---
title: Why did people breed retrievers with soft mouths and a love of water… — Dogs: from wolves to hundreds of breeds · tree and pragmatics
description: Why did people breed retrievers with soft mouths and a love of water, rather than breeding them for speed? Test 11 · ★★ of lesson 192 «Dogs: from wolves to hundreds of breeds» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; 
---

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# Test 11 · ★★ · Dogs: from wolves to hundreds of breeds

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why did people breed retrievers with soft mouths and a love of water, rather than breeding them for speed?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** people · **What happens:** breed, love · **To what, where:** retrievers, water

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This is test 11 · ★★ of lesson 192 «Dogs: from wolves to hundreds of breeds» 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/192-dogs-from-wolves-to-hundreds-of-breeds/#t11).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:192-dogs-from-wolves-to-hundreds-of-breeds:t11:1
# text = Why did people breed retrievers with soft mouths and a love of water, rather than breeding them for speed?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	breed	breed	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	retrievers	retriever	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
6	with	with	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	soft	soft	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	mouths	mouth	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	love	love	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	conj	_	_
12	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
15	rather	rather	ADV	RB	ExtPos=CCONJ	17	cc	_	_
16	than	than	ADP	IN	_	15	fixed	_	_
17	breeding	breed	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	4	advcl	_	_
18	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	17	obj	_	_
19	for	for	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
20	speed	speed	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **breed** | past · do-support | people | retrievers |  |  |  | with soft mouths and a love of water | tree rules |
| 2 | **breed** | gerund | people *not said here* | retrievers *= retriever* |  |  |  | for speed | tree rules |
| 3 | **love** |  |  | water |  |  |  |  | nom love «feeling transitive»: of=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.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Speed was against the law for hunting dogs in those days, so breeders had to choose something else

<!-- fold The tree, 18 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:192-dogs-from-wolves-to-hundreds-of-breeds:t11:o1:1
# text = Speed was against the law for hunting dogs in those days, so breeders had to choose something else
1	Speed	speed	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	against	against	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	law	law	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	for	for	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	hunting	hunting	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	dogs	dog	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nmod	_	_
9	in	in	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	those	that	DET	DT	Number=Plur|PronType=Dem	11	det	_	_
11	days	day	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
13	so	so	ADV	RB	_	15	advmod	_	_
14	breeders	breeder	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	15	nsubj	_	_
15	had	have	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
16	to	to	PART	TO	_	17	mark	_	_
17	choose	choose	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	15	xcomp	_	_
18	something	something	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	17	obj	_	_
19	else	else	ADV	RB	_	18	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | Speed |  |  |  |  | against the law; for hunting dogs in that days | tree rules |
| 2 | **have** | past | breeders |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **choose** | to-infinitive | breeders *not said here* | something |  |  |  |  | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent something=Theme |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Their job was to bring shot birds back from water without damaging them

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:192-dogs-from-wolves-to-hundreds-of-breeds:t11:o2:1
# text = Their job was to bring shot birds back from water without damaging them
1	Their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	job	job	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	bring	bring	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	shot	shot	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	birds	bird	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
8	back	back	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
9	from	from	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
11	without	without	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
12	damaging	damage	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	advcl	_	_
13	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | Their job |  |  | water |  | bring *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **damage** | gerund | Their job *not said here* | birds *= bird* |  |  |  |  | vn destroy-44 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Patient |
| 3 | **job** |  | Their *= they* |  |  |  |  |  | nom job «act intransitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Water dogs needed no food, which saved their owners money

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:192-dogs-from-wolves-to-hundreds-of-breeds:t11:o3:1
# text = Water dogs needed no food, which saved their owners money
1	Water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	compound	_	_
2	dogs	dog	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	needed	need	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	5	det	_	_
5	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
7	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	nsubj	_	_
8	saved	save	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	acl:relcl	_	_
9	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
10	owners	owner	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	compound	_	_
11	money	money	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **need** | past | Water dogs | no food |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot food=Theme |
| 2 | **save** | past | no food | owners money |  |  |  |  | vn get-13.5.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent money=Theme |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Soft mouths made them bark less

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:192-dogs-from-wolves-to-hundreds-of-breeds:t11:o4:1
# text = Soft mouths made them bark less
1	Soft	soft	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	mouths	mouth	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	made	make	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	obj	_	_
5	bark	bark	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
6	less	less	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	5	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | past | Soft mouths | them *= they* |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **bark** | infinitive | them *= they* *not said here* |  |  |  |  | less *property* | vn animal\_sounds-38 «NP V»: 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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- ← previous: [Dogs: from wolves to hundreds of breeds, test 10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/192-dogs-from-wolves-to-hundreds-of-breeds/t10/)
- next →: [Dogs: from wolves to hundreds of breeds, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/192-dogs-from-wolves-to-hundreds-of-breeds/e1/)
- ↑ back to [Dogs: from wolves to hundreds of breeds](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/192-dogs-from-wolves-to-hundreds-of-breeds/)