--- title: China: the four great inventions — how Mova does on the tests · History description: Lesson 53 of the history course of Mova's primary school: 5 of 11 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/history/53-china-the-four-great-inventions/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/) / [History](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/history/) / 53 # China: the four great inventions **Tests:** 5 of 11 right · **Exam:** 1 of 4 right · **Kind:** plain · **Understood:** 9 of 15 · **Run:** 2026-10-18, commit `f3c23ea72` Lesson 53 of the history 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/history/53-china-the-four-great-inventions/). 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/history/53-china-the-four-great-inventions/). ### Test 1 · wrong ✗ {#t1} Mei says China invented paper, printing, the compass and gunpowder. What does the teacher say? - **1.** He agrees; this one is true — **✓ the right answer** · score 6 - **2.** He says Egypt invented them all — **← Mova's choice** · score 7 - **3.** He says nobody knows — score 6 - **4.** He says Europe invented them all — score 7 **Why:** It took the question to ask what it is done to. 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 52, line 16: «Tradition says Cai Lun invented paper in 105 AD, but older Chinese paper from about 200 BC has been found, so he improved it rather than invented it.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «invent» (+3); it fills the role the question asks for (+3); the same thing acted on «paper» (+2). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-1). The right option, 1, scored 6. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/53-china-the-four-great-inventions/t1/) ### Test 2 · wrong ✗ {#t2} The teacher says «Gutenberg invented printing». Mei objects. Who is right? - **1.** Neither; printing came in 1900 — no support - **2.** The teacher; nobody anywhere printed a single page before Gutenberg did — **← Mova's choice** · score 2 - **3.** Mei; China printed earlier, Gutenberg made an important version — **✓ the right answer** · no support - **4.** Both wrong; the Romans did — no support **Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 2, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 25, line 8: «Before printing, books in Europe were copied by hand, so they were rare and very expensive; within about fifty years of Gutenberg millions of books had been pr…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «print» (+2); the same circumstance (+2). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-1); a different thing acted on (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/history/53-china-the-four-great-inventions/t2/) ### Test 3 · right ✓ {#t3} mei reckons china only ever used gunpowder for fireworks. right? - **1.** No, it was also used in weapons — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 8 - **2.** No, only for medicine — no support - **3.** Yes, only for cooking — no support - **4.** Yes, only fireworks — no support **Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 8, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 10, line 13: «Chinese alchemists discovered gunpowder, probably while looking for a medicine for long life; it was first used for fireworks and later in weapons.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «use» (+5); the same place «weapons» (+5). Against it: a different thing acted on (counts against) (-2). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/53-china-the-four-great-inventions/t3/) ### Test 4 · wrong ✗ {#t4} Nonna says Marco Polo brought spaghetti from China. Fix it kindly. - **1.** Italy had pasta before him; the story is a 20th-century myth — **✓ the right answer** · no support - **2.** Marco Polo invented noodles — **← Mova's choice** · score 4 - **3.** Spaghetti came from Mexico — no support - **4.** She is right; it is proven by the letters he wrote home from China — no support **Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 4, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 53, line 3: «But Mei sometimes adds too much: gunpowder was not «only for fireworks», Marco Polo did not bring noodles to Italy, and some things, like the crossbow, were in…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «marco» (+4); the same thing acted on «noodles» (+3). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-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/history/53-china-the-four-great-inventions/t4/) ### Test 5 · right ✓ {#t5} Mei says English named porcelain «china» after her country. What came first? - **1.** Neither word is old — no support - **2.** The country's name; porcelain was named after it — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 7 - **3.** The porcelain; the country later took its name from the cups — score 7 - **4.** The tea — score 3 **Why:** It took the question to ask who or what does it. 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 53, line 11: «Porcelain was perfected in China, especially at Jingdezhen; the word «china» for porcelain comes from the country's name, which probably comes from the Qin.», 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 (+3); the same action «name» (+2); the same doer «country» (+2). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/53-china-the-four-great-inventions/t5/) ### Test 6 · right ✓ {#t6} The teacher names Greek crossbows, Mei names Chinese ones. Can both be right? - **1.** Yes, some things were invented in more than one place — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · no support - **2.** Only the Chinese — no support - **3.** No, only one place can ever invent anything, so one of them copied — no support - **4.** Only the Greeks — 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/history/53-china-the-four-great-inventions/t6/) ### Test 7 · wrong ✗ {#t7} What would happen if a printer tried to make movable type for all Chinese characters? - **1.** He would need only 10 — **← Mova's choice** · no support - **2.** He would need none — no support - **3.** He would need only 26 — no support - **4.