---
title: Why might a whole melon be better than a chopped one for an elephant? — Feeding times and the zoo kitchen · tree and pragmatics
description: Why might a whole melon be better than a chopped one for an elephant? Test 8 of lesson 111 «Feeding times and the zoo kitchen» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was wrong.
---

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# Test 8 · Feeding times and the zoo kitchen

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why might a whole melon be better than a chopped one for an elephant?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** whole melon · **What happens:** be, chop

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This is test 8 of lesson 111 «Feeding times and the zoo kitchen» of the biology course of Mova's primary school. The page gives the question's syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause, then the 4 options as the student saw them, each with its tree and pragmatics. Every text is parsed by Mova itself. How the student answered it, with the score of every option and why: [the test at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/biology/111-feeding-times-and-the-zoo-kitchen/#t8).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:111-feeding-times-and-the-zoo-kitchen:t8:1
# text = Why might a whole melon be better than a chopped one for an elephant?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	7	advmod	_	_
2	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	whole	whole	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	melon	melon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
6	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	cop	_	_
7	better	good	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	_
8	than	than	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	chopped	chop	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	11	amod	_	_
11	one	one	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
12	for	for	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	elephant	elephant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | might | a whole melon |  |  |  |  | than a chopped one for a elephant; good *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **chop** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn carve-21.2-2 «NP V ADVP-Middle»: agent=Patient |

<!-- .note -->
One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Elephants cannot see small pieces of fruit at all with their tiny eyes

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:111-feeding-times-and-the-zoo-kitchen:t8:o1:1
# text = Elephants cannot see small pieces of fruit at all with their tiny eyes
1	Elephants	elephant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
2	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	small	small	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	pieces	piece	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	fruit	fruit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
9	at	at	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	4	obl	_	_
11	with	with	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
12	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	14	nmod:poss	_	_
13	tiny	tiny	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	eyes	eye	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **see** | can | Elephants | small pieces of fruit |  | all |  | with Elephants's tiny eyes | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer piece=Stimulus |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A whole melon has more water inside it

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:111-feeding-times-and-the-zoo-kitchen:t8:o2:1
# text = A whole melon has more water inside it
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	whole	whole	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	melon	melon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	more	more	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	6	amod	_	_
6	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	inside	inside	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | a whole melon | more water |  | water |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent water=Patient |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It makes the elephant work at it, like food in the wild

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:111-feeding-times-and-the-zoo-kitchen:t8:o3:1
# text = It makes the elephant work at it, like food in the wild
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	makes	make	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	elephant	elephant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	work	work	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	at	at	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
9	like	like	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	parataxis	_	_
11	in	in	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	wild	wild	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | present | It | the elephant work |  | work |  | in the wild | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.material V NP»: agent=Material work=Product |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Chopped melon is poisonous to elephants

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:111-feeding-times-and-the-zoo-kitchen:t8:o4:1
# text = Chopped melon is poisonous to elephants
1	Chopped	chop	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	amod	_	_
2	melon	melon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	poisonous	poisonous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	elephants	elephant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **chop** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn carve-21.2-2 «NP V ADVP-Middle»: agent=Patient |
| 2 | **is** | present | Chopped melon |  |  |  |  | to elephants; poisonous *property* | tree rules |

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**Text:** the tests of Mova's primary school, written for Mova (`world/data/school/`), as the course runner gave them to the student. **Trees:** Mova's own parse — the `en` model on the CPU, when the site is built — not checked by a teacher; they may be wrong. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), each text read on its own. Elamur Cosmic License.

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