---
title: Why do you think nobody rides zebras in a race, even though they loo… — Horses, zebras and donkeys · tree and pragmatics
description: Why do you think nobody rides zebras in a race, even though they look like horses? Test 11 of lesson 25 «Horses, zebras and donkeys» 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 11 · Horses, zebras and donkeys

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why do you think nobody rides zebras in a race, even though they look like horses?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, nobody, zebras · **What happens:** think, ride, look · **To what, where:** zebras, race · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 11 of lesson 25 «Horses, zebras and donkeys» 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/25-horses-zebras-and-donkeys/#t11).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:25-horses-zebras-and-donkeys:t11:1
# text = Why do you think nobody rides zebras in a race, even though they look like horses?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	think	think	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	nobody	nobody	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	6	nsubj	_	_
6	rides	ride	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	ccomp	_	_
7	zebras	zebra	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obj	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	race	race	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
12	even	even	ADV	RB	_	15	advmod	_	_
13	though	though	SCONJ	IN	_	15	mark	_	_
14	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	_
15	look	look	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	parataxis	_	_
16	like	like	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
17	horses	horse	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	15	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **think** *speech: other* | present · do-support | you |  |  |  |  |  | vn consider-29.9-2 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 2 | **ride** | present | nobody | zebras |  | a race |  |  | vn nonvehicle-51.4.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent zebra=Theme |
| 3 | **look** | present | zebras *= zebra* |  |  |  |  | like horses | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Stimulus |

<!-- .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 -->
The stripes make riders dizzy

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:25-horses-zebras-and-donkeys:t11:o1:1
# text = The stripes make riders dizzy
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	stripes	stripe	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	make	make	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	riders	rider	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
5	dizzy	dizzy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | present | the stripes | riders |  |  |  | dizzy *property* | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset rider=Product |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Zebras have never been tamed; they are too nervous and aggressive

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:25-horses-zebras-and-donkeys:t11:o2:1
# text = Zebras have never been tamed; they are too nervous and aggressive
1	Zebras	zebra	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	have	have	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
3	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
4	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	5	aux:pass	_	_
5	tamed	tame	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
7	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
8	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	cop	_	_
9	too	too	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
10	nervous	nervous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	advcl	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
12	aggressive	aggressive	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **tame** | present · perfect · passive |  | Zebras |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: subject=Patient |
| 2 | **is** | present | Zebras *= zebra* |  |  |  |  | nervous *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **be** |  | Zebras *= zebra* *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Zebras are too slow to run

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:25-horses-zebras-and-donkeys:t11:o3:1
# text = Zebras are too slow to run
1	Zebras	zebra	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	too	too	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	slow	slow	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	run	run	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Zebras |  |  |  |  | slow *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **run** | to-infinitive | Zebras *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Zebras can't carry anything at all, as their backs are far too weak

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:25-horses-zebras-and-donkeys:t11:o4:1
# text = Zebras can't carry anything at all, as their backs are far too weak
1	Zebras	zebra	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
2	ca	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	carry	carry	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	anything	anything	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	4	obj	_	_
6	at	at	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
9	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	15	mark	_	_
10	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
11	backs	back	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	15	nsubj	_	_
12	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	cop	_	_
13	far	far	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	15	advmod	_	_
14	too	too	ADV	RB	_	15	advmod	_	_
15	weak	weak	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **carry** | can | Zebras | anything |  | all |  |  | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent anything=Theme |
| 2 | **is** | present | Zebras's backs |  |  |  |  | far, weak *property* | tree rules |

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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: [Horses, zebras and donkeys, test 10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/25-horses-zebras-and-donkeys/t10/)
- next →: [Horses, zebras and donkeys, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/25-horses-zebras-and-donkeys/e1/)
- ↑ back to [Horses, zebras and donkeys](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/25-horses-zebras-and-donkeys/)