--- title: Just So Stories, The Crab that Played with the Sea, part 3: the Moon… — how Mova does on the tests · Books description: Lesson 92 of the books course of Mova's primary school: 8 of 18 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/92-justso-crab-3-the-moon-pulls-the-sea/) [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/) / 92 # Just So Stories, The Crab that Played with the Sea, part 3: the Moon pulls the sea, and how tides really work **Tests:** 8 of 18 right · **Exam:** 1 of 4 right · **Kind:** ★★ · **Understood:** 17 of 22 · **Run:** 2026-10-18, commit `f3c23ea72` Lesson 92 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. The lesson itself, sentence by sentence with trees and pragmatics: [the lesson in the corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/92-justso-crab-3-the-moon-pulls-the-sea/). 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/92-justso-crab-3-the-moon-pulls-the-sea/). ### Test 1 · ★★ · wrong ✗ {#t1} Noah: «the Moon pulls the tides cos a Fisherman's up there with a line, that's science innit.» (innit = isn't it) Put it right. - **1.** The Moon does cause tides, but by gravity pulling the water, and no Fisherman is needed — score 8 - **2.** The Moon does cause tides by gravity; the Fisherman with a line is only a story the Magician told — **← Mova's choice** · score 10 - **3.** The Moon does cause tides, but by gravity, not a Fisherman — **✓ the right answer** · score 10 - **4.** The Sea pulls the Moon, not the Moon the Sea — no support **Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 10, tied with another option at 10 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 92, line 14: «Real life: tides ARE made by the Moon, by its gravity, its pull, together with a smaller pull from the Sun; Kipling's fairy-tale reason has a true heart.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «moon» (+4); the same action «make» (+2); the same thing acted on «tides» (+2); the same circumstance (+2). The right option, 3, scored 10. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/92-justso-crab-3-the-moon-pulls-the-sea/t1/) ### Test 2 · ★★ · wrong ✗ {#t2} The story calls the Man's children «the laziest people in the world». What should we think of that today? - **1.** It is a true fact and it is fine — no support - **2.** Everyone agrees it was a fair judgement of the Man's children, long ago and now — no support - **3.** It is an old, unkind idea and it is wrong — **✓ the right answer** · no support - **4.** It is an old, unkind idea, and it is wrong to say such things about people — **← Mova's choice** · score 4 **Why:** It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 4 with score 4, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 87, line 6: «Tegumai says: «I had to pay two deerskins, soft ones with fringes, to the Stranger-man for the things we did to him.» Taffy: «We didn't do anything», it was Mu…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+2); the same thing acted on «things» (+1); the same circumstance (+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/92-justso-crab-3-the-moon-pulls-the-sea/t2/) ### Test 3 · ★★ · right ✓ {#t3} Why does the Magician refuse a shell for all twelve months? - **1.** He fears Pau Amma will grow bold and greedy again, and the sea will be upset — score 5 - **2.** Because the shell is too heavy to carry — no support - **3.** He fears Pau Amma will grow bold and greedy again — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 5 - **4.** He fears Pau Amma will grow bold and greedy again, and make the Man's children lazy — score 5 **Why:** It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 3 with score 5, tied with another option at 5 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 91, line 14: «Soft Pau Amma cannot leave Pusat Tasek, because sharks and dogfish would eat him. The Magician will not simply give the shell back, because Pau Amma might grow…», reached through the cause of the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «pau» (+4); the same action «grow» (+1). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/92-justso-crab-3-the-moon-pulls-the-sea/t3/) ### Test 4 · ★★ · wrong ✗ {#t4} What would happen if the Fisherman pulled the sea much too hard? - **1.** The sea would dry up completely — **← Mova's choice** · no support - **2.** Nothing at all would happen — no support - **3.** Huge tides, and trouble from the Magician, who would be very angry with him — no support - **4.** Huge tides, and trouble from the Magician — **✓ 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/books/92-justso-crab-3-the-moon-pulls-the-sea/t4/) ### Test 5 · ★★ · right ✓ {#t5} Which is TRUE in this part? - **1.** The Man asks for the Sea to do his work twice a day — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · no support - **2.** The Man asks for the Sea to do his work twice a day for ever, but the Magician says no to him at once — no support - **3.** The Rat stops biting, and the Moon pulls the sea — no support - **4.** The Man asks for the Sea to do his work twice a day, and the Rat is not allowed to bite the line any more — 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/92-justso-crab-3-the-moon-pulls-the-sea/t5/) ### Test 6 · ★★ · wrong ✗ {#t6} Real life: what really makes the tides? - **1.