---
title: When work goes wrong — how Mova does on the tests · Adult life
description: Lesson 4 of the adult life course of Mova's primary school: 7 of 11 tests right, exam 0 of 4, every question with the options, the student's choice, the right answer and why it chose.
---

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# When work goes wrong

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**Tests:** 7 of 11 right · **Exam:** 0 of 4 right · **Kind:** ★★ · **Understood:** 5 of 15 · **Run:** 2026-10-18, commit `f3c23ea72`

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Lesson 4 of the adult life 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](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/4-when-work-goes-wrong/).

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Every question of this lesson and each of its options parsed by Mova, with trees and pragmatics: [the lesson's questions in the corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/adult-life/4-when-work-goes-wrong/).

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### Test 1 · ★★ · wrong ✗ {#t1}

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Overheard: "Fifty jobs going at the depot, Dave's worried he's next." Why is Dave worried?

- **1.** Dave wants to leave but can't — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** When a firm lets people go, those who stay fear they will be next — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **3.** Dave is going to get a promotion — no support
- **4.** Dave is the boss and must sack fifty people — no support

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**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](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/adult-life/4-when-work-goes-wrong/t1/)

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### Test 2 · ★★ · wrong ✗ {#t2}

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Your sister says: "Mum got made redundant, so she must have messed up." Put her right.

- **1.** It means Mum will get exactly the same job back again tomorrow morning — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** Redundancy means the job was cut, not that she did anything wrong — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **3.** It means Mum quit because she was bored — no support
- **4.** She is right, redundancy is for bad workers — no support

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**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](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/adult-life/4-when-work-goes-wrong/t2/)

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### Test 3 · ★★ · right ✓ {#t3}

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Overheard: "Late every single day for a month, no wonder they fired him." What happened?

- **1.** He lost his job because of what he did — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 1
- **2.** He was made redundant and given a payment — no support
- **3.** He went on strike with his workmates for a month — no support
- **4.** His job was cut to save money and he did nothing wrong — no support

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**Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 1, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 4, line 8: «Being sacked or fired means losing a job because of something the person did, such as often being late or breaking rules; employers usually have to give warnin…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «lose» (+2); the same thing acted on «job» (+2). Against it: one says «not», the other does not (counts against) (-3). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/adult-life/4-when-work-goes-wrong/t3/)

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### Test 4 · ★★ · wrong ✗ {#t4}

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Nan, whispering: "He's between jobs, so don't go asking him about work at the party." What does she mean?

- **1.** He has two jobs and is very busy — no support
- **2.** He is a famous person who won't talk — **← Mova's choice** · score 5
- **3.** He is moving from one office to another across town — no support
- **4.** He is out of work and might feel sensitive about it — **✓ the right answer** · no support

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**Why:** It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 2 with score 5, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 1, line 6: «A boss is the person whose job is to decide what work needs doing and check that it gets done; most bosses have bosses of their own.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+3); the same thing acted on «person» (+2); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+1). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-1). The right option, 4, found no support in what it remembers. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/adult-life/4-when-work-goes-wrong/t4/)

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### Test 5 · ★★ · right ✓ {#t5}

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Your friend says: "Strikes are illegal, they're just being naughty." Put her right.

- **1.** Only bosses and managers are allowed to strike — no support
- **2.** In the UK a strike is legal after a vote — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 16
- **3.** Strikes are only legal in the week before Christmas — score 8
- **4.** She is right, strikes always break the law — no support

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**Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 16, against 8 for the next best. Its support: lesson 4, line 14: «In the UK a strike is legal after a vote, and the disruption is deliberate so that people notice.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «strike» (+4); the same place «uk» (+4); the same circumstance (+4); the same property (+2). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/adult-life/4-when-work-goes-wrong/t5/)

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### Test 6 · ★★ · right ✓ {#t6}

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Uncle at the barbecue: "Bloody rail strike, I'll be stuck at home Monday." Why is the strike annoying for him?

- **1.** The disruption is deliberate so people notice — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **2.** Strikes make the trains free — no support
- **3.** He will have to drive the trains himself — no support
- **4.** The strike was organised against him personally by his neighbours — no support

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**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](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/adult-life/4-when-work-goes-wrong/t6/)

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### Test 7 · ★★ · wrong ✗ {#t7}

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Dad: "On my own the boss wouldn't listen. With the union behind me, he had to." Why?

