---
title: «why don't the trees just grow deep roots like at home» What is the… — The Amazon forest floor: leafcutters,… · tree and pragmatics
description: «why don't the trees just grow deep roots like at home» What is the best answer? Test 9 of lesson 157 «The Amazon forest floor: leafcutters, army ants, tapirs, jaguars and the giant spider» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of
---

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# Test 9 · The Amazon forest floor: leafcutters, army ants, tapirs, j…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«why don't the trees just grow deep roots like at home» What is the best answer?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** trees · **What happens:** not grow, be · **To what, where:** deep roots, best answer · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 9 of lesson 157 «The Amazon forest floor: leafcutters, army ants, tapirs, jaguars and the giant spider» 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/157-the-amazon-forest-floor/#t9).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:157-the-amazon-forest-floor:t9:1
# text = «why don't the trees just grow deep roots like at home» What is the best answer?
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	8	advmod	_	_
3	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	8	advmod	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	trees	tree	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
7	just	just	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	grow	grow	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	19	advcl	_	_
9	deep	deep	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	roots	root	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obj	_	_
11	like	like	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	at	at	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	home	home	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	8	punct	_	_
15	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	19	nsubj	_	_
16	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	19	cop	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
18	best	good	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	19	amod	_	_
19	answer	answer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	19	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **grow** *in a quote* | present · do-support | the trees | deep roots |  |  |  | like home | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location root=Theme |
| 2 | **be** *speech: assert* | present |  | the best answer |  |  |  |  | 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 -->
Deep roots would get eaten by jaguars

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:157-the-amazon-forest-floor:t9:o1:1
# text = Deep roots would get eaten by jaguars
1	Deep	deep	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	roots	root	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	get	get	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	aux:pass	_	_
5	eaten	eat	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	by	by	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	jaguars	jaguar	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **eat** | would · passive | jaguars | Deep roots |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Patient |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The rich layer of soil is thin, so roots spread wide and buttresses hold the tree up

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:157-the-amazon-forest-floor:t9:o2:1
# text = The rich layer of soil is thin, so roots spread wide and buttresses hold the tree up
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	rich	rich	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	layer	layer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	soil	soil	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
6	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
7	thin	thin	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
9	so	so	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
10	roots	root	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	nsubj	_	_
11	spread	spread	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	parataxis	_	_
12	wide	wide	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	xcomp	_	_
13	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
14	buttresses	buttress	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	15	nsubj	_	_
15	hold	hold	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	conj	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	tree	tree	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obj	_	_
18	up	up	ADP	RP	_	15	compound:prt	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the rich layer of soil |  |  |  |  | thin *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **spread** | present | roots |  |  |  |  | wide *property* | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **hold up** | present | buttresses | the tree |  |  |  |  | vn support-15.3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot tree=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The trees are too short to need deep roots, so they never grow them and just lean on each other

<!-- fold The tree, 20 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:157-the-amazon-forest-floor:t9:o3:1
# text = The trees are too short to need deep roots, so they never grow them and just lean on each other
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	trees	tree	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	too	too	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	short	short	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	need	need	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	advcl	_	_
8	deep	deep	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	roots	root	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
11	so	so	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
12	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	_
13	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	14	advmod	_	_
14	grow	grow	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	parataxis	_	_
15	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	obj	_	_
16	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	18	cc	_	_
17	just	just	ADV	RB	_	18	advmod	_	_
18	lean	lean	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	conj	_	_
19	on	on	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
20	each	each	DET	DT	ExtPos=PRON|PronType=Rcp	18	obl	_	_
21	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	20	fixed	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the trees |  |  |  |  | short *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **need** | to-infinitive | the trees *not said here* | deep roots |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot root=Theme |
| 3 | **not** **grow** | present | trees *= tree* | roots *= root* |  |  |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location they=Theme |
| 4 | **lean** | present | trees *= tree* *not said here* |  |  | each |  |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent on each=Location |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Their roots are too lazy

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:157-the-amazon-forest-floor:t9:o4:1
# text = Their roots are too lazy
1	Their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	roots	root	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	too	too	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	lazy	lazy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

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

<!-- div src -->

**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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