---
title: Why are mules great for carrying bags up a steep mountain path? — Horses, zebras and donkeys · tree and pragmatics
description: Why are mules great for carrying bags up a steep mountain path? Test 7 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.
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/25-horses-zebras-and-donkeys/t7/)

<!-- 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/) / [Horses, zebras and donkeys](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/25-horses-zebras-and-donkeys/) / t7

# Test 7 · Horses, zebras and donkeys

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why are mules great for carrying bags up a steep mountain path?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** mules · **What happens:** be, carry · **To what, where:** bags

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 7 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/#t7).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:25-horses-zebras-and-donkeys:t7:1
# text = Why are mules great for carrying bags up a steep mountain path?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	mules	mule	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	great	great	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
6	carrying	carry	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	4	advcl	_	_
7	bags	bag	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obj	_	_
8	up	up	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
10	steep	steep	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
11	mountain	mountain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	compound	_	_
12	path	path	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | mules |  |  |  |  | great *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **carry** | gerund | mules *not said here* | bags |  |  |  | up a steep mountain path | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent bag=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 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They mix a horse's strength with a donkey's sure feet

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:25-horses-zebras-and-donkeys:t7:o1:1
# text = They mix a horse's strength with a donkey's sure feet
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	mix	mix	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	horse	horse	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	's	's	PART	POS	_	4	case	_	_
6	strength	strength	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
7	with	with	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	donkey	donkey	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	's	's	PART	POS	_	9	case	_	_
11	sure	sure	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	feet	foot	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mix** | present | They | a horse's strength |  |  |  | with a donkey's sure feet | vn mix-22.1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.co-patient»: agent=Agent strength=Patient with foot=Co-Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They never get tired at all

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:25-horses-zebras-and-donkeys:t7:o2:1
# text = They never get tired at all
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	3	advmod	_	_
3	get	get	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	tired	tired	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	xcomp	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **get** | present | They |  |  |  |  | tired *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They can climb using their hands

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:25-horses-zebras-and-donkeys:t7:o3:1
# text = They can climb using their hands
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	climb	climb	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	using	use	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	3	xcomp	_	_
5	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	hands	hand	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **climb** | can | They |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **use** | gerund | They *not said here* | their hands |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent hand=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They are lighter than goats

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:25-horses-zebras-and-donkeys:t7:o4:1
# text = They are lighter than goats
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	lighter	light	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	_
4	than	than	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	goats	goat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

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

<!-- 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: [Horses, zebras and donkeys, test 6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/25-horses-zebras-and-donkeys/t6/)
- next →: [Horses, zebras and donkeys, test 8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/25-horses-zebras-and-donkeys/t8/)
- ↑ back to [Horses, zebras and donkeys](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/25-horses-zebras-and-donkeys/)