---
title: A cut-off octopus arm still tries to grab a bit of fish. Why is that… — Animal minds: the octopus, escape arti… · tree and pragmatics
description: A cut-off octopus arm still tries to grab a bit of fish. Why is that possible? Test 11 · ★★ 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 question and of each option; Mova's ch
---

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# Test 11 · ★★ · Animal minds: the octopus, escape artist and puzzle solver

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A cut-off octopus arm still tries to grab a bit of fish. Why is that possible?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** octopus arm, that · **What happens:** try, grab, be · **To what, where:** bit

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This is test 11 · ★★ of lesson 234 «Animal minds: the octopus, escape artist and puzzle solver» 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/234-animal-minds-the-octopus-escape-artist-and-puzzle-solver/#t11).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* A cut-off octopus arm still tries to grab a bit of fish.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:234-animal-minds-the-octopus-escape-artist-and-puzzle-solver:t11:1
# text = A cut-off octopus arm still tries to grab a bit of fish.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
2	cut	cut	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	off	off	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	octopus	octopus	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	arm	arm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
7	still	still	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	tries	try	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
10	grab	grab	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	xcomp	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	bit	bit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	_
13	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	fish	fish	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **try** | present | a octopus arm |  |  |  | still |  | vn try-61.1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **grab** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | a octopus arm *not said here* | a bit of fish |  |  |  |  | vn steal-10.5-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent bit=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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* Why is that possible?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:234-animal-minds-the-octopus-escape-artist-and-puzzle-solver:t11:2
# text = Why is that possible?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	4	nsubj	_	_
4	possible	possible	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | that |  |  |  |  | possible *property* | tree rules |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The arm has its own brain and eyes

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:234-animal-minds-the-octopus-escape-artist-and-puzzle-solver:t11:o1:1
# text = The arm has its own brain and eyes
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	arm	arm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
5	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	brain	brain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	eyes	eye	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | the arm | arm's own brain and eyes |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent brain=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The fish pulls the arm

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:234-animal-minds-the-octopus-escape-artist-and-puzzle-solver:t11:o2:1
# text = The fish pulls the arm
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	fish	fish	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	pulls	pull	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	arm	arm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pull** | present | the fish | the arm |  |  |  |  | vn push-12-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent arm=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The arm is still a whole octopus

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:234-animal-minds-the-octopus-escape-artist-and-puzzle-solver:t11:o3:1
# text = The arm is still a whole octopus
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	arm	arm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
4	still	still	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	whole	whole	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	octopus	octopus	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | the arm | a whole octopus |  |  | still |  | tree rules |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Each arm has its own big bundle of nerve cells

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:234-animal-minds-the-octopus-escape-artist-and-puzzle-solver:t11:o4:1
# text = Each arm has its own big bundle of nerve cells
1	Each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	2	det	_	_
2	arm	arm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
5	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
6	big	big	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	bundle	bundle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	nerve	nerve	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	cells	cell	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | each arm | arm's own big bundle of nerve cells |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent bundle=Patient |

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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.

<!-- /div -->

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