---
title: «the possum's dead, look, tongue out and stinks. chuck it in the bin… — Defences: tricks and myths: playing de… · tree and pragmatics
description: «the possum's dead, look, tongue out and stinks. chuck it in the bin?» What is right? Test 11 of lesson 249 «Defences: tricks and myths: playing dead, dropping tails, ink, and do ostriches bury their heads?» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of t
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/249-defences-tricks-and-myths-playing-dead-dropping-tails-ink-and-ostriches/t11/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [Biology](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/) / [Defences: tricks and myths: playing de…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/249-defences-tricks-and-myths-playing-dead-dropping-tails-ink-and-ostriches/) / t11

# Test 11 · Defences: tricks and myths: playing dead, dropping tails,…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«the possum's dead, look, tongue out and stinks. chuck it in the bin?» What is right?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** possum · **What happens:** look out, stink, chuck, be · **To what, where:** tongue, possum, bin

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 11 of lesson 249 «Defences: tricks and myths: playing dead, dropping tails, ink, and do ostriches bury their heads?» 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/249-defences-tricks-and-myths-playing-dead-dropping-tails-ink-and-ostriches/#t11).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* «the possum's dead, look, tongue out and stinks. chuck it in the bin?»

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:249-defences-tricks-and-myths-playing-dead-dropping-tails-ink-and-ostriches:t11:1
# text = «the possum's dead, look, tongue out and stinks. chuck it in the bin?»
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	possum	possum	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	's	's	PART	POS	_	3	case	_	_
5	dead	dead	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
7	look	look	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
9	tongue	tongue	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
10	out	out	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
12	stinks	stink	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
14	chuck	chuck	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	conj	_	_
15	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	obj	_	_
16	in	in	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	bin	bin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **look out** *in a quote* | infinitive | the possum | tongue |  |  |  | out *property* | vn caring-75.2-2 «NP V PP»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **stink** *in a quote* | present | the possum *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn smell\_emission-43.3 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **chuck** *in a quote* | infinitive | the possum *not said here* | possum |  | the bin |  |  | vn throw-17.1-1 «NP V NP PP.destinations»: agent=Agent it=Theme in bin=Destination |

<!-- .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:249-defences-tricks-and-myths-playing-dead-dropping-tails-ink-and-ostriches:t11:2
# 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 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is asleep and just wants some food

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:249-defences-tricks-and-myths-playing-dead-dropping-tails-ink-and-ostriches:t11:o1:1
# text = It is asleep and just wants some food
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	asleep	asleep	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
5	just	just	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	wants	want	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
7	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	8	det	_	_
8	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | It |  |  |  |  | asleep *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **want** | present |  | some food |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot food=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Leave it alone, it may be playing dead and will get up later

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:249-defences-tricks-and-myths-playing-dead-dropping-tails-ink-and-ostriches:t11:o2:1
# text = Leave it alone, it may be playing dead and will get up later
1	Leave	leave	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	1	obj	_	_
3	alone	alone	ADV	RB	_	1	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
6	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
7	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	aux	_	_
8	playing	play	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	1	parataxis	_	_
9	dead	dead	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	xcomp	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
11	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	12	aux	_	_
12	get	get	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	1	conj	_	_
13	up	up	ADP	RP	_	12	compound:prt	_	_
14	later	late	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	12	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **leave** | imperative | you *not said here* | it |  |  |  | alone *property* | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |
| 2 | **play** | may · progressive | it |  |  |  |  | dead *property* | vn performance-26.7-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **get up** | future | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  | late *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is certainly dead

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:249-defences-tricks-and-myths-playing-dead-dropping-tails-ink-and-ostriches:t11:o3:1
# text = It is certainly dead
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	certainly	certainly	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	dead	dead	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is pretending to be dead so that it can jump up and bite you

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:249-defences-tricks-and-myths-playing-dead-dropping-tails-ink-and-ostriches:t11:o4:1
# text = It is pretending to be dead so that it can jump up and bite you
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	pretending	pretend	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
5	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	cop	_	_
6	dead	dead	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	xcomp	_	_
7	so	so	SCONJ	IN	ExtPos=SCONJ	11	mark	_	_
8	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	7	fixed	_	_
9	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
10	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	11	aux	_	_
11	jump	jump	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	advcl	_	_
12	up	up	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
13	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
14	bite	bite	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
15	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs	14	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pretend** | present · progressive | It |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | dead *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **jump up** | can | it |  |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 4 | **bite** | present |  | you |  |  |  |  | vn swat-18.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent you=Patient |

<!-- div src -->

**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 -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [Defences: tricks and myths: playing de…, test 10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/249-defences-tricks-and-myths-playing-dead-dropping-tails-ink-and-ostriches/t10/)
- next →: [Defences: tricks and myths: playing de…, test 12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/249-defences-tricks-and-myths-playing-dead-dropping-tails-ink-and-ostriches/t12/)
- ↑ back to [Defences: tricks and myths: playing dead, dropping tails, ink, and do ostriches bury their heads?](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/249-defences-tricks-and-myths-playing-dead-dropping-tails-ink-and-ostriches/)