---
title: In a Tom and Jerry style cartoon, a porcupine shoots quills like arr… — Defences: skunks, porcupines, hedgehog… · tree and pragmatics
description: In a Tom and Jerry style cartoon, a porcupine shoots quills like arrows and Tom gets stuck full of them from far away. What is right? Test 1 of lesson 248 «Defences: skunks, porcupines, hedgehogs and armour» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of t
---

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# Test 1 · Defences: skunks, porcupines, hedgehogs and armour

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
In a Tom and Jerry style cartoon, a porcupine shoots quills like arrows and Tom gets stuck full of them from far away. What is right?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** porcupine, Tom · **What happens:** shoot, get, be · **To what, where:** quills, style cartoon

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 1 of lesson 248 «Defences: skunks, porcupines, hedgehogs and armour» 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/248-defences-skunks-porcupines-hedgehogs-and-armour/#t1).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* In a Tom and Jerry style cartoon, a porcupine shoots quills like arrows and Tom gets stuck full of them from far away.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:248-defences-skunks-porcupines-hedgehogs-and-armour:t1:1
# text = In a Tom and Jerry style cartoon, a porcupine shoots quills like arrows and Tom gets stuck full of them from far away.
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
3	Tom	Tom	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	Jerry	Jerry	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	conj	_	_
6	style	style	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	cartoon	cartoon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	porcupine	porcupine	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
11	shoots	shoot	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
12	quills	quill	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	obj	_	_
13	like	like	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	arrows	arrow	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	nmod	_	_
15	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	17	cc	_	_
16	Tom	Tom	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	17	nsubj	_	_
17	gets	get	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	conj	_	_
18	stuck	stuck	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	19	amod	_	_
19	full	full	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	17	xcomp	_	_
20	of	of	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
21	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	19	obl	_	_
22	from	from	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
23	far	far	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	24	advmod	_	_
24	away	away	ADV	RB	_	17	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	11	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **shoot** | present | a porcupine | quills |  | a style cartoon |  | like arrows | vn throw-17.1-1 «NP V NP PP.destinations»: agent=Agent quill=Theme in cartoon=Destination |
| 2 | **get** | present | Tom |  |  |  |  | away, full *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer |

<!-- .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:* What is right?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:248-defences-skunks-porcupines-hedgehogs-and-armour:t1:2
# text = What is right?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	right	right	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Porcupines can fire their quills more than a hundred metres

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:248-defences-skunks-porcupines-hedgehogs-and-armour:t1:o1:1
# text = Porcupines can fire their quills more than a hundred metres
1	Porcupines	porcupine	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
2	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	fire	fire	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	conj	_	_
4	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	quills	quill	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	conj	_	_
6	more	more	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp|ExtPos=ADV	9	advmod	_	_
7	than	than	ADP	IN	_	6	fixed	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	hundred	hundred	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	10	nummod	_	_
10	metres	metre	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	conj	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Porcupines shoot quills only at cats

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:248-defences-skunks-porcupines-hedgehogs-and-armour:t1:o2:1
# text = Porcupines shoot quills only at cats
1	Porcupines	porcupine	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	shoot	shoot	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	quills	quill	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
4	only	only	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	cats	cat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **shoot** | present | Porcupines | quills |  |  |  | at cats | vn throw-17.1-1 «NP V NP PP.destinations»: agent=Agent quill=Theme at cat=Destination |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Porcupines have no quills at all

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:248-defences-skunks-porcupines-hedgehogs-and-armour:t1:o3:1
# text = Porcupines have no quills at all
1	Porcupines	porcupine	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	have	have	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	4	det	_	_
4	quills	quill	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | Porcupines | no quills |  | all |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent quill=Patient |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Porcupines cannot shoot quills, they come out when touched

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:248-defences-skunks-porcupines-hedgehogs-and-armour:t1:o4:1
# text = Porcupines cannot shoot quills, they come out when touched
1	Porcupines	porcupine	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
2	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	shoot	shoot	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	quills	quill	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
7	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
8	come	come	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	parataxis	_	_
9	out	out	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
10	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	11	advmod	_	_
11	touched	touch	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **shoot** | can | Porcupines | quills |  |  |  |  | vn throw-17.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent quill=Theme |
| 2 | **come out** | present | Porcupines *= porcupine* |  |  |  |  | out *property* | vn become-109.1 «NP V ADJ»: agent=Patient |
| 3 | **touch** | participle | Porcupines *= porcupine* *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn contiguous\_location-47.8-1 «NP V»: agent=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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- ← previous: [Defences: poison, warning colours and…, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/247-defences-poison-warning-colours-and-mimics/e4/)
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- ↑ back to [Defences: skunks, porcupines, hedgehogs and armour](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/248-defences-skunks-porcupines-hedgehogs-and-armour/)