---
title: Why does a beaver pond keep a stream flowing in a dry summer? — Animal builders: beavers, dams and lod… · tree and pragmatics
description: Why does a beaver pond keep a stream flowing in a dry summer? Test 8 of lesson 242 «Animal builders: beavers, dams and lodges» 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 right.
---

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# Test 8 · Animal builders: beavers, dams and lodges

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why does a beaver pond keep a stream flowing in a dry summer?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** beaver pond, stream · **What happens:** keep, flow · **To what, where:** stream

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 of lesson 242 «Animal builders: beavers, dams and lodges» 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/242-animal-builders-beavers-dams-and-lodges/#t8).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:242-animal-builders-beavers-dams-and-lodges:t8:1
# text = Why does a beaver pond keep a stream flowing in a dry summer?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	6	advmod	_	_
2	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	beaver	beaver	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	pond	pond	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	keep	keep	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	stream	stream	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
9	flowing	flow	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	8	acl	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
12	dry	dry	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	summer	summer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **keep** | present · do-support | a beaver pond | a stream |  |  |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent stream=Theme |
| 2 | **flow** | gerund | a stream *not said here* |  |  |  | summer |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Beavers dig wells for the stream

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:242-animal-builders-beavers-dams-and-lodges:t8:o1:1
# text = Beavers dig wells for the stream
1	Beavers	beaver	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	dig	dig	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	wells	well	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
4	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	stream	stream	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **dig** | present | Beavers | wells |  |  |  | for the stream | vn create-26.4-1-1 «NP V NP PP.beneficiary»: agent=Agent well=Result for stream=Beneficiary |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The pond makes rain fall

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:242-animal-builders-beavers-dams-and-lodges:t8:o2:1
# text = The pond makes rain fall
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	pond	pond	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	makes	make	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	rain	rain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
5	fall	fall	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | present | the pond | rain |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **fall** | infinitive | rain *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The pond holds water and lets it out slowly

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:242-animal-builders-beavers-dams-and-lodges:t8:o3:1
# text = The pond holds water and lets it out slowly
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	pond	pond	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	holds	hold	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	lets	let	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
7	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	obj	_	_
8	out	out	ADP	RP	_	6	compound:prt	_	_
9	slowly	slowly	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hold** | present | the pond | water |  |  |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent water=Theme |
| 2 | **let out** | present | the pond *not said here* | water |  |  |  | slowly *property* | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Beavers carry water from the sea

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:242-animal-builders-beavers-dams-and-lodges:t8:o4:1
# text = Beavers carry water from the sea
1	Beavers	beaver	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	carry	carry	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
4	from	from	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	sea	sea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **carry** | present | Beavers | water |  | the sea |  |  | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP PP.initial\_location»: agent=Agent water=Theme from sea=Initial\_Location |

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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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