---
title: Identify the principal reason for which the gerbil consumes comparat… — Hamsters, gerbils and pet rats and mice · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal reason for which the gerbil consumes comparatively little water. Exam question 2 of lesson 202 «Hamsters, gerbils and pet rats and mice» 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 wa
---

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# Exam question 2 · Hamsters, gerbils and pet rats and mice

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal reason for which the gerbil consumes comparatively little water.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, gerbil · **What happens:** identify, consume · **To what, where:** principal reason, little water

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 202 «Hamsters, gerbils and pet rats and mice» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, asked in stiff, formal language. 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/202-hamsters-gerbils-and-pet-rats-and-mice/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:202-hamsters-gerbils-and-pet-rats-and-mice:e2:1
# text = Identify the principal reason for which the gerbil consumes comparatively little water.
1	Identify	identify	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	9	obl	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	gerbil	gerbil	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
9	consumes	consume	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	acl	_	_
10	comparatively	comparatively	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
11	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **identify** | imperative | you *not said here* | the principal reason |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent reason=Theme |
| 2 | **consume** | present | the gerbil | little water |  |  |  | for the principal reason; comparatively *property* | vn consume-66 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent water=Asset |

<!-- .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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It drinks exclusively during hibernation

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:202-hamsters-gerbils-and-pet-rats-and-mice:e2:o1:1
# text = It drinks exclusively during hibernation
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	drinks	drink	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	exclusively	exclusively	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
4	during	during	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	hibernation	hibernation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **drink** | present | It |  |  |  | during hibernation | exclusively *property* | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is adapted to desert conditions and conserves water by producing dry droppings and little urine

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:202-hamsters-gerbils-and-pet-rats-and-mice:e2:o2:1
# text = It is adapted to desert conditions and conserves water by producing dry droppings and little urine
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	adapted	adapt	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	desert	desert	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
6	conditions	condition	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
8	conserves	conserve	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	compound	_	_
9	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	conj	_	_
10	by	by	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
11	producing	produce	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	advcl	_	_
12	dry	dry	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	droppings	dropping	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	obj	_	_
14	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
15	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	amod	_	_
16	urine	urine	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **adapt** | present · passive |  | It |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **desert** | to-infinitive |  | conditions and conserves water |  |  |  |  | vn leave-51.2-1 «NP V NP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme condition=Source |
| 3 | **produce** | gerund |  | dry droppings and little urine |  |  |  |  | vn create-26.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent dropping=Result |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It obtains all water from cheese

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:202-hamsters-gerbils-and-pet-rats-and-mice:e2:o3:1
# text = It obtains all water from cheese
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	obtains	obtain	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	4	det	_	_
4	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	from	from	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	cheese	cheese	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **obtain** | present | It | all water |  | cheese |  |  | vn obtain-13.5.2-1 «NP V NP PP.source»: agent=Agent water=Theme from cheese=Source |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is incapable of swallowing liquids, its throat being too narrow for any drink

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:202-hamsters-gerbils-and-pet-rats-and-mice:e2:o4:1
# text = It is incapable of swallowing liquids, its throat being too narrow for any drink
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	incapable	incapable	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	swallowing	swallow	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	6	amod	_	_
6	liquids	liquid	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
8	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
9	throat	throat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
10	being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	12	cop	_	_
11	too	too	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
12	narrow	narrow	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	conj	_	_
13	for	for	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	15	det	_	_
15	drink	drink	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | It | incapable |  |  |  | of swallowing liquids | tree rules |
| 2 | **swallow** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn hiccup-40.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **is** | gerund | incapable's throat |  |  |  |  | for any drink; narrow *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.

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- ← previous: [Hamsters, gerbils and pet rats and mice, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/202-hamsters-gerbils-and-pet-rats-and-mice/e1/)
- next →: [Hamsters, gerbils and pet rats and mice, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/202-hamsters-gerbils-and-pet-rats-and-mice/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Hamsters, gerbils and pet rats and mice](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/202-hamsters-gerbils-and-pet-rats-and-mice/)