---
title: «why do lions need loads of cubs anyway?» What is the best answer? — The Lion King: real lions, prides and… · tree and pragmatics
description: «why do lions need loads of cubs anyway?» What is the best answer? Test 8 · ★★ of lesson 124 «The Lion King: real lions, prides and the circle of life» 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 · ★★ · The Lion King: real lions, prides and the circle of life

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«why do lions need loads of cubs anyway?» What is the best answer?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** lions, best answer · **What happens:** need, be · **To what, where:** loads

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 · ★★ of lesson 124 «The Lion King: real lions, prides and the circle of life» 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/124-the-lion-king-real-lions/#t8).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* «why do lions need loads of cubs anyway?»

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:124-the-lion-king-real-lions:t8:1
# text = «why do lions need loads of cubs anyway?»
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	5	advmod	_	_
3	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	lions	lion	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
5	need	need	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	loads	load	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	cubs	cub	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nmod	_	_
9	anyway	anyway	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **need** *in a quote* | present · do-support | lions | loads of cubs |  |  |  | anyway *property* | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot load=Theme |

<!-- .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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* What is the best answer?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:124-the-lion-king-real-lions:t8:2
# text = What is the best answer?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	best	good	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	5	amod	_	_
5	answer	answer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | the best answer |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Fewer than half of wild cubs survive their first two years

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:124-the-lion-king-real-lions:t8:o1:1
# text = Fewer than half of wild cubs survive their first two years
1	Fewer	few	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	3	advmod	_	_
2	than	than	ADP	IN	_	1	fixed	_	_
3	half	half	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing|NumForm=Word|NumType=Frac	7	nsubj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	wild	wild	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	cubs	cub	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nmod	_	_
7	survive	survive	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
9	first	first	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	11	amod	_	_
10	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	11	nummod	_	_
11	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **survive** | present | half of wild cubs |  |  |  | year |  | vn exist-47.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Cubs do the hunting while the grown-ups rest in the shade

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:124-the-lion-king-real-lions:t8:o2:1
# text = Cubs do the hunting while the grown-ups rest in the shade
1	Cubs	cub	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	do	do	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	hunting	hunting	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	while	while	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
7	grown	grow	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	9	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	ups	up	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nsubj	_	_
10	rest	rest	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	advcl	_	_
11	in	in	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	shade	shade	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | present | Cubs | the hunting |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent hunting=Eventuality |
| 2 | **grow** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **rest** | present | the grown ups |  |  | the shade |  |  | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in shade=Location |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Every cub becomes a king

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:124-the-lion-king-real-lions:t8:o3:1
# text = Every cub becomes a king
1	Every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	2	det	_	_
2	cub	cub	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	becomes	become	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	king	king	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **become** | present | every cub | a king |  |  |  |  | vn become-109.1-1-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Cubs keep the whole pride warm at night by sleeping on top of the adults

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:124-the-lion-king-real-lions:t8:o4:1
# text = Cubs keep the whole pride warm at night by sleeping on top of the adults
1	Cubs	cub	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	keep	keep	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	whole	whole	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	pride	pride	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	warm	warm	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	xcomp	_	_
7	at	at	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	night	night	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
9	by	by	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
10	sleeping	sleep	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	advcl	_	_
11	on	on	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	top	top	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	_
13	of	of	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	adults	adult	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **keep** | present | Cubs | the whole pride |  |  | night | warm *property* | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent pride=Theme |
| 2 | **sleep** | gerund | Cubs *not said here* |  |  | top of the adults |  |  | vn snooze-40.4-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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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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