--- title: Japanese Fairy Tales, The Tongue-Cut Sparrow, part 3: the old man fi… — how Mova does on the tests · Books description: Lesson 1343 of the books course of Mova's primary school: 3 of 13 tests right, exam 1 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/books/1343-pg4018-part3/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/) / [Books](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/books/) / 1343 # Japanese Fairy Tales, The Tongue-Cut Sparrow, part 3: the old man finds the sparrow, who is really a fairy **Tests:** 3 of 13 right · **Exam:** 1 of 4 right · **Kind:** ★ · **Understood:** 14 of 17 · **Run:** 2026-10-18, commit `f3c23ea72` Lesson 1343 of the books 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. 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/books/1343-pg4018-part3/). ### Test 1 · ★ · wrong ✗ {#t1} So wait, what did the bird actually nick from the old lady? - **1.** Some of the starch, the rice-paste stuff she used on her laundry — **← Mova's choice** · score -3 - **2.** Some starch, like the rice-paste stuff — **✓ the right answer** · score -3 - **3.** Some rice, like the sticky paste — score -3 - **4.** Some flour, like the baking stuff — score -3 **Why:** It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 with score -3, tied with another option at -3 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 883, line 20: «Old word: "down" means the soft under-feathers of birds, which are used to fill pillows and quilts today.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «use» (+1). Against it: the same doer «birds» (-1); a different thing acted on (counts against) (-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/books/1343-pg4018-part3/t1/) ### Test 2 · ★ · wrong ✗ {#t2} Bruh, how did the granddad know something was up? - **1.** She didn't come out to meet him at the gate like she always did before — **← Mova's choice** · no support - **2.** The house was quiet when he came back — no support - **3.** She wasn't at the gate when he got home — **✓ the right answer** · no support - **4.** His wife looked guilty and the sparrow never flew out to greet him — 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/books/1343-pg4018-part3/t2/) ### Test 3 · ★ · wrong ✗ {#t3} Ngl, was the old lady sorry after she chopped the tongue off? - **1.** Yes, she felt bad about it later — **← Mova's choice** · score 2 - **2.** Not really, she just wanted food — no support - **3.** Nah, she was still mad and didn't care — **✓ the right answer** · no support - **4.** No, she was angry at the bird and kept on scolding everyone — no support **Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 2, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 1343, line 4: «At the edge of a big bamboo wood he finds the sparrow alive and well, with a new tongue, and she can talk to him as before.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «find» (+3). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-1). The right option, 3, 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/books/1343-pg4018-part3/t3/) ### Test 4 · ★ · wrong ✗ {#t4} Lol, so the sparrow was just a regular bird, right? - **1.** Yes, a bird — no support - **2.** Nah, she was a pet crow — score 2 - **3.** Yeah, she was a normal sparrow — **← Mova's choice** · score 4 - **4.** Nah, she was a fairy in disguise — **✓ the right answer** · score 4 **Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. 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 942, line 16: «What the drake says: he thinks the bird is a sparrow and calls him "only a plaything."», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «bird» (+2); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+2). 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/books/1343-pg4018-part3/t4/) ### Test 5 · ★ · wrong ✗ {#t5} Wait, where did the old man go hunting for her? - **1.** Through the fields and village streets — **← Mova's choice** · no support - **2.** Over the hills and through the woods — **✓ the right answer** · no support - **3.** Near the river — no support - **4.** Across the valley and up the hill — 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/books/1343-pg4018-part3/t5/) ### Test 6 · ★ · wrong ✗ {#t6} Bro, how did the sparrow get to talk again? - **1.** A new voice came from her beak — **← Mova's choice** · no support - **2.** A brand new tongue grew back — **✓ the right answer** · no support - **3.** Her old tongue came back again — no support - **4.** The old man's magic healed her and a shiny new tongue grew back — 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/books/1343-pg4018-part3/t6/) ### Test 7 · ★ · right ✓ {#t7} Mate, what was the fairy house like inside? - **1.** Whitest polished wood with silky cushions and a golden altar in the corner — no support - **2.** Pale stone and golden thread — no support - **3.** Whitest wood and silky cushions — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 4 - **4.