---
title: «stupid fish's staring at nothing again» Why might the goldfish be l… — Myth check: do goldfish have a three-s… · tree and pragmatics
description: «stupid fish's staring at nothing again» Why might the goldfish be looking at «nothing»? Test 10 · ★ of lesson 152 «Myth check: do goldfish have a three-second memory?» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's 
---

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# Test 10 · ★ · Myth check: do goldfish have a three-second memory?

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«stupid fish's staring at nothing again» Why might the goldfish be looking at «nothing»?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** stupid fish, goldfish · **What happens:** stare, look

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This is test 10 · ★ of lesson 152 «Myth check: do goldfish have a three-second memory?» 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/152-goldfish-memory/#t10).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:152-goldfish-memory:t10:1
# text = «stupid fish's staring at nothing again» Why might the goldfish be looking at «nothing»?
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	stupid	stupid	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	fish	fish	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
5	staring	stare	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
6	at	at	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	5	obl	_	_
8	again	again	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	5	punct	_	_
10	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	15	advmod	_	_
11	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	15	aux	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	goldfish	goldfish	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nsubj	_	_
14	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	15	aux	_	_
15	looking	look	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	5	conj	_	_
16	at	at	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	18	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	15	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stare** *in a quote* | present · progressive | stupid fish |  |  |  | again | at nothing | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent at nothing=Theme |
| 2 | **look** | might · progressive | the goldfish |  |  |  |  | at nothing | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent at nothing=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.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Fish are blind

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:152-goldfish-memory:t10:o1:1
# text = Fish are blind
1	Fish	fish	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	blind	blind	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Fish |  |  |  |  | blind *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It has forgotten how to swim and is waiting until it remembers

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:152-goldfish-memory:t10:o2:1
# text = It has forgotten how to swim and is waiting until it remembers
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	forgotten	forget	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	6	advmod	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	swim	swim	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
8	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
9	waiting	wait	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	3	conj	_	_
10	until	until	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
11	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
12	remembers	remember	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **forget** | present · perfect · passive |  | It |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **not** **swim** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **wait** | present · progressive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 4 | **remember** | present | it |  |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is asleep and dreaming

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:152-goldfish-memory:t10:o3:1
# text = It is asleep and dreaming
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	asleep	asleep	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	dreaming	dream	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	3	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | It |  |  |  |  | asleep *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **dream** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn cognize-85 «NP V PP.topic»: agent=Agent |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It may be seeing ultraviolet light that we cannot see

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:152-goldfish-memory:t10:o4:1
# text = It may be seeing ultraviolet light that we cannot see
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	aux	_	_
4	seeing	see	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
5	ultraviolet	ultraviolet	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	light	light	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	11	obj	_	_
8	we	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
9	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	11	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	11	advmod	_	_
11	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	acl:relcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **see** | may · progressive | It | ultraviolet light |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer light=Stimulus |
| 2 | **not** **see** | can | we | ultraviolet light |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer that=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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