** Mostly the rivers and the rain — **← Mova's choice** · score 3 - **2.** Mainly the Moon's pull, and the Sun's — **✓ the right answer** · no support - **3.** Mainly the Fisherman of the Moon's pull on the sea with his line — no support - **4.** Mostly the wind and the storms — score 2 **Why:** It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 with score 3, against 2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 59, line 10: ««It's a hard life, by all accounts,» says the Water Rat. «For the crew it is,» says the seafarer, «again with the ghost of a wink»: he doesn't work as crew; he…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+2); the same thing acted on «hard life» (+1). 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/books/92-justso-crab-3-the-moon-pulls-the-sea/t6/) ### Test 7 · ★★ · right ✓ {#t7} Real life: when do the biggest tides, spring tides, come? - **1.** When the tide is low and the wind is calm — no support - **2.** At full moon and new moon, when Sun and Moon pull in a line — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 7 - **3.** Only in winter, when the Sun is far away from the Moon and the sea is calm and cold — no support - **4.** At full moon only, when the Fisherman pulls the sea hard in the middle of the night — score 3 **Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 7, against 3 for the next best. Its support: lesson 92, line 16: «Real life: spring tides, the biggest, come at full moon and new moon, when the Sun and Moon pull in a line; neap tides, the smallest, come at half moon. «Sprin…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «pull» (+4); the same doer «sun» (+2); the same circumstance (+1). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/92-justso-crab-3-the-moon-pulls-the-sea/t7/) ### Test 8 · ★★ · wrong ✗ {#t8} Real life: about how many high tides do most coasts get in about 25 hours? - **1.** Four — **← Mova's choice** · score 7 - **2.** 0 — score 7 - **3.** 1 — score 7 - **4.** Two — **✓ the right answer** · score 7 **Why:** It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 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 92, line 15: «Real life: most coasts get two high tides and two low tides in about 25 hours, so the tide comes about an hour later each day.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same property (+4); the same circumstance (+3); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+1). Against it: a different thing acted on (counts against) (-1). The right option, 4, scored 7. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/92-justso-crab-3-the-moon-pulls-the-sea/t8/) ### Test 9 · ★★ · wrong ✗ {#t9} Real life: what is the coconut crab famous for? - **1.** Climbing palm-trees and cracking coconuts — **✓ the right answer** · no support - **2.** Living in deep holes in the sea — no support - **3.** Living on land and climbing palm-trees to eat coconuts and fish at night — score 4 - **4.** Climbing palm-trees and cracking coconuts with its big strong claws — **← Mova's choice** · score 6 **Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 6, against 4 for the next best. Its support: lesson 92, line 17: «Real life: young crabs moult many times a year and older ones less often, some about once a year; the coconut crab of the Indian and Pacific Ocean islands real…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «crack» (+2); the same thing acted on «coconuts» (+2); the same circumstance (+2). 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/92-justso-crab-3-the-moon-pulls-the-sea/t9/) ### Test 10 · ★★ · wrong ✗ {#t10} Sam from Pittsburgh: «yinz should take crabs home in jars, they love it.» (yinz = you lot) What does Kipling say? - **1.** They love it — **← Mova's choice** · no support - **2.** They enjoy the jar and sleep — no support - **3.** They hate it, and nip you — **✓ the right answer** · no support - **4.** They like the jars and sleep — 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/92-justso-crab-3-the-moon-pulls-the-sea/t10/) ### Test 11 · ★★ · right ✓ {#t11} Looking back: which earlier tale also ended with the hero getting a useful new body part, though he did not ask for it in that way? - **1.** The Elephant's Child, with his trunk — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 9 - **2.** The Sun-Bird, with his feathers, though he had not asked for a new tail — no support - **3.** The Elephant's Child, with his nose — score 9 - **4.** The Elephant's Child, with his long new trunk, which he asked for — score 9 **Why:** It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 1 with score 9, tied with another option at 9 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 89, line 12: ««Ya-las», water is ending, is chalked on the big stone water-tank; Taffy fills it from the spring with a bark bucket, then pulls Daddy's left ear, «the one tha…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+5); the same doer «taffy» (+4). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/92-justso-crab-3-the-moon-pulls-the-sea/t11/) ### Test 12 · ★★ · wrong ✗ {#t12} Looking back: who in Kipling's book is called a «Tidy Pachyderm» who picked up melon rinds? - **1.