--- title: Plants deeper: roots and how they drink, hold and push — how Mova does on the tests · Biology description: Lesson 250 of the biology course of Mova's primary school: 4 of 12 tests right, exam 2 of 4, every question with the options, the student's choice, the right answer and why it chose. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/biology/250-plants-deeper-roots-and-how-they-drink-hold-and-push/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/) / [Biology](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/biology/) / 250 # Plants deeper: roots and how they drink, hold and push **Tests:** 4 of 12 right · **Exam:** 2 of 4 right · **Kind:** plain · **Understood:** 10 of 16 · **Run:** 2026-10-18, commit `f3c23ea72` Lesson 250 of the biology 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/biology/250-plants-deeper-roots-and-how-they-drink-hold-and-push/). 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/biology/250-plants-deeper-roots-and-how-they-drink-hold-and-push/). ### Test 1 · wrong ✗ {#t1} In a cartoon a rabbit picks carrots off a tree like apples. What is right? - **1.** Carrots grow on trees in the summer — **← Mova's choice** · score 8 - **2.** Carrots are underground stems like potatoes — no support - **3.** A carrot is a root that grows under the soil — **✓ the right answer** · score 4 - **4.** Carrots are the seeds of a flower — no support **Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 8, against 4 for the next best. Its support: lesson 59, line 11: «Squirrels and jays bury acorns and nuts for winter and forget many, which grow into new trees; one jay can bury several thousand acorns in an autumn.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «grow» (+4); the same place «new trees» (+4). The right option, 3, scored 4. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/250-plants-deeper-roots-and-how-they-drink-hold-and-push/t1/) ### Test 2 · right ✓ {#t2} «mum's potatoes have got shoots and green bits, just cook em» What is right? - **1.** Green just means they are ripe — no support - **2.** Green potatoes are the healthiest kind, full of vitamins — no support - **3.** Do not eat the green parts, they are poisonous — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 3 - **4.** The shoots are the tastiest part — no support **Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 3, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 56, line 17: «A potato is a swollen underground stem full of starch, and its sprouts are new shoots; green parts of potatoes can be poisonous.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+2); the same doer «green parts» (+1). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/250-plants-deeper-roots-and-how-they-drink-hold-and-push/t2/) ### Test 3 · wrong ✗ {#t3} «nan says potatoes are roots, same as carrots» What is right? - **1.** No, both are fruits — no support - **2.** Yes, both are roots that grow in the soil — **← Mova's choice** · score 4 - **3.** Yes, but potatoes are older roots that have grown fat and round — score 1 - **4.** No, a potato is a swollen stem, a carrot is a root — **✓ the right answer** · score 4 **Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 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 250, line 8: «A carrot is a swollen root that stores food so the plant can flower in its second year, so gardeners pick it in the first year; wild carrots are white and thin…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «carrot» (+2); the same thing acted on «swollen root» (+1); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+1). The right option, 4, scored 4. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/250-plants-deeper-roots-and-how-they-drink-hold-and-push/t3/) ### Test 4 · wrong ✗ {#t4} «3 carrots for each of 4 rabbits, how many carrots» - **1.** 16 — **← Mova's choice** · no support - **2.** 12 — **✓ the right answer** · no support - **3.** 7 — no support - **4.** 9 — 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](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/250-plants-deeper-roots-and-how-they-drink-hold-and-push/t4/) ### Test 5 · wrong ✗ {#t5} «pulled 6 dandelions, no wait 8, and 3 roots snapped. how many might grow back» - **1.** 11 — **← Mova's choice** · no support - **2.** 5 — no support - **3.** 8 — no support - **4.** 3 — **✓ 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](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/250-plants-deeper-roots-and-how-they-drink-hold-and-push/t5/) ### Test 6 · wrong ✗ {#t6} What would happen if a farmer planted beans in a poor field this year? - **1.** The soil would turn to sand — **← Mova's choice** · no support - **2.** The beans would take all the water for years — no support - **3.** The soil would get more nitrogen for next year's crops — **✓ the right answer** · no support - **4.** Nothing would grow there ever again — 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](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/250-plants-deeper-roots-and-how-they-drink-hold-and-push/t6/) ### Test 7 · wrong ✗ {#t7} «that tree's wrecked the pavement, how?? it's just wood» What is right? - **1.** Rain soaking in under the stones lifted them up from below, a little each year — **← Mova's choice** · no support - **2.** Someone dug up the stones — no support - **3.** Its roots grew cell by cell and pushed slowly but very strongly — **✓ the right answer** · no support - **4.** The tree fell over on it in a storm — 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](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/250-plants-deeper-roots-and-how-they-drink-hold-and-push/t7/) ### Test 8 · wrong ✗ {#t8} You turn a pot plant round on the windowsill so the plant leans away from the window. What happens over the next days? - **1.** It keeps leaning away from the light — **← Mova's choice** · score 9 - **2.** It bends back towards the light — **✓ the right answer** · score 3 - **3.** It grows straight down into the soil — score 3 - **4.** It falls over in the pot and dies — score 3 **Why:** It took the question to ask what happens next. It chose option 1 with score 9, against 3 for the next best. Its support: lesson 59, line 13: «A fruit is the part of a plant that grows from the flower and holds the seeds, so tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and pea pods are fruits to a scientist, though c…», reached through what followed the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «hold» (+6); the same doer «plant» (+3). The right option, 2, scored 3. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/250-plants-deeper-roots-and-how-they-drink-hold-and-push/t8/) ### Test 9 · right ✓ {#t9} «my mate says roots just hold the plant up, the leaves drink the water» What is right? - **1.** Plants do not need water — score 3 - **2.** Roots take in water and minerals as well as holding the plant — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 7 - **3.** Roots only store food — score 7 - **4.