** He would need thousands of different pieces — **✓ 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/history/53-china-the-four-great-inventions/t7/) ### Test 8 · right ✓ {#t8} A cartoon shows Zhang Heng's machine measuring how strong an earthquake was. What is wrong? - **1.** It showed nothing at all — no support - **2.** It showed the direction, not the strength — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 6 - **3.** Nothing is wrong — no support - **4.** It measured the weather — no support **Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 6, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 53, line 12: «Zhang Heng built a seismoscope in 132 AD: a bronze jar with dragons that dropped a ball into a toad's mouth to show the direction of an earthquake.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «show» (+5); the same thing acted on «direction» (+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/history/53-china-the-four-great-inventions/t8/) ### Test 9 · wrong ✗ {#t9} «English just stole tea» says Mei, dead angry. What do historians say? - **1.** Nobody took anything — **← Mova's choice** · no support - **2.** Tea came from Brazil — no support - **3.** Tea was invented in England and taken to China by British sailors — no support - **4.** Fortune smuggled plants out, but tea had already spread by trade — **✓ 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/history/53-china-the-four-great-inventions/t9/) ### Test 10 · wrong ✗ {#t10} Mei says China invented both the kite and the umbrella. Which claim is stronger? - **1.** Both are certain — **← Mova's choice** · no support - **2.** Both are false — no support - **3.** The kite; umbrellas have several ancient homes — **✓ the right answer** · no support - **4.** The umbrella; kites came from Rome — 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/history/53-china-the-four-great-inventions/t10/) ### Test 11 · right ✓ {#t11} Why did the alphabet suit Gutenberg's movable type so well? - **1.** It has only a few dozen letters to make — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 0 - **2.** The alphabet was Chinese — no support - **3.** Letters are prettier — no support - **4.** Europe had no wood — no support **Why:** It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 1 with score 0, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 10, line 15: «Bi Sheng later made movable type of clay, so Gutenberg did not invent printing but a fast way of printing with metal letters in Europe.», reached through the cause of the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «make» (+4). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-2); a different thing acted on (counts against) (-2). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/53-china-the-four-great-inventions/t11/) ### Exam question 1 · formal language · wrong ✗ {#e1} Identify the four inventions conventionally designated the four great inventions of China. - **1.** The wheel, the plough, glass and the steam engine — **← Mova's choice** · no support - **2.** Paper, printing, the magnetic compass and gunpowder — **✓ the right answer** · no support - **3.** Silk, porcelain, tea and the kite — no support - **4.** Chess, pasta, ice cream and football — 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/history/53-china-the-four-great-inventions/e1/) ### Exam question 2 · formal language · wrong ✗ {#e2} Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning the earliest dated printed book. - **1.** The Jikji, printed with metal type in 1377 — **← Mova's choice** · score 17 - **2.** The Bible printed by Gutenberg in the city of Mainz circa 1450 — no support - **3.** A Roman almanac of the first century — no support - **4.** The Diamond Sutra, printed in 868 and recovered at Dunhuang — **✓ the right answer** · no support **Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 17, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 53, line 7: «Bi Sheng made clay movable type around 1040 AD, Korea printed the Jikji with metal type in 1377, and Gutenberg's press of about 1450 used metal type, which sui…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «print» (+5); the same place «1377» (+5); the same circumstance (+4); the same thing acted on «jikji» (+3). 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/history/53-china-the-four-great-inventions/e2/) ### Exam question 3 · formal language · right ✓ {#e3} Ascertain the purpose pursued by those alchemists to whom the discovery of gunpowder is attributed. - **1.** The preparation of medicines conferring long life — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · no support - **2.** The detection of earthquakes — no support - **3.** The navigation of ships at sea — no support - **4.** The manufacture of porcelain — 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/history/53-china-the-four-great-inventions/e3/) ### Exam question 4 · formal language · wrong ✗ {#e4} Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the belief that Marco Polo introduced noodles into Italy? - **1.** It is confirmed by the bowl found at Lajia — no support - **2.** It is a modern myth, pasta having been known in Italy previously — **✓ the right answer** · no support - **3.** It is attested by the Diamond Sutra — no support - **4.** It is conclusively established by his writings and by the records of Venice — **← Mova's choice** · score 5 **Why:** It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 4 with score 5, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 53, line 3: «But Mei sometimes adds too much: gunpowder was not «only for fireworks», Marco Polo did not bring noodles to Italy, and some things, like the crossbow, were in…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+5); the same doer «marco» (+3). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-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/history/53-china-the-four-great-inventions/e4/) - ← previous: [52. China: the First Emperor, the Terracotta Army an…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/history/52-china-the-first-emperor-the-terracotta-army-and-the-great-wall/) - next →: [54. China: the Silk Road and the Tang](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/history/54-china-the-silk-road-and-the-tang/) - ↑ back to [History](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/history/)