---
title: «put new poison bait down, rats ate a tiny bit then left it, they're… — Rats and mice in the city, and the ele… · tree and pragmatics
description: «put new poison bait down, rats ate a tiny bit then left it, they're thick or what» What is really going on? Test 5 · ★ of lesson 222 «Rats and mice in the city, and the elephant and mouse myth» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question a
---

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# Test 5 · ★ · Rats and mice in the city, and the elephant and mouse myth

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«put new poison bait down, rats ate a tiny bit then left it, they're thick or what» What is really going on?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, rats, tiny bit · **What happens:** put, bait down, eat, leave, be, go on · **To what, where:** new poison, tiny bit, bit

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 5 · ★ of lesson 222 «Rats and mice in the city, and the elephant and mouse myth» 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/222-rats-and-mice-in-the-city-and-the-elephant-and-mouse-myth/#t5).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:222-rats-and-mice-in-the-city-and-the-elephant-and-mouse-myth:t5:1
# text = «put new poison bait down, rats ate a tiny bit then left it, they're thick or what» What is really going on?
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	put	put	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	new	new	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	poison	poison	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	bait	bait	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
6	down	down	ADP	RP	_	5	compound:prt	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
8	rats	rat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nsubj	_	_
9	ate	eat	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	advcl	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
11	tiny	tiny	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	bit	bit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
13	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	14	advmod	_	_
14	left	leave	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	12	acl:relcl	_	_
15	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
17	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	19	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	're	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	19	cop	_	_
19	thick	thick	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	parataxis	_	_
20	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	21	cc	_	_
21	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	19	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	21	punct	_	_
23	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	26	nsubj	_	_
24	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	26	aux	_	_
25	really	really	ADV	RB	_	26	advmod	_	_
26	going	go	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	19	conj	_	_
27	on	on	ADP	RP	_	26	compound:prt	_	SpaceAfter=No
28	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **put** *in a quote* | imperative | you *not said here* | new poison |  |  |  |  | vn invest-13.5.4-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Agent poison=Goal |
| 2 | **bait down** *in a quote* | infinitive | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn butter-9.9 «NP V NP.destination»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **eat** *in a quote* | past | rats | a tiny bit |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent bit=Patient |
| 4 | **leave** *in a quote* | past | a tiny bit *not said here* | bit |  |  | then |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |
| 5 | **is** *in a quote* | present | rats *= rat* |  |  |  |  | thick *property* | tree rules |
| 6 | **go on** | present · progressive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn function-105.2.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

<!-- .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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Rats are careful and test a little of new food first

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:222-rats-and-mice-in-the-city-and-the-elephant-and-mouse-myth:t5:o1:1
# text = Rats are careful and test a little of new food first
1	Rats	rat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	careful	careful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	test	test	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	obj	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	new	new	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
11	first	first	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	5	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Rats |  |  |  |  | careful *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **test** | present | Rats *not said here* | a little of new food |  |  |  | first *property* | vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent little=Theme |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Rats only eat at full moon

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:222-rats-and-mice-in-the-city-and-the-elephant-and-mouse-myth:t5:o2:1
# text = Rats only eat at full moon
1	Rats	rat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	only	only	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	eat	eat	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	at	at	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	full	full	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	moon	moon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **eat** | present | Rats |  |  | full moon |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Rats did not notice the bait at all, because they cannot smell

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:222-rats-and-mice-in-the-city-and-the-elephant-and-mouse-myth:t5:o3:1
# text = Rats did not notice the bait at all, because they cannot smell
1	Rats	rat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
2	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	notice	notice	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	bait	bait	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	at	at	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
10	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	14	mark	_	_
11	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	_
12	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	14	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	14	advmod	_	_
14	smell	smell	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **notice** | past · do-support | Rats | the bait |  | all |  |  | vn see-30.1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Experiencer bait=Stimulus |
| 2 | **not** **smell** | can | Rats *= rat* |  |  |  |  |  | vn smell\_emission-43.3 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Rats eat only cheese, never anything else

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:222-rats-and-mice-in-the-city-and-the-elephant-and-mouse-myth:t5:o4:1
# text = Rats eat only cheese, never anything else
1	Rats	rat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	eat	eat	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	only	only	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	cheese	cheese	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
6	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	7	advmod	_	_
7	anything	anything	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	2	parataxis	_	_
8	else	else	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **eat** | present | Rats | cheese |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent cheese=Patient |

<!-- 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.

<!-- /div -->

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- ↑ back to [Rats and mice in the city, and the elephant and mouse myth](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/222-rats-and-mice-in-the-city-and-the-elephant-and-mouse-myth/)