---
title: What would a gull do if it found a mussel, a shellfish, too hard to… — Gulls: chip thieves, rain dances and s… · tree and pragmatics
description: What would a gull do if it found a mussel, a shellfish, too hard to open with its beak? Test 8 · ★ 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 choic
---

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# Test 8 · ★ · Gulls: chip thieves, rain dances and salty water

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What would a gull do if it found a mussel, a shellfish, too hard to open with its beak?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** gull, mussel · **What happens:** do, find, open · **To what, where:** mussel

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 · ★ 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/#t8).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:223-gulls-chip-thieves-rain-dances-and-salty-water:t8:1
# text = What would a gull do if it found a mussel, a shellfish, too hard to open with its beak?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	gull	gull	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	do	do	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	acl:relcl	_	_
6	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
7	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
8	found	find	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	advcl	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	mussel	mussel	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
12	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	shellfish	shellfish	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
15	too	too	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	_
16	hard	hard	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	conj	_	_
17	to	to	PART	TO	_	18	mark	_	_
18	open	open	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	16	xcomp	_	_
19	with	with	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
20	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	21	nmod:poss	_	_
21	beak	beak	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | would | a gull |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **find** *a condition, not said to happen* | past | gull | a mussel and a shellfish |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent mussel=Topic |
| 3 | **open** | to-infinitive | a mussel and a shellfish *not said here* |  |  |  |  | with gull's beak | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6-1 «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 -->
Fly up and drop it onto rocks

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:223-gulls-chip-thieves-rain-dances-and-salty-water:t8:o1:1
# text = Fly up and drop it onto rocks
1	Fly	fly	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	up	up	ADP	RP	_	1	compound:prt	_	_
3	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	4	cc	_	_
4	drop	drop	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	1	conj	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	obj	_	_
6	onto	onto	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	rocks	rock	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fly up** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **drop** | infinitive | you *not said here* | it |  | rocks |  |  | vn put\_direction-9.4 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent it=Theme onto rock=Destination |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Wait for the shell to open by itself

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:223-gulls-chip-thieves-rain-dances-and-salty-water:t8:o2:1
# text = Wait for the shell to open by itself
1	Wait	wait	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
2	for	for	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	shell	shell	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	open	open	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	1	advcl	_	_
7	by	by	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	itself	itself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **wait** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  | for the shell | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **open** | to-infinitive | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  | by shell | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme by itself=Location |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Swallow it whole and spit out the shell

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:223-gulls-chip-thieves-rain-dances-and-salty-water:t8:o3:1
# text = Swallow it whole and spit out the shell
1	Swallow	swallow	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	1	obj	_	_
3	whole	whole	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	1	xcomp	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	spit	spit	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	conj	_	_
6	out	out	ADP	RP	_	5	compound:prt	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	shell	shell	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **swallow** | imperative | you *not said here* | it |  |  |  | whole *property* | vn gobble-39.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Patient |
| 2 | **spit out** | present | you *not said here* | the shell |  |  |  |  | vn breathe-40.1.2 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent shell=Theme |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Give up eating shellfish for good

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:223-gulls-chip-thieves-rain-dances-and-salty-water:t8:o4:1
# text = Give up eating shellfish for good
1	Give	give	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	up	up	ADP	RP	_	1	compound:prt	_	_
3	eating	eat	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	4	amod	_	_
4	shellfish	shellfish	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	obj	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	good	good	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	1	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give up** | imperative | you *not said here* | eating shellfish |  |  |  | for good | vn resign-10.11-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent shellfish=Source |
| 2 | **eat** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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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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