---
title: «it's a squishy blob, how's it smarter than my hamster» What is the… — Animal minds: the octopus, escape arti… · tree and pragmatics
description: «it's a squishy blob, how's it smarter than my hamster» What is the best answer? Test 3 · ★★ 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 c
---

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# Test 3 · ★★ · Animal minds: the octopus, escape artist and puzzle solver

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«it's a squishy blob, how's it smarter than my hamster» What is the best answer?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** it, blob, best answer · **What happens:** be · **To what, where:** squishy blob · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is test 3 · ★★ 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/#t3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:234-animal-minds-the-octopus-escape-artist-and-puzzle-solver:t3:1
# text = «it's a squishy blob, how's it smarter than my hamster» What is the best answer?
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	squishy	squishy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	blob	blob	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
8	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	11	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	cop	_	_
10	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
11	smarter	smart	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	6	parataxis	_	_
12	than	than	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	14	nmod:poss	_	_
14	hamster	hamster	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	11	punct	_	_
16	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	11	parataxis	_	_
17	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	16	cop	_	_
18	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
19	best	good	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	20	amod	_	_
20	answer	answer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** *in a quote* | present | it | a squishy blob |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** *in a quote* | present | blob |  |  |  |  | than my hamster; smart *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **is a** | present | the best answer | a squishy blob |  |  |  |  | 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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It solves puzzles, uses tools and escapes tanks

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:234-animal-minds-the-octopus-escape-artist-and-puzzle-solver:t3:o1:1
# text = It solves puzzles, uses tools and escapes tanks
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	solves	solve	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	puzzles	puzzle	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
5	uses	use	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
6	tools	tool	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	escapes	escape	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
9	tanks	tank	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **solve** | present | It | puzzles |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent puzzle=Topic |
| 2 | **use** | present |  | tools |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent tool=Patient |
| 3 | **escape** | present |  | tanks |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme tank=Initial\_Location |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Its whole squishy blob is one giant brain

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:234-animal-minds-the-octopus-escape-artist-and-puzzle-solver:t3:o2:1
# text = Its whole squishy blob is one giant brain
1	Its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	4	nmod:poss	_	_
2	whole	whole	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
3	squishy	squishy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	blob	blob	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
5	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
6	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	8	nummod	_	_
7	giant	giant	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	brain	brain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | Its whole squishy blob | one giant brain |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is not, octopuses are not clever at all

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:234-animal-minds-the-octopus-escape-artist-and-puzzle-solver:t3:o3:1
# text = It is not, octopuses are not clever at all
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
3	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	8	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
5	octopuses	octopus	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
6	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
7	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	8	advmod	_	_
8	clever	clever	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
9	at	at	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **is** | present | It |  |  | all |  | clever *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It copies the hamster

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:234-animal-minds-the-octopus-escape-artist-and-puzzle-solver:t3:o4:1
# text = It copies the hamster
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	copies	copy	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	hamster	hamster	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **copy** | present | It | the hamster |  |  |  |  | vn scribble-25.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent hamster=Theme |

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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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