---
title: «my mate says roots just hold the plant up, the leaves drink the wat… — Plants deeper: roots and how they drin… · tree and pragmatics
description: «my mate says roots just hold the plant up, the leaves drink the water» What is right? Test 9 of lesson 250 «Plants deeper: roots and how they drink, hold and push» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choi
---

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# Test 9 · Plants deeper: roots and how they drink, hold and push

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«my mate says roots just hold the plant up, the leaves drink the water» What is right?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** mate, roots, leaves · **What happens:** say, hold up, drink, be · **To what, where:** plant, water · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 9 of lesson 250 «Plants deeper: roots and how they drink, hold and push» 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/250-plants-deeper-roots-and-how-they-drink-hold-and-push/#t9).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:250-plants-deeper-roots-and-how-they-drink-hold-and-push:t9:1
# text = «my mate says roots just hold the plant up, the leaves drink the water» What is right?
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	3	nmod:poss	_	_
3	mate	mate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	roots	root	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
6	just	just	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	hold	hold	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	ccomp	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	plant	plant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
10	up	up	ADP	RP	_	7	compound:prt	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	leaves	leaf	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	nsubj	_	_
14	drink	drink	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	14	punct	_	_
18	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	20	nsubj	_	_
19	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	20	cop	_	_
20	right	right	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* *in a quote* | present | my mate |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **hold up** *in a quote* | present | roots | the plant |  |  |  |  | vn support-15.3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot plant=Theme |
| 3 | **drink** *in a quote* | present | the leaves | the water |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent water=Patient |
| 4 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | right *property* | tree rules |

<!-- .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 -->
Plants do not need water

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:250-plants-deeper-roots-and-how-they-drink-hold-and-push:t9:o1:1
# text = Plants do not need water
1	Plants	plant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
2	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	need	need	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **need** | present · do-support | Plants | water |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot water=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Roots take in water and minerals as well as holding the plant

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:250-plants-deeper-roots-and-how-they-drink-hold-and-push:t9:o2:1
# text = Roots take in water and minerals as well as holding the plant
1	Roots	root	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	take	take	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	RP	_	2	compound:prt	_	_
4	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	minerals	mineral	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	conj	_	_
7	as	as	ADV	RB	ExtPos=ADV	2	advmod	_	_
8	well	well	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	7	fixed	_	_
9	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
10	holding	hold	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	advcl	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	plant	plant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **take in** | present | Roots | water and minerals |  |  |  |  | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent water=Theme |
| 2 | **hold** | gerund | Roots *not said here* | the plant |  |  |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent plant=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Roots only store food

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:250-plants-deeper-roots-and-how-they-drink-hold-and-push:t9:o3:1
# text = Roots only store food
1	Roots	root	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	only	only	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	store	store	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **store** | present | Roots | food |  |  |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent food=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, the leaves drink all of the water the plant needs from the rain

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:250-plants-deeper-roots-and-how-they-drink-hold-and-push:t9:o4:1
# text = Yes, the leaves drink all of the water the plant needs from the rain
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	5	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	leaves	leaf	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
5	drink	drink	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	advcl	_	_
6	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	5	obj	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	plant	plant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
12	needs	need	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
13	from	from	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	rain	rain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **drink** | present | the leaves | all |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent all=Patient |
| 2 | **need** | present | the plant |  |  | the rain |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot |

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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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