---
title: The vegetable patch: peas, potatoes, tomatoes and slugs — how Mova does on the tests · Biology
description: Lesson 338 of the biology course of Mova's primary school: 6 of 11 tests right, exam 1 of 4, every question with the options, the student's choice, the right answer and why it chose.
---

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# The vegetable patch: peas, potatoes, tomatoes and slugs

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**Tests:** 6 of 11 right · **Exam:** 1 of 4 right · **Kind:** ★ · **Understood:** 10 of 15 · **Run:** 2026-10-18, commit `f3c23ea72`

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Lesson 338 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/338-the-vegetable-patch-peas-potatoes-tomatoes-and-slugs/).

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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/biology/338-the-vegetable-patch-peas-potatoes-tomatoes-and-slugs/).

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### Test 1 · ★ · right ✓ {#t1}

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«just chuck slug pellets everywhere, kill the lot of 'em» What is the problem?

- **1.** Pellets make lettuce grow too fast — no support
- **2.** Pellets can harm hedgehogs and birds that eat slugs — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 5
- **3.** There is no problem at all — no support
- **4.** Slugs love pellets and get bigger — 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 323, line 1: «Eagles are big birds of prey: hunters with hooked beaks, huge feet and amazing eyes. They kill with their feet and use the beak only to tear food.», 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 thing acted on «big birds» (+3). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-2). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/338-the-vegetable-patch-peas-potatoes-tomatoes-and-slugs/t1/)

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### Test 2 · ★ · right ✓ {#t2}

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How could you protect lettuce without harming hedgehogs?

- **1.** Welcome slug eaters like frogs and thrushes, and pick slugs off at night — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **2.** Cover the lettuce and the soil around it with a thick layer of salt every day — no support
- **3.** Plant the lettuce in the pond — no support
- **4.** Spray the hedgehogs — 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/biology/338-the-vegetable-patch-peas-potatoes-tomatoes-and-slugs/t2/)

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### Test 3 · ★ · right ✓ {#t3}

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«it's a vegetable, you don't put tomato in a fruit salad, you muppet» What is right?

- **1.** Scientists call it a fruit because it holds seeds, though cooks treat it as a vegetable — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 6
- **2.** It is only a vegetable — no support
- **3.** It is a vegetable because it is eaten with salt, and fruit is always sweet — no support
- **4.** It is a root — no support

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**Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 6, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 288, line 2: «Scientists and cooks use words differently. To a botanist a fruit is the part of a plant that holds the seeds, so a tomato, a cucumber and a pumpkin are fruits…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «hold» (+4); the same thing acted on «seeds» (+1); a different doer (counts against) (+1). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/338-the-vegetable-patch-peas-potatoes-tomatoes-and-slugs/t3/)

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### Test 4 · ★ · right ✓ {#t4}

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«potato plant's got mini tomatoes on it, sick, let's eat them» What is right?

- **1.** They are poisonous potato berries; do not eat them — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **2.** They are safe once washed — no support
- **3.** They are sweet baby potatoes — no support
- **4.** They are real tomatoes, carried over from a tomato plant by bees — 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/biology/338-the-vegetable-patch-peas-potatoes-tomatoes-and-slugs/t4/)

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### Test 5 · ★ · wrong ✗ {#t5}

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In a cartoon a farmer picks potatoes off a tall tree. What is right?

- **1.** Potatoes are swollen stems that grow underground — **✓ the right answer** · score 2
- **2.** Potatoes fall from the sky in rain — no support
- **3.** Potatoes grow inside pea pods — score 3
- **4.** Potatoes grow on trees in hot countries — **← Mova's choice** · score 6

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**Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 6, against 3 for the next best. Its support: lesson 335, line 17: «An apple seed grows into a tree unlike its parent, so every tree of one apple kind is made by joining a twig of it onto the roots of another tree.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same place «tree» (+4); the same action «grow» (+3). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-1). The right option, 1, scored 2. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/338-the-vegetable-patch-peas-potatoes-tomatoes-and-slugs/t5/)

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### Test 6 · ★ · wrong ✗ {#t6}

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«this spud's gone a bit green, whatever, chips are chips» What should be done?

- **1.** Cut off and throw away the green part, which has a bitter poison — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **2.** Give it to the dog instead — no support
- **3.** Eat it anyway, because frying it in hot oil makes the green part safe — **← Mova's choice** · score 7
- **4.** Paint it white first — no support

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**Why:** It took the question to ask what is done. It chose option 3 with score 7, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 290, line 1: «At a night market in Thailand a child your age buys a paper cone of fried crickets the way you might buy chips. They taste nutty and crunchy, and for her they…», 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 action «fry» (+3). 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/338-the-vegetable-patch-peas-potatoes-tomatoes-and-slugs/t6/)

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### Test 7 · ★ · wrong ✗ {#t7}

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Why does a compost heap get warm in the middle?

- **1.** The sun shines down through the heap and warms the middle most — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** Billions of tiny living things breaking it down give off heat — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **3.** Rain soaks in and turns warm in the middle — no support
- **4.** Worms rub together to make fire — 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/biology/338-the-vegetable-patch-peas-potatoes-tomatoes-and-slugs/t7/)

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### Test 8 · ★ · right ✓ {#t8}

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Why might radishes be good for a child's first garden?

