---
title: «gull just nicked my chips right outta my hand, cheeky sod» What exp… — Gulls: chip thieves, rain dances and s… · tree and pragmatics
description: «gull just nicked my chips right outta my hand, cheeky sod» What explains this? Test 1 · ★ of lesson 223 «Gulls: chip thieves, rain dances and salty water» 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 ri
---

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# Test 1 · ★ · Gulls: chip thieves, rain dances and salty water

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«gull just nicked my chips right outta my hand, cheeky sod» What explains this?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** gull · **What happens:** nick, explain · **To what, where:** chips, this · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 1 · ★ of lesson 223 «Gulls: chip thieves, rain dances and salty water» 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/223-gulls-chip-thieves-rain-dances-and-salty-water/#t1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:223-gulls-chip-thieves-rain-dances-and-salty-water:t1:1
# text = «gull just nicked my chips right outta my hand, cheeky sod» What explains this?
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	gull	gull	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	just	just	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	nicked	nick	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	16	ccomp	_	_
5	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	chips	chip	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
7	right	right	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	outta	outta	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
9	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
10	hand	hand	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
12	cheeky	cheeky	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	sod	sod	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	4	punct	_	_
15	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	16	nsubj	_	_
16	explains	explain	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
17	this	this	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	16	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	16	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **nick** *in a quote* | past | gull | my chips |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **explain** *speech: assert* | present |  | this |  |  |  |  | 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 -->
The gull was trying to save the child from salt

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:223-gulls-chip-thieves-rain-dances-and-salty-water:t1:o1:1
# text = The gull was trying to save the child from salt
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	gull	gull	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	trying	try	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	save	save	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	child	child	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
9	from	from	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	salt	salt	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **try** | past · progressive | the gull |  |  |  |  |  | vn try-61.1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **save** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | the gull *not said here* | the child |  | salt |  |  | vn get-13.5.1-1 «NP V NP PP.source»: agent=Agent child=Theme from salt=Source |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Gulls are bold and learn that people carry food

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:223-gulls-chip-thieves-rain-dances-and-salty-water:t1:o2:1
# text = Gulls are bold and learn that people carry food
1	Gulls	gull	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	bold	bold	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	learn	learn	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
6	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
7	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
8	carry	carry	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	ccomp	_	_
9	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Gulls |  |  |  |  | bold *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **learn** | present | Gulls *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn learn-14-2-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **carry** | present | people | food |  |  |  |  | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent food=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Gulls are always starving at the seaside

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:223-gulls-chip-thieves-rain-dances-and-salty-water:t1:o3:1
# text = Gulls are always starving at the seaside
1	Gulls	gull	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	4	advmod	_	_
4	starving	starve	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	seaside	seaside	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **starve** | present · progressive | Gulls |  |  | the seaside |  | always *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Gulls only steal on Sundays

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:223-gulls-chip-thieves-rain-dances-and-salty-water:t1:o4:1
# text = Gulls only steal on Sundays
1	Gulls	gull	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	only	only	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	steal	steal	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	on	on	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	Sundays	Sunday	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **steal** | present | Gulls |  |  |  | sunday |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

<!-- 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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- ← previous: [Rats and mice in the city, and the ele…, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/222-rats-and-mice-in-the-city-and-the-elephant-and-mouse-myth/e4/)
- next →: [Gulls: chip thieves, rain dances and s…, test 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/223-gulls-chip-thieves-rain-dances-and-salty-water/t2/)
- ↑ back to [Gulls: chip thieves, rain dances and salty water](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/223-gulls-chip-thieves-rain-dances-and-salty-water/)