** Yes, the leaves drink all of the water the plant needs from the rain — score 6 **Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 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 250, line 2: «Roots hold the plant in the ground and take in water and minerals, growing down with gravity and towards water.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «take in» (+3); the same thing acted on «water» (+3); the same doer «roots» (+1). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/250-plants-deeper-roots-and-how-they-drink-hold-and-push/t9/) ### Test 10 · wrong ✗ {#t10} A big wave hits a coast with mangroves, and another with no mangroves. Which coast is better protected? - **1.** Both of them exactly the same — no support - **2.** The one without mangroves — no support - **3.** Neither, mangroves make waves bigger — **← Mova's choice** · score 12 - **4.** The one with mangroves — **✓ the right answer** · no support **Why:** It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 3 with score 12, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 235, line 8: «Orcas in Antarctica swim side by side to make a wave that washes a seal off an ice floe, and older orcas teach younger ones.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «make» (+6); the same thing acted on «wave» (+4); a different doer (counts against) (+2). 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/biology/250-plants-deeper-roots-and-how-they-drink-hold-and-push/t10/) ### Test 11 · right ✓ {#t11} Why did people roast dandelion roots long ago? - **1.** To make a strong glue for wooden tools — score 7 - **2.** To make a drink like coffee — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 13 - **3.** To feed their cooking fires at night — score 0 - **4.** To make red paint for their faces — score 7 **Why:** It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 2 with score 13, against 7 for the next best. Its support: lesson 250, line 16: «Dandelions have deep taproots that store food, a piece of root left in the ground can grow a whole new plant, and roasted dandelion roots were used to make a d…», reached through the cause of the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «make» (+6); the same thing acted on «drink» (+4); the same circumstance (+3). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/250-plants-deeper-roots-and-how-they-drink-hold-and-push/t11/) ### Test 12 · right ✓ {#t12} The roots of a single rye plant were measured end to end. About how long were they? - **1.** Over 600 kilometres — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · no support - **2.** Exactly as tall as the plant — no support - **3.** About 60 metres in all — no support - **4.** Only about 6 centimetres — 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](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/250-plants-deeper-roots-and-how-they-drink-hold-and-push/t12/) ### Exam question 1 · formal language · wrong ✗ {#e1} Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the principal functions of a root? - **1.** It serves solely to store food for the following year — **← Mova's choice** · no support - **2.** It produces the seeds by which the plant is propagated — no support - **3.** It manufactures food from sunlight in the manner of a leaf — no support - **4.** It anchors the plant and absorbs water together with dissolved minerals — **✓ 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](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/250-plants-deeper-roots-and-how-they-drink-hold-and-push/e1/) ### Exam question 2 · formal language · wrong ✗ {#e2} Identify the principal advantage conferred upon a plant by its root hairs. - **1.** A greatly enlarged surface for the absorption of water — **✓ the right answer** · no support - **2.** The production of seeds beneath the soil — no support - **3.** The conduction of sunlight to the root tip — no support - **4.** Protection of the root against burrowing animals — **← Mova's choice** · score 3 **Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 3, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 250, line 8: «A carrot is a swollen root that stores food so the plant can flower in its second year, so gardeners pick it in the first year; wild carrots are white and thin…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same thing acted on «food» (+3); the same doer «swollen root» (+1). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-1). The right option, 1, 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/biology/250-plants-deeper-roots-and-how-they-drink-hold-and-push/e2/) ### Exam question 3 · formal language · right ✓ {#e3} Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning the potato. - **1.** It is a seed which germinates beneath the soil — no support - **2.** It is the fruit borne by the potato flower — no support - **3.** It is a swollen underground stem, or tuber, whose eyes are buds — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 4 - **4.** It is a swollen root identical in kind to the carrot, though rounder in shape — score 1 **Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 4, against 1 for the next best. Its support: lesson 250, line 5: «Not everything under the ground is a root, though: a potato is a swollen stem, and its eyes are buds.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «potato» (+2); the same thing acted on «swollen stem» (+1); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+1). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/250-plants-deeper-roots-and-how-they-drink-hold-and-push/e3/) ### Exam question 4 · formal language · right ✓ {#e4} Ascertain the reason for which farmers plant clover or beans in order to improve their fields. - **1.** The plants draw all the stones out of the soil — no support - **2.** The leaves poison the weeds of the following year, so that the field remains clear of them — no support - **3.** The roots render the soil impervious to rain — no support - **4.** Bacteria in the root nodules furnish the soil with nitrogen drawn from the air — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 3 **Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 3, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 250, line 13: «Clover, peas and beans have little lumps on their roots full of helpful bacteria that take nitrogen from the air and turn it into plant food, and the plant giv…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same thing acted on «nitrogen» (+3); the same circumstance (+1). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-1). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/250-plants-deeper-roots-and-how-they-drink-hold-and-push/e4/) - ← previous: [249. Defences: tricks and myths: playing dead, droppi…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/biology/249-defences-tricks-and-myths-playing-dead-dropping-tails-ink-and-ostriches/) - next →: [251. Plants deeper: leaves and sunlight, how a tree i…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/biology/251-plants-deeper-leaves-and-sunlight-how-a-tree-is-made-of-air/) - ↑ back to [Biology](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/biology/)