---
title: «how can tiny bugs build a house that big, no way» — Animal builders: termite mounds, weave… · tree and pragmatics
description: «how can tiny bugs build a house that big, no way» Test 11 of lesson 243 «Animal builders: termite mounds, weaver birds and other nest makers» 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 wrong.
---

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# Test 11 · Animal builders: termite mounds, weaver birds and other ne…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«how can tiny bugs build a house that big, no way»

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** tiny bugs · **What happens:** build · **To what, where:** house

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 11 of lesson 243 «Animal builders: termite mounds, weaver birds and other nest makers» 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/243-animal-builders-termite-mounds-weaver-birds-and-other-nest-makers/#t11).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:243-animal-builders-termite-mounds-weaver-birds-and-other-nest-makers:t11:1
# text = «how can tiny bugs build a house that big, no way»
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	6	advmod	_	_
3	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
4	tiny	tiny	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	bugs	bug	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
6	build	build	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	house	house	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
9	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	10	nsubj	_	_
10	big	big	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
12	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	13	det	_	_
13	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **build** *in a quote* | can | tiny bugs | a house and no way |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset house=Product |

<!-- .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 -->
Elephants help them build it

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:243-animal-builders-termite-mounds-weaver-birds-and-other-nest-makers:t11:o1:1
# text = Elephants help them build it
1	Elephants	elephant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	help	help	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obj	_	_
4	build	build	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **help** | present | Elephants | them *= they* |  |  |  |  | vn help-72.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent they=Beneficiary clause=Theme |
| 2 | **build** | infinitive | them *= they* *not said here* | it |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset it=Product |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Millions of termites each add a little soil and spit

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:243-animal-builders-termite-mounds-weaver-birds-and-other-nest-makers:t11:o2:1
# text = Millions of termites each add a little soil and spit
1	Millions	million	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
3	termites	termite	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	nmod	_	_
4	each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	5	advmod	_	_
5	add	add	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	soil	soil	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
10	spit	spit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **add** *speech: assert* | present | Millions of termites | a little soil and spit |  |  |  |  | vn mix-22.1-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent soil=Patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The wind piles up the soil

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:243-animal-builders-termite-mounds-weaver-birds-and-other-nest-makers:t11:o3:1
# text = The wind piles up the soil
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	wind	wind	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	piles	pile	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	up	up	ADP	RP	_	3	compound:prt	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	soil	soil	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pile up** | present | the wind | the soil |  |  |  |  | vn spray-9.7-1-1 «NP.theme V NP»: agent=Theme soil=Destination |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A queen termite builds it alone, one grain at a time

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:243-animal-builders-termite-mounds-weaver-birds-and-other-nest-makers:t11:o4:1
# text = A queen termite builds it alone, one grain at a time
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	queen	queen	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	termite	termite	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	builds	build	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	obj	_	_
6	alone	alone	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
8	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	9	nummod	_	_
9	grain	grain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	parataxis	_	_
10	at	at	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **build** | present | a queen termite | it |  |  | time | alone *property* | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset it=Product |

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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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- next →: [Animal builders: termite mounds, weave…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/243-animal-builders-termite-mounds-weaver-birds-and-other-nest-makers/e1/)
- ↑ back to [Animal builders: termite mounds, weaver birds and other nest makers](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/243-animal-builders-termite-mounds-weaver-birds-and-other-nest-makers/)