---
title: «how did he sneak up behind me, didn't hear a thing» Why? — Cats as hunters: presents on the doorm… · tree and pragmatics
description: «how did he sneak up behind me, didn't hear a thing» Why? Test 8 · ★★ of lesson 198 «Cats as hunters: presents on the doormat and why Tom never catches Jerry» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was
---

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# Test 8 · ★★ · Cats as hunters: presents on the doormat and why Tom never…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«how did he sneak up behind me, didn't hear a thing» Why?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** he · **What happens:** sneak up, not hear · **To what, where:** thing

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 · ★★ of lesson 198 «Cats as hunters: presents on the doormat and why Tom never catches Jerry» 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/198-cats-as-hunters-presents-on-the-doormat-and-why-tom-never-catches-jerry/#t8).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:198-cats-as-hunters-presents-on-the-doormat-and-why-tom-never-catches-jerry:t8:1
# text = «how did he sneak up behind me, didn't hear a thing» Why?
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	5	advmod	_	_
3	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
5	sneak	sneak	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	up	up	ADP	RP	_	5	compound:prt	_	_
7	behind	behind	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
10	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	12	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	12	advmod	_	_
12	hear	hear	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	conj	_	_
13	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	thing	thing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	14	punct	_	_
16	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	12	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sneak up** *in a quote* | past · do-support | he |  |  |  |  | behind me | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme behind i=Trajectory |
| 2 | **not** **hear** *in a quote* | past · do-support | he *not said here* | a thing |  |  |  |  | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Experiencer thing=Stimulus |

<!-- .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 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Soft paw pads and careful steps make cats almost silent

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:198-cats-as-hunters-presents-on-the-doormat-and-why-tom-never-catches-jerry:t8:o1:1
# text = Soft paw pads and careful steps make cats almost silent
1	Soft	soft	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
2	paw	paw	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	pads	pad	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
5	careful	careful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	steps	step	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	conj	_	_
7	make	make	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	cats	cat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obj	_	_
9	almost	almost	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
10	silent	silent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | present | Soft paw pads and careful steps | cats |  |  |  | silent *property* | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset cat=Product |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
You were deaf for a second

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:198-cats-as-hunters-presents-on-the-doormat-and-why-tom-never-catches-jerry:t8:o2:1
# text = You were deaf for a second
1	You	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	deaf	deaf	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	second	second	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

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

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Cats have tiny soft wheels under their paws that roll without a sound

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:198-cats-as-hunters-presents-on-the-doormat-and-why-tom-never-catches-jerry:t8:o3:1
# text = Cats have tiny soft wheels under their paws that roll without a sound
1	Cats	cat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	have	have	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	tiny	tiny	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
4	soft	soft	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	wheels	wheel	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
6	under	under	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
8	paws	paw	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nmod	_	_
9	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	10	nsubj	_	_
10	roll	roll	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	acl:relcl	_	_
11	without	without	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	sound	sound	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | Cats | tiny soft wheels |  | Cats's paws |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent wheel=Patient |
| 2 | **roll** | present | Cats's paws |  |  |  |  | without a sound | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He was floating

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:198-cats-as-hunters-presents-on-the-doormat-and-why-tom-never-catches-jerry:t8:o4:1
# text = He was floating
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	floating	float	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **float** | past · progressive | He |  |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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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.

<!-- /div -->

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- ← previous: [Cats as hunters: presents on the doorm…, test 7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/198-cats-as-hunters-presents-on-the-doormat-and-why-tom-never-catches-jerry/t7/)
- next →: [Cats as hunters: presents on the doorm…, test 9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/198-cats-as-hunters-presents-on-the-doormat-and-why-tom-never-catches-jerry/t9/)
- ↑ back to [Cats as hunters: presents on the doormat and why Tom never catches Jerry](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/198-cats-as-hunters-presents-on-the-doormat-and-why-tom-never-catches-jerry/)