---
title: «that baby elephant sucks its trunk like my little bro sucks his thu… — Myth check: are elephants scared of mi… · tree and pragmatics
description: «that baby elephant sucks its trunk like my little bro sucks his thumb» Is that real? Test 10 · ★★ of lesson 149 «Myth check: are elephants scared of 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 r
---

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# Test 10 · ★★ · Myth check: are elephants scared of mice?

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«that baby elephant sucks its trunk like my little bro sucks his thumb» Is that real?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** baby elephant, little bro · **What happens:** suck, be · **To what, where:** trunk, thumb

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 10 · ★★ of lesson 149 «Myth check: are elephants scared of 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/149-myth-check-are-elephants-scared-of-mice/#t10).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:149-myth-check-are-elephants-scared-of-mice:t10:1
# text = «that baby elephant sucks its trunk like my little bro sucks his thumb» Is that real?
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	that	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	4	det	_	_
3	baby	baby	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
4	elephant	elephant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	sucks	suck	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	trunk	trunk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	like	like	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
9	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
10	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	bro	bro	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
12	sucks	suck	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	18	advcl	_	_
13	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	14	nmod:poss	_	_
14	thumb	thumb	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	12	punct	_	_
16	Is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	18	cop	_	_
17	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	18	mark	_	_
18	real	real	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **suck** *in a quote* | present | that baby elephant | elephant's trunk |  |  |  |  | vn wipe\_manner-10.4.1-1 «NP V NP.source»: agent=Agent trunk=Source |
| 2 | **suck** *in a quote* | present | my little bro | bro's thumb |  |  |  |  | vn wipe\_manner-10.4.1-1 «NP V NP.source»: agent=Agent thumb=Source |
| 3 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | real *property* | tree rules |

<!-- .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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, baby elephants suck their trunks for comfort

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:149-myth-check-are-elephants-scared-of-mice:t10:o1:1
# text = Yes, baby elephants suck their trunks for comfort
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	5	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	baby	baby	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
4	elephants	elephant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
5	suck	suck	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	trunks	trunk	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
8	for	for	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	comfort	comfort	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **suck** | present | baby elephants | elephants's trunks |  |  |  | for comfort | vn wipe\_manner-10.4.1-1 «NP V NP.source»: agent=Agent trunk=Source |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No, it is trying to blow its nose after a dusty walk

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:149-myth-check-are-elephants-scared-of-mice:t10:o2:1
# text = No, it is trying to blow its nose after a dusty walk
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	5	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
5	trying	try	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	blow	blow	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	xcomp	_	_
8	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
9	nose	nose	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
10	after	after	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
12	dusty	dusty	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	walk	walk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **try** | present · progressive | it |  |  |  |  |  | vn try-61.1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **blow** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive |  | its nose |  |  | after a dusty walk |  | vn split-23.2 «NP V NP apart»: agent=Agent nose=Patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No, elephants cannot bend their trunks that far round

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:149-myth-check-are-elephants-scared-of-mice:t10:o3:1
# text = No, elephants cannot bend their trunks that far round
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	6	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	elephants	elephant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
4	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	6	advmod	_	_
6	bend	bend	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
7	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
8	trunks	trunk	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obj	_	_
9	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	11	nsubj	_	_
10	far	far	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	11	advmod	_	_
11	round	round	ADV	RB	_	6	ccomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **bend** | can | elephants | elephants's trunks |  |  |  |  | vn knead-26.5 «NP V NP.material»: agent=Agent trunk=Material |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, but only when it sees a mouse and wants to feel safe again

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:149-myth-check-are-elephants-scared-of-mice:t10:o4:1
# text = Yes, but only when it sees a mouse and wants to feel safe again
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	7	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
3	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
4	only	only	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
5	when	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	7	mark	_	_
6	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
7	sees	see	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	mouse	mouse	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
11	wants	want	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	conj	_	_
12	to	to	PART	TO	_	13	mark	_	_
13	feel	feel	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	11	xcomp	_	_
14	safe	safe	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	xcomp	_	_
15	again	again	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **see** | present | it | a mouse |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer mouse=Stimulus |
| 2 | **want** | present |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 3 | **feel** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  | again | safe *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.

<!-- /div -->

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