---
title: Why do you think people say cats have nine lives, not dogs? — Tom and Jerry: do real cats really cha… · tree and pragmatics
description: Why do you think people say cats have nine lives, not dogs? Test 12 · ★ of lesson 118 «Tom and Jerry: do real cats really chase mice?» 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 right.
---

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# Test 12 · ★ · Tom and Jerry: do real cats really chase mice?

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why do you think people say cats have nine lives, not dogs?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, people, cats · **What happens:** think, say, have · **To what, where:** nine lives · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 12 · ★ of lesson 118 «Tom and Jerry: do real cats really chase mice?» 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/118-tom-and-jerry-do-real-cats-chase-mice/#t12).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:118-tom-and-jerry-do-real-cats-chase-mice:t12:1
# text = Why do you think people say cats have nine lives, not dogs?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	think	think	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
6	say	say	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	ccomp	_	_
7	cats	cat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
8	have	have	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	ccomp	_	_
9	nine	nine	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	10	nummod	_	_
10	lives	life	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
12	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	13	advmod	_	_
13	dogs	dog	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **think** *speech: other* | present · do-support | you |  |  |  |  |  | vn consider-29.9-2 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | people |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **have** | present | cats | nine lives and dogs |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent life=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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Dogs have no lives at all

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:118-tom-and-jerry-do-real-cats-chase-mice:t12:o1:1
# text = Dogs have no lives at all
1	Dogs	dog	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	have	have	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	4	det	_	_
4	lives	life	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | Dogs | no lives |  | all |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent life=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Cats are made of a stronger kind of bone than any other animal

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:118-tom-and-jerry-do-real-cats-chase-mice:t12:o2:1
# text = Cats are made of a stronger kind of bone than any other animal
1	Cats	cat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	made	make	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	stronger	strong	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	7	amod	_	_
7	kind	kind	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	bone	bone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
10	than	than	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
11	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	13	det	_	_
12	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	animal	animal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl:agent	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | present · passive | any other animal | Cats |  |  |  | of a stronger kind of bone | vn build-26.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Product |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A scientist counted them

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:118-tom-and-jerry-do-real-cats-chase-mice:t12:o3:1
# text = A scientist counted them
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	scientist	scientist	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	counted	count	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **count** | past | a scientist | them *= they* |  |  |  |  | vn multiply-108 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Theme |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Cats are agile and often walk away from falls that look bad

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:118-tom-and-jerry-do-real-cats-chase-mice:t12:o4:1
# text = Cats are agile and often walk away from falls that look bad
1	Cats	cat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	agile	agile	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
5	often	often	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	walk	walk	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
7	away	away	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
8	from	from	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	falls	fall	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obl	_	_
10	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	11	nsubj	_	_
11	look	look	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	acl:relcl	_	_
12	bad	bad	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Cats |  |  |  |  | agile *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **walk away** | present | Cats *not said here* |  |  | falls |  | away, often *property* | vn resign-10.11-1 «NP V PP.source»: agent=Agent from fall=Source |
| 3 | **look** | present | falls |  |  |  |  | bad *property* | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V ADJ»: agent=Stimulus |

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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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- next →: [Tom and Jerry: do real cats really cha…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/118-tom-and-jerry-do-real-cats-chase-mice/e1/)
- ↑ back to [Tom and Jerry: do real cats really chase mice?](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/118-tom-and-jerry-do-real-cats-chase-mice/)