow, because the Sun lifts jus…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «flow» (+4); the same doer «rivers» (+4). The right option, 3, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 12 · ★★★ · right ✓

my sister says Antarctica can't be a desert cos it's all ice. true?

1. No, it is a desert only in summer — no support
2. Yes, ice makes it the wettest place — score 1
3. No, a desert is a place with very little rain or snow, so it is one — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 5
4. Yes, deserts must be hot and sandy — score 3

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 5, against 3 for the next best. Its support: lesson 50, line 17: «A desert is a place where very little rain or snow falls, so Antarctica is also a desert.», reached through a sentence linked to the one the question matched. What matched: the same doer «desert» (+2); the same thing acted on «place» (+2); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 13 · ★★★ · right ✓

Liam reckons the sea is salty cos fish make the salt. right?

1. No, water evaporates and the salt carried in stays behind — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 9
2. Yes, sailors poured salt in — no support
3. No, the sea is salty because it is cold — score 4
4. Yes, fish give out salt — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 9, against 4 for the next best. Its support: lesson 50, line 2: «The sea is salty because rivers carry tiny amounts of salt washed from rocks; when sea water evaporates, only the water rises and the salt stays behind, so ove…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «stay» (+4); the same doer «salt» (+4); the same property (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 1 · formal language · right ✓

Identify the principal reason for which the sea does not overflow.

1. The rivers flow away from the sea — score 2
2. The Moon draws the excess into space — no support
3. The sea floor absorbs all river water like a great sponge — no support
4. As much water evaporates from it as rivers pour in — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 10

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 10, against 2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 50, line 7: «The sea does not overflow because as much water evaporates from it as rivers pour in.», reached through a sentence linked to the one the question matched. What matched: the same action «evaporate» (+3); its «because» matches the remembered cause (+3); the same doer «much water» (+2); the same place «sea» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 2 · formal language · wrong ✗

State the approximate fall in air temperature for every thousand metres of ascent.

1. It does not fall at all — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Approximately six degrees — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. Approximately one degree — no support
4. Approximately sixty degrees — 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 · right ✓

Which of the following is designated by the term rain shadow?

1. The dry side of a mountain range — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. A region of perpetual cloud — no support
3. The wet side of a mountain range — no support
4. The shade cast by a raincloud — 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 · right ✓

Identify the principal reason for which coastal places have milder winters.

1. Water cools more slowly than land — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 7
2. The sea is heated from beneath — no support
3. Coastal places are lower in altitude — no support
4. Coastal winds come from the equator — 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 50, line 16: «Water warms up and cools down more slowly than land, so places by the sea have milder winters and cooler summers.», reached through a sentence linked to the one the question matched. What matched: the same action «cool down» (+3); the same doer «water» (+2); the same property (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/world/50-why-the-earth-is-so/