---
title: «my uncle says giant clams snap shut and drown divers, legit?» What… — Coral reef builders: polyps, bleaching… · tree and pragmatics
description: «my uncle says giant clams snap shut and drown divers, legit?» What is right? Test 4 · ★ of lesson 172 «Coral reef builders: polyps, bleaching, sand from parrotfish and giant clams» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each op
---

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# Test 4 · ★ · Coral reef builders: polyps, bleaching, sand from parrotfi…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«my uncle says giant clams snap shut and drown divers, legit?» What is right?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** uncle, giant clams · **What happens:** say, snap, drown, be · **To what, where:** divers · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 4 · ★ of lesson 172 «Coral reef builders: polyps, bleaching, sand from parrotfish and giant clams» 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/172-coral-reef-builders-polyps-bleaching-sand-from-parrotfish-and-giant-clams/#t4).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* «my uncle says giant clams snap shut and drown divers, legit?»

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:172-coral-reef-builders-polyps-bleaching-sand-from-parrotfish-and-giant-clams:t4:1
# text = «my uncle says giant clams snap shut and drown divers, legit?»
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	3	nmod:poss	_	_
3	uncle	uncle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	giant	giant	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	clams	clam	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
7	snap	snap	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	ccomp	_	_
8	shut	shut	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	xcomp	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
10	drown	drown	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	conj	_	_
11	divers	diver	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
13	legit	legit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: ask* *in a quote* | present | my uncle |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **snap** *in a quote* | present | giant clams |  |  |  |  | shut *property* | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **drown** *in a quote* | present | giant clams *not said here* | divers and legit |  |  |  |  | vn poison-42.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent diver=Patient |

<!-- .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 right?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:172-coral-reef-builders-polyps-bleaching-sand-from-parrotfish-and-giant-clams:t4:2
# text = What is right?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	right	right	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No, that is a myth: they close slowly and usually not fully

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:172-coral-reef-builders-polyps-bleaching-sand-from-parrotfish-and-giant-clams:t4:o1:1
# text = No, that is a myth: they close slowly and usually not fully
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	6	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
3	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	6	nsubj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	myth	myth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	9	punct	_	_
8	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
9	close	close	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	parataxis	_	_
10	slowly	slowly	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
12	usually	usually	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
13	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	14	advmod	_	_
14	fully	fully	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | that | a myth |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **close** | present | they |  |  |  |  | fully, slowly, usually *property* | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, it happens every week, ask any diver on the reef

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:172-coral-reef-builders-polyps-bleaching-sand-from-parrotfish-and-giant-clams:t4:o2:1
# text = Yes, it happens every week, ask any diver on the reef
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	happens	happen	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	advcl	_	_
5	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	6	det	_	_
6	week	week	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl:unmarked	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
8	ask	ask	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	10	det	_	_
10	diver	diver	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	on	on	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	reef	reef	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **happen** | present | it |  |  |  | week |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **ask** *speech: ask* | imperative | you *not said here* | any diver |  | the reef |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent diver=Recipient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No, giant clams cannot close at all

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:172-coral-reef-builders-polyps-bleaching-sand-from-parrotfish-and-giant-clams:t4:o3:1
# text = No, giant clams cannot close at all
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	7	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
3	giant	giant	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	clams	clam	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
5	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	7	advmod	_	_
7	close	close	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
8	at	at	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **close** | can | giant clams |  |  | all |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, they bite like sharks

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:172-coral-reef-builders-polyps-bleaching-sand-from-parrotfish-and-giant-clams:t4:o4:1
# text = Yes, they bite like sharks
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	bite	bite	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	like	like	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	sharks	shark	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **bite** | present | they |  |  |  |  | like sharks | vn swat-18.2 «NP V PP»: 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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