- **1.** They need no water ever — no support
- **2.** They grow only in winter — no support
- **3.** They grow bigger than pumpkins, so they are easy to find — no support
- **4.** They grow fast and can be ready in about four weeks — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 1

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**Why:** It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 4 with score 1, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 338, line 17: «Radishes can be ready in about four weeks, so they suit a first garden, and the part we eat is a swollen root.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same property (+2). Against it: the same doer «radishes» (-1). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/338-the-vegetable-patch-peas-potatoes-tomatoes-and-slugs/t8/)

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### Test 9 · ★ · right ✓ {#t9}

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Why does a slug follow its own trail?

- **1.** It wants to clean up its mess — no support
- **2.** It is hunting itself — score -2
- **3.** It cannot turn round — no support
- **4.** Its slime trail helps it find its way home — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 3

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**Why:** It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 4 with score 3, against -2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 338, line 15: «A slug has four tentacles: the top two carry eyes and the bottom two feel and smell; it can pull them in if touched, and its slime trail helps it slide and fin…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «help» (+2); a different thing acted on (counts against) (+2). Against it: the same doer «slime trail» (-1). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/338-the-vegetable-patch-peas-potatoes-tomatoes-and-slugs/t9/)

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### Test 10 · ★ · wrong ✗ {#t10}

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Count them: 3 slugs climb onto a lettuce. How many tentacles and how many eyes are there?

- **1.** 6 tentacles and 6 eyes — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** 12 tentacles and 6 eyes — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **3.** 12 tentacles and 12 eyes — no support
- **4.** 8 tentacles and 3 eyes — 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/biology/338-the-vegetable-patch-peas-potatoes-tomatoes-and-slugs/t10/)

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### Test 11 · ★ · wrong ✗ {#t11}

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Count them: a hedgehog and a frog hunt slugs in the patch. How many legs are hunting?

- **1.** 4 — **← Mova's choice** · score 2
- **2.** 6 — score 2
- **3.** 8 — **✓ the right answer** · score 2
- **4.** 10 — score 2

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**Why:** It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 with score 2, tied with another option at 2 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 314, line 15: «Bats hang by their feet with tendons that lock their toes shut, so hanging takes no effort, and they drop into the air to take off because their legs are too w…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «run» (+1); the same doer «legs» (+1). The right option, 3, scored 2. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/338-the-vegetable-patch-peas-potatoes-tomatoes-and-slugs/t11/)

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

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Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the edible part of the potato plant?

- **1.** It is the fruit borne above the ground — score 7
- **2.** It is a seed enclosed within a pod — **← Mova's choice** · score 8
- **3.** It is a swollen underground stem in which food is stored — **✓ the right answer** · score 1
- **4.** It is the principal root of the plant — score 8

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**Why:** It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 2 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 248, line 11: «A tortoise's shell is part of its skeleton, joined to its backbone and ribs, so it can never climb out; some tortoises live over 150 years, and Jonathan on Sai…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same thing acted on «part» (+4); it fills the role the question asks for (+2); the same doer «shell» (+1); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+1). The right option, 3, scored 1. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/338-the-vegetable-patch-peas-potatoes-tomatoes-and-slugs/e1/)

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

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Identify the principal reason for which potatoes ought to be stored in the absence of light.

- **1.** Darkness increases the size of stored potatoes — no support
- **2.** Exposure to light causes the formation of a bitter poison, visible as a green colour — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **3.** Exposure to light causes the potatoes to liquefy — score 2
- **4.** Darkness prevents the potatoes from being consumed by bees — **← Mova's choice** · score 3

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**Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 3, against 2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 338, line 9: «Potatoes that turn green in the light have a bitter poison, and the green part must not be eaten, so potatoes are kept in the dark.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «keep» (+3). The right option, 2, 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/338-the-vegetable-patch-peas-potatoes-tomatoes-and-slugs/e2/)

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

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Ascertain the contribution of Gregor Mendel to the biological sciences.

- **1.** He was the first to bring the potato across the ocean from South America and grow it in European fields — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** He discovered the red colour of the tomato — no support
- **3.** Through the cultivation of thousands of pea plants he established the founding principles of genetics — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **4.** He invented the first compost heap — 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/biology/338-the-vegetable-patch-peas-potatoes-tomatoes-and-slugs/e3/)

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### Exam question 4 · formal language · right ✓ {#e4}

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Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning the hazards of slug pellets.

- **1.** Certain slug pellets may harm hedgehogs and birds, and the most harmful kind has been prohibited in Britain — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 3
- **2.** Slug pellets are beneficial to the health of hedgehogs — no support
- **3.** Slug pellets are required by law in every vegetable garden — score 2
- **4.** Slug pellets are harmless to every creature other than slugs — no support

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**Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 3, against 2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 338, line 14: «Slug pellets can harm hedgehogs and birds, and the most harmful kind was banned in Britain.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «harm» (+3). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/338-the-vegetable-patch-peas-potatoes-tomatoes-and-slugs/e4/)

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- ← previous: [337. The park pond through the year: ducks, coots, sw…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/biology/337-the-park-pond-through-the-year-ducks-coots-swans-dragonflies-and-ice/)
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