Module 04 Knowledge Check
5 questions. Pass mark 4 out of 5. Answer every question before checking the answer key below, then retry after reading the feedback.
1. Why rewrite a user's query before retrieval?
- A. To make it shorter
- B. Conversational or vague wording often retrieves poorly; an explicit query matches better
- C. To hide the question
- D. To avoid permissions
2. In a multi-turn chat, the biggest retrieval failure is usually…
- A. Slow embeddings
- B. Pronouns and follow-ups that lose the referent when sent to retrieval alone
- C. Too many documents
- D. Short answers
3. The right first diagnostic when answers are poor is…
- A. Change the model
- B. Inspect what was actually retrieved for that question
- C. Raise the temperature
- D. Add more instructions
4. Splitting a complex question into sub-queries helps because…
- A. It is faster
- B. Different parts of the answer may live in different documents
- C. It reduces cost
- D. It avoids citations
5. A risk of automatic query rewriting is…
- A. None
- B. The rewrite can change the user's meaning, so the system answers a different question confidently
- C. It slows retrieval
- D. It breaks metadata
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Answer Key and Explanations
Check these only after attempting every question.
1. B - Conversational or vague wording often retrieves poorly; an explicit query matches better
"What about the other one?" carries meaning only in conversation. Retrieval needs a self-contained query.
2. B - Pronouns and follow-ups that lose the referent when sent to retrieval alone
Follow-up turns must be resolved against the conversation before they can retrieve anything sensible.
3. B - Inspect what was actually retrieved for that question
Looking at retrieved chunks separates a retrieval problem from a generation problem in seconds.
4. B - Different parts of the answer may live in different documents
A single embedding of a compound question often matches nothing well.
5. B - The rewrite can change the user's meaning, so the system answers a different question confidently
Rewriting is itself a model step and can introduce error. Log the rewritten query so it is inspectable.
Practical Check
Apply this module to your own work: complete the module activity for *Query Rewriting and Retrieval Quality*, then write one sentence naming what your result shows and one naming what it does not.
Strong Answer Pattern
A strong answer names the task, the evidence used, the check performed, and the remaining limitation. It avoids "proved", "guaranteed", or "always" unless the evidence genuinely supports it.