---
title: «saw it on telly, elephant backed off from a mouse, so it's proven»… — Myth check: are elephants scared of mi… · tree and pragmatics
description: «saw it on telly, elephant backed off from a mouse, so it's proven» What is right? Test 3 · ★★ 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 wrong
---

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# Test 3 · ★★ · Myth check: are elephants scared of mice?

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«saw it on telly, elephant backed off from a mouse, so it's proven» What is right?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** see, back off, prove, be · **To what, where:** it, telly, elephant, mouse

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 3 · ★★ 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/#t3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:149-myth-check-are-elephants-scared-of-mice:t3:1
# text = «saw it on telly, elephant backed off from a mouse, so it's proven» What is right?
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	saw	see	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obj	_	_
4	on	on	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	telly	telly	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
7	elephant	elephant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	appos	_	_
8	backed	back	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	acl	_	_
9	off	off	ADP	RP	_	8	compound:prt	_	_
10	from	from	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	mouse	mouse	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
14	so	so	ADV	RB	_	17	advmod	_	_
15	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	17	nsubj:pass	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	17	aux:pass	_	_
17	proven	prove	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	17	punct	_	_
19	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	21	nsubj	_	_
20	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	21	cop	_	_
21	right	right	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	17	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **see** *in a quote* | past |  | it |  | telly |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer it=Stimulus |
| 2 | **back off** *in a quote* | participle |  | elephant *not said here* |  |  |  | from a mouse | vn withdraw-82-2 «NP V PP.source»: agent=Agent from mouse=Source |
| 3 | **prove** *in a quote* | present · passive |  | mouse |  |  |  |  | vn deduce-97.2 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 4 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | right *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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, one test proves it forever

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:149-myth-check-are-elephants-scared-of-mice:t3:o1:1
# text = Yes, one test proves it forever
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	5	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	4	nummod	_	_
4	test	test	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	proves	prove	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	obj	_	_
7	forever	forever	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **prove** | present | one test | it |  |  |  | forever *property* | vn deduce-97.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No, the elephant was really scared of the camera and the people filming it

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:149-myth-check-are-elephants-scared-of-mice:t3:o2:1
# text = No, the elephant was really scared of the camera and the people filming it
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	7	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	elephant	elephant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
5	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
6	really	really	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	scared	scared	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	camera	camera	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	conj	_	_
14	filming	film	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	13	acl	_	_
15	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | the elephant |  |  |  |  | of the camera and the people; scared *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **film** | gerund | the people *not said here* | elephant |  |  |  |  | vn transcribe-25.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, and all elephants do it

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:149-myth-check-are-elephants-scared-of-mice:t3:o3:1
# text = Yes, and all elephants do it
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	6	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
3	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
4	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	5	det	_	_
5	elephants	elephant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
6	do	do	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | present | all elephants | it |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Eventuality |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
One test is not proof; it may just have been startled by the movement

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:149-myth-check-are-elephants-scared-of-mice:t3:o4:1
# text = One test is not proof; it may just have been startled by the movement
1	One	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	2	nummod	_	_
2	test	test	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
5	proof	proof	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	12	punct	_	_
7	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj:pass	_	_
8	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	12	aux	_	_
9	just	just	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
10	have	have	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	aux	_	_
11	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	12	aux:pass	_	_
12	startled	startle	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	parataxis	_	_
13	by	by	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	movement	movement	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **is a** | present | One test | proof |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **startle** | may · perfect · passive | the movement | test |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus subject=Experiencer |

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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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