---
title: «cats can see in pitch black, that's why they hunt at night» What is… — Cats: purring, whiskers, night eyes an… · tree and pragmatics
description: «cats can see in pitch black, that's why they hunt at night» What is closer to the truth? Test 3 · ★ of lesson 197 «Cats: purring, whiskers, night eyes and grooming» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's cho
---

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# Test 3 · ★ · Cats: purring, whiskers, night eyes and grooming

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«cats can see in pitch black, that's why they hunt at night» What is closer to the truth?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** cats, that · **What happens:** see, be, hunt · **To what, where:** pitch

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This is test 3 · ★ of lesson 197 «Cats: purring, whiskers, night eyes and grooming» 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/197-cats-purring-whiskers-night-eyes-and-grooming/#t3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:197-cats-purring-whiskers-night-eyes-and-grooming:t3:1
# text = «cats can see in pitch black, that's why they hunt at night» What is closer to the truth?
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	cats	cat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	pitch	pitch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
7	black	black	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
9	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	11	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	cop	_	_
11	why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	parataxis	_	_
12	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
13	hunt	hunt	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	advcl:relcl	_	_
14	at	at	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	night	night	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	13	punct	_	_
17	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	19	nsubj	_	_
18	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	19	cop	_	_
19	closer	close	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	13	conj	_	_
20	to	to	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
21	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	22	det	_	_
22	truth	truth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **see** *in a quote* | can | cats |  |  | pitch |  | black *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 2 | **is** *in a quote* | present | that |  |  |  |  | why *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **hunt** *in a quote* | present | cats *= cat* |  |  |  | night |  | vn hunt-35.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | to the truth; close *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 -->
No, cats are blind at night

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:197-cats-purring-whiskers-night-eyes-and-grooming:t3:o1:1
# text = No, cats are blind at night
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	5	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	cats	cat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
4	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
5	blind	blind	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
6	at	at	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	night	night	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, they see perfectly in total darkness, even in a cellar with no windows

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:197-cats-purring-whiskers-night-eyes-and-grooming:t3:o2:1
# text = Yes, they see perfectly in total darkness, even in a cellar with no windows
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
3	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	see	see	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	perfectly	perfectly	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	total	total	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	darkness	darkness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
10	even	even	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
11	in	in	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	cellar	cellar	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
14	with	with	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	16	det	_	_
16	windows	window	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **see** | present | they |  |  | total darkness |  | in a cellar with no windows; perfectly *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They need a little light, but only about a sixth of what we need

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:197-cats-purring-whiskers-night-eyes-and-grooming:t3:o3:1
# text = They need a little light, but only about a sixth of what we need
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	need	need	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	light	light	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
7	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
8	only	only	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
9	about	about	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	sixth	sixth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
12	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	11	nmod	_	_
14	we	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	_
15	need	need	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	acl:relcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **need** | present | They | a little light |  |  |  | a sixth *obl* | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot light=Theme |
| 2 | **need** | present | we |  |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, they use night goggles

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:197-cats-purring-whiskers-night-eyes-and-grooming:t3:o4:1
# text = Yes, they use night goggles
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	use	use	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	night	night	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	goggles	goggle	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **use** | present | they | night goggles |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent goggle=Patient |

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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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