---
title: Identify the principal reason for which an octopus is able to pass t… — Animal minds: the octopus, escape arti… · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal reason for which an octopus is able to pass through an aperture of very small dimensions. Exam question 2 of lesson 234 «Animal minds: the octopus, escape artist and puzzle solver» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the q
---

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# Exam question 2 · Animal minds: the octopus, escape artist and puzzle solver

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal reason for which an octopus is able to pass through an aperture of very small dimensions.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, octopus · **What happens:** identify, be, pass · **To what, where:** principal reason, aperture

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This is exam question 2 of lesson 234 «Animal minds: the octopus, escape artist and puzzle solver» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, asked in stiff, formal language. 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/234-animal-minds-the-octopus-escape-artist-and-puzzle-solver/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:234-animal-minds-the-octopus-escape-artist-and-puzzle-solver:e2:1
# text = Identify the principal reason for which an octopus is able to pass through an aperture of very small dimensions.
1	Identify	identify	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	10	obl	_	_
7	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	octopus	octopus	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
9	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	cop	_	_
10	able	able	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	acl	_	_
11	to	to	PART	TO	_	12	mark	_	_
12	pass	pass	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	xcomp	_	_
13	through	through	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	aperture	aperture	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	_
16	of	of	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
17	very	very	ADV	RB	_	18	advmod	_	_
18	small	small	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	19	amod	_	_
19	dimensions	dimension	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	15	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **identify** | imperative | you *not said here* | the principal reason |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent reason=Theme |
| 2 | **is** | present | a octopus |  |  |  |  | for the principal reason; able *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **pass** | to-infinitive | a octopus *not said here* |  |  | a aperture of small dimensions |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme through aperture=Location |

<!-- .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 -->
Its capacity to dissolve its beak at will and grow it again

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:234-animal-minds-the-octopus-escape-artist-and-puzzle-solver:e2:o1:1
# text = Its capacity to dissolve its beak at will and grow it again
1	Its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	capacity	capacity	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	dissolve	dissolve	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	beak	beak	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	at	at	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	advcl	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
10	grow	grow	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	conj	_	_
11	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	obj	_	_
12	again	again	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **dissolve** | to-infinitive | Its capacity | capacity's beak |  |  |  |  | vn break-45.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent beak=Patient |
| 2 | **grow** | infinitive | Its capacity *not said here* | beak |  |  | again |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location it=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The absence of bones, the beak being its only hard part

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:234-animal-minds-the-octopus-escape-artist-and-puzzle-solver:e2:o2:1
# text = The absence of bones, the beak being its only hard part
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	absence	absence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	bones	bone	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	beak	beak	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	_
8	being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	12	cop	_	_
9	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	12	nmod:poss	_	_
10	only	only	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
11	hard	hard	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	part	part	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | gerund | the absence of bones | absence's hard part |  |  |  | the beak *obl* | tree rules |
| 2 | **absent** |  |  | bones |  |  |  |  | nom absence «state transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Its ability to enlarge the aperture by force

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:234-animal-minds-the-octopus-escape-artist-and-puzzle-solver:e2:o3:1
# text = Its ability to enlarge the aperture by force
1	Its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	ability	ability	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	enlarge	enlarge	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	aperture	aperture	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	by	by	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	force	force	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **enlarge** | to-infinitive | Its ability | the aperture |  |  |  | by force | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent aperture=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The elasticity of its skeleton

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:234-animal-minds-the-octopus-escape-artist-and-puzzle-solver:e2:o4:1
# text = The elasticity of its skeleton
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	elasticity	elasticity	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	skeleton	skeleton	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

<!-- 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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