---
title: «squirrel's running down the tree head first, how's it not falling»… — Foxes and squirrels · tree and pragmatics
description: «squirrel's running down the tree head first, how's it not falling» What is right? Test 10 · ★ of lesson 215 «Foxes and squirrels» 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 right.
---

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# Test 10 · ★ · Foxes and squirrels

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«squirrel's running down the tree head first, how's it not falling» What is right?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** squirrel · **What happens:** run down, not fall, be · **To what, where:** tree head · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is test 10 · ★ of lesson 215 «Foxes and squirrels» 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/215-foxes-and-squirrels/#t10).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:215-foxes-and-squirrels:t10:1
# text = «squirrel's running down the tree head first, how's it not falling» What is right?
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	squirrel	squirrel	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	running	run	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
5	down	down	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	tree	tree	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	head	head	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
9	first	first	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	4	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
11	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	15	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	aux	_	_
13	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	_
14	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	15	advmod	_	_
15	falling	fall	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	4	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	15	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	right	right	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	15	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **run down** *in a quote* | present · progressive | squirrel | the tree head |  |  |  | first *property* | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme head=Trajectory |
| 2 | **not** **fall** *in a quote* | present · progressive | squirrel |  |  |  |  |  | vn long-32.2 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 3 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | right *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 -->
It is falling very slowly

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:215-foxes-and-squirrels:t10:o1:1
# text = It is falling very slowly
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	aux	_	_
3	falling	fall	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
4	very	very	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	slowly	slowly	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fall** | present · progressive | It |  |  |  |  | slowly *property* | vn occur-48.3 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Its back ankles turn so its claws hook into the bark

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:215-foxes-and-squirrels:t10:o2:1
# text = Its back ankles turn so its claws hook into the bark
1	Its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	3	nmod:poss	_	_
2	back	back	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	ankles	ankle	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	turn	turn	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	so	so	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
6	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	claws	claw	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
8	hook	hook	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	advcl	_	_
9	into	into	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	bark	bark	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **turn** | present | Its back ankles |  |  | the bark |  |  | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V PP.trajectory»: agent=Theme into bark=Trajectory |
| 2 | **hook** | present | its claws |  |  |  |  |  | vn coil-9.6-1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It has suction cups on its feet

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:215-foxes-and-squirrels:t10:o3:1
# text = It has suction cups on its feet
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	suction	suction	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
4	cups	cup	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	on	on	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	feet	foot	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | It | suction cups |  | its feet |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent cup=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It holds on to the bark with its sharp front teeth all the way

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:215-foxes-and-squirrels:t10:o4:1
# text = It holds on to the bark with its sharp front teeth all the way
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	holds	hold	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	on	on	ADP	RP	_	2	compound:prt	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	bark	bark	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
7	with	with	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
8	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
9	sharp	sharp	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
10	front	front	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	teeth	tooth	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
12	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	14	det:predet	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl:unmarked	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hold on** | present | It | all way |  |  |  | to the bark; with bark's sharp front teeth | vn exist-47.1 «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.

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