** Dark wood walls hung with lanterns and many rich silk cushions for guests — no support **Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 4, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 1343, line 16: «The fairy house is built of "the whitest wood", with cream-colored mats and cushions "made of the finest silk and crape".», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same property (+2); the same circumstance (+2). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1343-pg4018-part3/t7/) ### Test 8 · ★ · right ✓ {#t8} Okay, but who brought all the food out? - **1.** The sparrow's daughters in crape gowns — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 0 - **2.** The sparrow's grown daughters arrived in fine crape gowns carrying many dishes — score 0 - **3.** The sparrow's daughters came in wearing blue crape gowns and carried trays — score 0 - **4.** Three sparrow maids in silk — score -2 **Why:** It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 1 with score 0, tied with another option at 0 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 88, line 8: ««So» (snake and egg) is food cooked on the fire, «dinner's ready»; «sho» means the drying-poles where they hang the hides.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same thing acted on «food» (+3). Against it: it fills the role the question asks for (-1); the same doer «snake» (-2). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1343-pg4018-part3/t8/) ### Test 9 · ★ · wrong ✗ {#t9} Dead serious, what was the dance called? - **1.** The traditional Sparrow's dance, the famous suzume-odori of the bamboo grove — no support - **2.** The Sparrow's song, the suzume-uta — no support - **3.** The Sparrow's dance, the suzume-odori — **✓ the right answer** · no support - **4.** The Sparrow's dance, the suzume-odori, performed by all the fairies at once — **← Mova's choice** · score 2 **Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 2, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 1343, line 18: «The feast is served by her daughters on "beautiful old-fashioned trays", and some sparrows perform the "suzume-odori" dance.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «perform» (+3). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-1). The right option, 3, 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/books/1343-pg4018-part3/t9/) ### Test 10 · ★ · wrong ✗ {#t10} Real talk, why didn't the old man punish his wife? - **1.** Because the fairy told him he must never punish any person at all — **← Mova's choice** · score 5 - **2.** He felt pity for the cruel wife — score 1 - **3.** He was too kind-hearted to do it — **✓ the right answer** · score 1 - **4.** He loved her too much to act — score 3 **Why:** It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 1 with score 5, against 3 for the next best. Its support: lesson 1337, line 9: «What she asks: she tells the king he must not take a wife until he sees "a briar with two blossoms upon my grave".», reached through a sentence linked to the one the question matched. What matched: the same action «tell» (+3); the same receiver «king» (+1); a different doer (counts against) (+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/books/1343-pg4018-part3/t10/) ### Test 11 · ★ · right ✓ {#t11} Be honest, what did the old lady say the bird did wrong? - **1.** Ate all her starch — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 8 - **2.** Broke pots — no support - **3.** Broke her clay bowls — score 5 - **4.** Stole — no support **Why:** It took the question to ask what is done. It chose option 1 with score 8, against 5 for the next best. Its support: lesson 316, line 16: «Peter feeds them by chasing birds and snatching their food, and the birds "would follow and snatch it back."», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «birds» (+4); the same thing acted on «food» (+2); a different action (counts against) (+2). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1343-pg4018-part3/t11/) ### Test 12 · ★ · wrong ✗ {#t12} Okay last one, what did the sparrow say when she got caught? - **1.** It was me, and I'm sorry — **✓ the right answer** · no support - **2.** Yes, it was me, and I am truly sorry for what I did — no support - **3.** I'm the one who ate it, and I'm deeply sorry for taking your starch — **← Mova's choice** · score 4 - **4.** I did it, forgive me — no support **Why:** It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 3 with score 4, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 1343, line 7: «What: the sparrow took the starch because she "thought it was some food put out for me in that basin" and she said sorry at once.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «take» (+2); it fills the role the question asks for (+1); a different doer (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/books/1343-pg4018-part3/t12/) ### Test 13 · ★ · wrong ✗ {#t13} Lol, so the old man went home with what, though? - **1.** A happy heart, no more worries, and a bag of gold coins from the fairy — score 4 - **2.