---
title: You find a pile of broken snail shells round one flat stone. What ha… — Worms, snails and slugs · tree and pragmatics
description: You find a pile of broken snail shells round one flat stone. What has probably happened? Test 8 · ★ of lesson 217 «Worms, snails and slugs» 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 8 · ★ · Worms, snails and slugs

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
You find a pile of broken snail shells round one flat stone. What has probably happened?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** You · **What happens:** find, break, happen · **To what, where:** pile

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 · ★ of lesson 217 «Worms, snails and slugs» 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/217-worms-snails-and-slugs/#t8).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* You find a pile of broken snail shells round one flat stone.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:217-worms-snails-and-slugs:t8:1
# text = You find a pile of broken snail shells round one flat stone.
1	You	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	find	find	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	pile	pile	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	broken	break	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	amod	_	_
7	snail	snail	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	shells	shell	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nmod	_	_
9	round	round	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
10	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	12	nummod	_	_
11	flat	flat	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	stone	stone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **find** | present | You | a pile of broken snail shells round one flat stone |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent pile=Topic |
| 2 | **break** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Patient |

<!-- .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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* What has probably happened?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:217-worms-snails-and-slugs:t8:2
# text = What has probably happened?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	4	nsubj	_	_
2	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	probably	probably	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	happened	happen	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A thrush has been cracking snails on its anvil

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:217-worms-snails-and-slugs:t8:o1:1
# text = A thrush has been cracking snails on its anvil
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	thrush	thrush	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	5	aux	_	_
5	cracking	crack	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
6	snails	snail	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
7	on	on	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
9	anvil	anvil	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **crack** | present · perfect · progressive | a thrush | snails |  | thrush's anvil |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The snails all crashed into the stone in the dark

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:217-worms-snails-and-slugs:t8:o2:1
# text = The snails all crashed into the stone in the dark
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	snails	snail	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	all	all	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	crashed	crash	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	into	into	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	stone	stone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	dark	dark	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **crash** | past | the snails |  |  |  |  | into the stone *result*; in the dark; all *property* | vn break-45.1 «NP V PP.result»: agent=Patient into stone=Result |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The snails left their old shells there to grow new ones

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:217-worms-snails-and-slugs:t8:o3:1
# text = The snails left their old shells there to grow new ones
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	snails	snail	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	left	leave	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
5	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	shells	shell	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
7	there	there	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	3	advmod	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	grow	grow	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	advcl	_	_
10	new	new	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	ones	one	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **leave** | past | the snails | snails's old shells |  | there |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent shell=Theme |
| 2 | **grow** | to-infinitive | the snails *not said here* | new ones |  |  |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location one=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Children threw the snails there

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:217-worms-snails-and-slugs:t8:o4:1
# text = Children threw the snails there
1	Children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	threw	throw	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	snails	snail	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	there	there	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	2	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **throw** | past | Children | the snails |  | there |  |  | vn throw-17.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent snail=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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- ← previous: [Worms, snails and slugs, test 7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/217-worms-snails-and-slugs/t7/)
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