---
title: Why does an elephant spend 16 to 18 hours a day eating? — Elephants: the trunk and everything it… · tree and pragmatics
description: Why does an elephant spend 16 to 18 hours a day eating? Test 12 of lesson 21 «Elephants: the trunk and everything it does» 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 wrong.
---

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# Test 12 · Elephants: the trunk and everything it does

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why does an elephant spend 16 to 18 hours a day eating?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** elephant, 16 hours · **What happens:** spend, eat

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 12 of lesson 21 «Elephants: the trunk and everything it does» 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/21-elephants-the-trunk/#t12).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:21-elephants-the-trunk:t12:1
# text = Why does an elephant spend 16 to 18 hours a day eating?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	5	advmod	_	_
2	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
3	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	elephant	elephant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	spend	spend	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	16	16	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	9	nummod	_	_
7	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	18	18	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	6	nmod	_	_
9	hours	hour	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl:unmarked	_	_
12	eating	eat	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	9	acl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **spend** | present · do-support | a elephant |  |  |  | hour |  | vn consume-66-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **eat** | gerund | 16 hours *not said here* |  |  |  | day |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .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 -->
It is bored and has nothing else to do

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:21-elephants-the-trunk:t12:o1:1
# text = It is bored and has nothing else to do
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	bored	bored	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
6	nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	5	obj	_	_
7	else	else	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	do	do	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	acl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | It |  |  |  |  | bored *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **have** | present |  | nothing |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent nothing=Patient |
| 3 | **do** | to-infinitive |  | nothing *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It eats only one tiny leaf at a time, picked up with its tusks

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:21-elephants-the-trunk:t12:o2:1
# text = It eats only one tiny leaf at a time, picked up with its tusks
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	eats	eat	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	only	only	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	6	nummod	_	_
5	tiny	tiny	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	leaf	leaf	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
7	at	at	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
11	picked	pick	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	9	acl	_	_
12	up	up	ADP	RP	_	11	compound:prt	_	_
13	with	with	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	15	nmod:poss	_	_
15	tusks	tusk	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **eat** | present | It | one tiny leaf |  |  | time |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent leaf=Patient |
| 2 | **pick up** | participle |  | a time *not said here* |  |  |  | with leaf's tusks | vn discover-84-1 «NP V PP.topic S\_ING»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It stores the food in its trunk for winter

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:21-elephants-the-trunk:t12:o3:1
# text = It stores the food in its trunk for winter
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	stores	store	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	trunk	trunk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
8	for	for	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	winter	winter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **store** | present | It | the food |  | food's trunk | winter |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent food=Theme in trunk=Location |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It needs a huge amount of plant food, and plants are not very nourishing

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:21-elephants-the-trunk:t12:o4:1
# text = It needs a huge amount of plant food, and plants are not very nourishing
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	needs	need	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	huge	huge	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	amount	amount	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	plant	plant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
11	plants	plant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	15	nsubj	_	_
12	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	cop	_	_
13	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	15	advmod	_	_
14	very	very	ADV	RB	_	15	advmod	_	_
15	nourishing	nourishing	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **need** | present | It | a huge amount of plant food |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot amount=Theme |
| 2 | **not** **is** | present | plants |  |  |  |  | nourishing *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **amount** |  |  | plant food |  |  |  |  | nom amount «possession transitive»: of=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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- ← previous: [Elephants: the trunk and everything it…, test 11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/21-elephants-the-trunk/t11/)
- next →: [Elephants: the trunk and everything it…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/21-elephants-the-trunk/e1/)
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