** A happy heart and no more worries — **✓ the right answer** · score 4 - **3.** Nothing but a happy heart and some fine silk from the fairy house — **← Mova's choice** · score 6 - **4.** Joy and a small bag of gold — score 6 **Why:** It took the question to ask a circumstance (with what, when, how). It chose option 3 with score 6, tied with another option at 6 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 1343, line 5: «She leads him to a beautiful house full of fairy sparrows, who feast him and dance for him until night comes and he must go home.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same property (+4); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+2). The right option, 2, scored 4. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1343-pg4018-part3/t13/) ### Exam question 1 · formal language · right ✓ {#e1} Which action of the old woman is described as the direct cause of the sparrow's injury? - **1.** Striking the sparrow with a broom — no support - **2.** Cutting off the sparrow's tongue with her sharp scissors after the starch incident — score 0 - **3.** Cutting off the sparrow's tongue with scissors — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 0 - **4.** Cutting the sparrow's tongue off with scissors while she was still crying — score 0 **Why:** It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 3 with score 0, tied with another option at 0 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 1343, line 8: «What: the old woman "seized the sparrow" and "fetched the scissors and cut off the poor little bird's tongue".», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «cut off» (+1). Against it: the same thing acted on «tongue» (-1). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1343-pg4018-part3/e1/) ### Exam question 2 · formal language · wrong ✗ {#e2} At which location does the old man find the sparrow after his prolonged search? - **1.** The top of a tall mountain — **← Mova's choice** · score 2 - **2.** The edge of a large bamboo wood — **✓ the right answer** · score 2 - **3.** The middle of the village square — score 2 - **4.** The hills — score 2 **Why:** It took the question to ask who or what does it. 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 1343, line 4: «At the edge of a big bamboo wood he finds the sparrow alive and well, with a new tongue, and she can talk to him as before.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same thing acted on «sparrow» (+3); the same circumstance (+2). Against it: the same action «find» (-1); a different doer (counts against) (-2). The right option, 2, scored 2. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1343-pg4018-part3/e2/) ### Exam question 3 · formal language · wrong ✗ {#e3} Which feature of the fairy house is identified in the text as a decorative alcove? - **1.** The raised wooden platform displaying rare objects in the main hall room — **← Mova's choice** · score 4 - **2.** The hearth with a brass kettle — score 2 - **3.** The tokonoma displaying precious objects — **✓ the right answer** · score 4 - **4.** The tokonoma alcove displaying precious scrolls and a golden vase on the wall — no support **Why:** It took the question to ask what it is done to. 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 521, line 20: «Old word: "Erebus" was the shadowy underworld realm that gave its name to the dark, and today the word is used in poetry to mean deep darkness.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: a different action (counts against) (+3); it fills the role the question asks for (+1). 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/books/1343-pg4018-part3/e3/) ### Exam question 4 · formal language · wrong ✗ {#e4} What is the principal emotion the old man experiences upon discovering that the sparrow is alive and well? - **1.** Pure relief mixed with deep sadness and regret about his cruel wife — no support - **2.** Anger at the bird for hiding — no support - **3.** Joy and rejoicing at finding her — **✓ the right answer** · no support - **4.** Overwhelming joy and happiness at finally finding the sparrow alive again — **← Mova's choice** · score 2 **Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 2, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 771, line 5: «Then a queen wishes her crying child were a raven, and the child flies off into a dark wood, where a man finds the raven and must keep watch on a tan-heap.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «find» (+3). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-1). The right option, 3, 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/books/1343-pg4018-part3/e4/) - ← previous: [1342. Japanese Fairy Tales, Hidesato and the Centipede…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/books/1342-pg4018-part2/) - next →: [1344. Japanese Fairy Tales, The Tongue-Cut Sparrow, pa…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/books/1344-pg4018-part4/) - ↑ back to [Books](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/books/)