** The Cat who Walked by Himself — no support - **2.** The Elephant's Child — **✓ the right answer** · no support - **3.** The Crocodile of the river — **← Mova's choice** · score 4 - **4.** Rikki-tikki-tavi — no support **Why:** It took the question to ask a circumstance (with what, when, how). It chose option 3 with score 4, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 80, line 14: «Going home he pulled fruit down from trees, used a branch as a fly-whisk, and sang down his trunk "louder than several brass bands"; he picked up the melon rin…», reached through a sentence linked to the one the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+3); the same circumstance (+2). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-1). 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/books/92-justso-crab-3-the-moon-pulls-the-sea/t12/) ### Test 13 · ★★ · right ✓ {#t13} Looking back: in part 2, why couldn't soft Pau Amma leave Pusat Tasek? - **1.** The sea was far too cold for him — no support - **2.** Sharks and dogfish would eat him, and the Magician would be cross — score 10 - **3.** Sharks and dogfish would eat him — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 10 - **4.** He was too soft, and the sharks and dogfish in the river would eat him very quickly — score 10 **Why:** It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 3 with score 10, tied with another option at 10 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 91, line 14: «Soft Pau Amma cannot leave Pusat Tasek, because sharks and dogfish would eat him. The Magician will not simply give the shell back, because Pau Amma might grow…», reached through the cause of the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same thing acted on «pusat» (+5); the same doer «sharks» (+4); the same action «eat» (+1). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/92-justso-crab-3-the-moon-pulls-the-sea/t13/) ### Test 14 · ★★ · right ✓ {#t14} Looking back: in part 1, what did the Man say the sea did to his canoe when it ran out? - **1.** Left only mud and upset it — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 7 - **2.** Dragged it into the sea — score 2 - **3.** Left only mud and weed, and upset it, and then the Moon came down to help — score 5 - **4.** Left only mud, and then upset it, and the Man had to walk home — score 5 **Why:** It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 with score 7, against 5 for the next best. Its support: lesson 90, line 3: «But the Man says the Sea is not obedient: once a day and once a night it rushes up the Perak river and floods his house, then runs out again and leaves only mu…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «leave» (+4); it fills the role the question asks for (+2); the same thing acted on «mud» (+1). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/92-justso-crab-3-the-moon-pulls-the-sea/t14/) ### Test 15 · ★★ · right ✓ {#t15} Dara from Melbourne: «stopped at the servo, saw the tide out, it's the crab's fault.» (servo = petrol station) What is the real reason? - **1.** The Fisherman's fault — no support - **2.** The Moon's pull moved the water away for a while — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 6 - **3.** The wind blew all the water out to sea — no support - **4.** The Rat's bite stopped the water flow — score 6 **Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 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 92, line 4: «Ever since, says Kipling, the Moon has pulled the sea up and down and made the tides; when he pulls too hard we get spring tides, too softly, neap tides. Pau A…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «pull» (+4); the same doer «moon» (+2). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/92-justso-crab-3-the-moon-pulls-the-sea/t15/) ### Test 16 · ★★ · right ✓ {#t16} ★★★ Pau Amma's shell is soft one month in twelve. If he lived ten years, for how many months was he soft in all? - **1.** Ten — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · no support - **2.** 5 — no support - **3.** 2 — no support - **4.** Nine — 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/92-justso-crab-3-the-moon-pulls-the-sea/t16/) ### Test 17 · ★★ · wrong ✗ {#t17} ★★★ Careful: the Man first says the sea comes «once a day and once a night»; the Magician tells the Fisherman to pull «twice a day and twice a night». Which is closer to real tides? - **1.** Four high tides a day, twice in the day and twice at night, always at the same time — score 3 - **2.** Once a day and once a night, as the Man said, and the Rat bites twice — score 6 - **3.** Once a day and once a night, as the Man said — **← Mova's choice** · score 6 - **4.** Twice a day and night in all: about two high tides in 25 hours — **✓ the right answer** · no support **Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. 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 90, line 7: «The Man says «Yes, I am too wise for this play; but see that you make all the Animals obedient to me.»», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «man» (+4); the same action «say» (+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/books/92-justso-crab-3-the-moon-pulls-the-sea/t17/) ### Test 18 · ★★ · wrong ✗ {#t18} ★★★ «Spring tide». Which word in English uses «spring» in the SAME sense as in «spring tide»? - **1.