---
title: «my grandad says rats alone gave everyone the Black Death» Is he com… — Rats and mice in the city, and the ele… · tree and pragmatics
description: «my grandad says rats alone gave everyone the Black Death» Is he completely right? Test 6 · ★ 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 and of each option; Mova's 
---

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# Test 6 · ★ · Rats and mice in the city, and the elephant and mouse myth

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«my grandad says rats alone gave everyone the Black Death» Is he completely right?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** grandad, rats · **What happens:** say, give, be · **To what, where:** Black Death, everyone · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 6 · ★ 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/#t6).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:222-rats-and-mice-in-the-city-and-the-elephant-and-mouse-myth:t6:1
# text = «my grandad says rats alone gave everyone the Black Death» Is he completely right?
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	3	nmod:poss	_	_
3	grandad	grandad	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	16	advcl	_	_
5	rats	rat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
6	alone	alone	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	gave	give	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	ccomp	_	_
8	everyone	everyone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Tot	7	obj	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	Black	Black	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	flat	_	_
11	Death	Death	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	4	punct	_	_
13	Is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	16	cop	_	_
14	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	16	nsubj	_	_
15	completely	completely	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	_
16	right	right	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	16	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* *in a quote* | present | my grandad |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **give** *in a quote* | past | rats | the Black Death | everyone |  |  | alone *property* | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: agent=Agent everyone=Recipient death=Theme |
| 3 | **is** | present | grandad |  |  |  |  | completely, 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 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, rats bit every person who caught it

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:222-rats-and-mice-in-the-city-and-the-elephant-and-mouse-myth:t6:o1:1
# text = Yes, rats bit every person who caught it
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	rats	rat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	bit	bite	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	6	det	_	_
6	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	8	nsubj	_	_
8	caught	catch	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	acl:relcl	_	_
9	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **bite** | past | rats | every person |  |  |  |  | vn swat-18.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent person=Patient |
| 2 | **catch** | past | every person | person |  |  |  |  | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Not quite; rat fleas helped, but human fleas and lice probably spread it too

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:222-rats-and-mice-in-the-city-and-the-elephant-and-mouse-myth:t6:o2:1
# text = Not quite; rat fleas helped, but human fleas and lice probably spread it too
1	Not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	6	advmod	_	_
2	quite	quite	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
4	rat	rat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	fleas	flea	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
6	helped	help	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
8	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
9	human	human	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	fleas	flea	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	nsubj	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
12	lice	louse	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	conj	_	_
13	probably	probably	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
14	spread	spread	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	conj	_	_
15	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	obj	_	_
16	too	too	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **help** | past | rat fleas |  |  |  |  |  | vn help-72.1-1-1 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **spread** | past | human fleas and lice | it |  |  |  | probably *property* | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location it=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No, cats spread it, not rats

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:222-rats-and-mice-in-the-city-and-the-elephant-and-mouse-myth:t6:o3:1
# text = No, cats spread it, not rats
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
3	cats	cat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	spread	spread	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
7	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	8	advmod	_	_
8	rats	rat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **spread** | present | cats | it |  |  |  | rats *obl* | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location it=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No, the Black Death was caused by bad weather and dirty air, not by any animal

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:222-rats-and-mice-in-the-city-and-the-elephant-and-mouse-myth:t6:o4:1
# text = No, the Black Death was caused by bad weather and dirty air, not by any animal
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	7	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	Black	black	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	Death	Death	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
6	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux:pass	_	_
7	caused	cause	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
8	by	by	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	bad	bad	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	weather	weather	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
12	dirty	dirty	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	air	air	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
15	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	18	advmod	_	_
16	by	by	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	18	det	_	_
18	animal	animal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cause** | past · passive | bad weather and dirty air and any animal | the Black Death |  |  |  |  | vn engender-27.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Precondition subject=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.

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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/)