- **1.** The union paid the boss to listen — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** The union sacked the boss — no support
- **3.** Many workers together are harder to ignore than one — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **4.** The boss is a member of the union too — no support

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**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](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/adult-life/4-when-work-goes-wrong/t7/)

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### Test 8 · ★★ · right ✓ {#t8}

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Mum, slumped on the sofa: "Can't even decide what to cook. Done in. Months of this." What might be wrong?

- **1.** Burnout from too much stress for too long — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **2.** She is planning a big surprise party for the family — no support
- **3.** She is cross with the children — no support
- **4.** She doesn't like cooking any more — no support

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**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](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/adult-life/4-when-work-goes-wrong/t8/)

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### Test 9 · ★★ · right ✓ {#t9}

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Mum is burnt out. Which is true?

- **1.** It is not your fault, but small kindnesses and rest help — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **2.** It means she is about to be sacked — no support
- **3.** You must fix it by doing all her work for her every single day — no support
- **4.** It will pass if everyone ignores it — no support

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**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](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/adult-life/4-when-work-goes-wrong/t9/)

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### Test 10 · ★★ · right ✓ {#t10}

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News: "Steelworks to close, 2,000 jobs lost; town in shock." Why is the whole town in shock?

- **1.** The town must close too — no support
- **2.** So many people lose their jobs at once — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 3
- **3.** The steelworks was the only house in town — no support
- **4.** Steel will no longer exist anywhere in the world — no support

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**Why:** It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 2 with score 3, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 4, line 6: «"Letting people go" means a company is ending some workers' jobs, usually to cut costs; it sounds gentle but people lose their jobs.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «lose» (+2); the same thing acted on «jobs» (+1). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/adult-life/4-when-work-goes-wrong/t10/)

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### Test 11 · ★★ · right ✓ {#t11}

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Overheard: "They never paid me for those three months. I'm going to a tribunal." What does she hope for?

- **1.** A fair ruling that she gets the pay she is owed — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **2.** To be given a promotion — no support
- **3.** To get her old job back as boss — no support
- **4.** To have her boss sent to prison for many years — no support

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**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](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/adult-life/4-when-work-goes-wrong/t11/)

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### Exam question 1 · formal language · wrong ✗ {#e1}

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Which of the following most accurately characterises the distinction between redundancy and dismissal?

- **1.** Both terms denote a promotion to a senior position — no support
- **2.** Redundancy and dismissal are synonymous terms for voluntary resignation — **← Mova's choice** · score 10
- **3.** Dismissal concerns the abolition of the post; redundancy concerns the conduct of the employee concerned — score 8
- **4.** Redundancy concerns the abolition of the post; dismissal concerns the conduct of the employee — **✓ the right answer** · score 8

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**Why:** It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 2 with score 10, against 8 for the next best. Its support: lesson 4, line 7: «Redundancy means the job itself is being got rid of, not that the person did anything wrong; people who have worked there a while often get some money to help…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+6); the same doer «redundancy» (+4). The right option, 4, scored 8. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/adult-life/4-when-work-goes-wrong/e1/)

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### Exam question 2 · formal language · wrong ✗ {#e2}

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Identify the principal purpose of membership of a trade union.

- **1.** To provide members with wages in place of those paid by their employer each month — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** To enable employers to recruit staff at reduced cost — no support
- **3.** To enable workers to negotiate collectively with employers on pay and conditions — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **4.** To exempt members from the obligation to attend work — no support

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**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](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/adult-life/4-when-work-goes-wrong/e2/)

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### Exam question 3 · formal language · wrong ✗ {#e3}

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It is given that employees have voted lawfully to strike. Ascertain which statement is correct.

- **1.** The employees are thereby made redundant — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** The employees continue to receive their full pay from the employer — no support
- **3.** The employees receive no pay for the duration of the strike — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **4.** The strike is unlawful notwithstanding the vote — no support

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**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](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/adult-life/4-when-work-goes-wrong/e3/)

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### Exam question 4 · formal language · wrong ✗ {#e4}

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Select the response that is consistent with the established facts concerning an employment tribunal.

- **1.** It is the process whereby a new employee is interviewed — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** It is a ceremony marking the retirement of an employee — no support
- **3.** A body resembling a court which adjudicates disputes between employees and employers — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **4.** It is a meeting convened by a trade union for the purpose of electing its officers — no support

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**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](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/adult-life/4-when-work-goes-wrong/e4/)

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- ← previous: [3. Finding a job and getting on](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/adult-life/3-finding-a-job-and-getting-on/)
- next →: [5. Where money comes from](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/adult-life/5-where-money-comes-from/)
- ↑ back to [Adult life](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/adult-life/)