** «Summer» (a season) — no support - **2.** «Spring water» (a source) — no support - **3.** «Spring of water from the hills» (a source) — **← Mova's choice** · score 7 - **4.** «Spring up» (jump up) — **✓ the right answer** · 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 92, line 16: «Real life: spring tides, the biggest, come at full moon and new moon, when the Sun and Moon pull in a line; neap tides, the smallest, come at half moon. «Sprin…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+5); the same doer «spring» (+4). Against it: a different action (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/books/92-justso-crab-3-the-moon-pulls-the-sea/t18/) ### Exam question 1 · formal language · wrong ✗ {#e1} Identify the arrangement concluded by the Eldest Magician in respect of Pau Amma's shell. - **1.** It is restored for eleven months and becomes soft in the twelfth, unless the Sea asks again — **← Mova's choice** · no support - **2.** It is restored for eleven months, becoming soft in the twelfth — **✓ the right answer** · no support - **3.** It is restored only when the Moon pulls, becoming soft in the twelfth month and humble for ever more — no support - **4.** It is restored for ten months, then soft for two — 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/92-justso-crab-3-the-moon-pulls-the-sea/e1/) ### Exam question 2 · formal language · wrong ✗ {#e2} Ascertain the agent who, according to the narrative, conveyed the canoe back into the Perak river. - **1.** The Eldest Magician's son — no support - **2.** The Sea, which carried the canoe back with the tide that always comes twice a day — **← Mova's choice** · score 6 - **3.** The Fisherman of the Moon, who pulled the sea with his line — score 2 - **4.** The Fisherman of the Moon — **✓ the right answer** · no support **Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 6, against 2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 91, line 2: «The sea carries the canoe to Pusat Tasek, the Heart of the Sea, a great hollow where the Wonderful Tree grows. The Magician reaches down and touches Pau Amma's…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «sea» (+4); the same thing acted on «canoe» (+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/books/92-justso-crab-3-the-moon-pulls-the-sea/e2/) ### Exam question 3 · formal language · right ✓ {#e3} It is given that tides of exceptional height occur periodically. Select the response consistent with the established scientific facts. - **1.** Only the Moon matters — no support - **2.** Tides are caused by the Moon's pull alone, with no Sun at all — score 6 - **3.** The Sun alone causes the tides, and they come once a day only — score 6 - **4.** Spring tides occur at new and full moon, when Sun and Moon act in line — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 8 **Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 8, against 6 for the next best. Its support: lesson 92, line 16: «Real life: spring tides, the biggest, come at full moon and new moon, when the Sun and Moon pull in a line; neap tides, the smallest, come at half moon. «Sprin…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same place «half moon» (+4); the same action «come» (+2); the same doer «neap tides» (+2). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/92-justso-crab-3-the-moon-pulls-the-sea/e3/) ### Exam question 4 · formal language · wrong ✗ {#e4} Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the attribution of laziness to an entire people in this tale? - **1.** It is a fair and sensible description of their habits — no support - **2.** It is an old and unkind prejudice, now recognised as wrong — **✓ the right answer** · no support - **3.** It is an old and unkind prejudice, which the story tells as a true fact about the children of the Man — **← Mova's choice** · score 2 - **4.** It is an old and unkind prejudice, now recognised as wrong, though the story itself still treats it as fair and sensible — score 2 **Why:** It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 3 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 87, line 5: «This story follows straight on from the last one: «The week after Taffimai Metallumai ... made that little mistake about her Daddy's spear and the Stranger-man…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+3); the same doer «story» (+1). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-2). 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/books/92-justso-crab-3-the-moon-pulls-the-sea/e4/) - ← previous: [91. Just So Stories, The Crab that Played with the S…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/books/91-justso-crab-2-pau-amma-loses-his-shell/) - next →: [93. Just So Stories, The Cat that Walked by Himself,…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/books/93-justso-cat-1-the-first-friend-and-the-first-servant/) - ↑ back to [Books](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/books/)