---
title: In a film a talking willow tree says she is four hundred years old.… — Plants deeper: the oldest, tallest and… · tree and pragmatics
description: In a film a talking willow tree says she is four hundred years old. Can trees really be that old? Test 1 of lesson 253 «Plants deeper: the oldest, tallest and strangest trees» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; 
---

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# Test 1 · Plants deeper: the oldest, tallest and strangest trees

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
In a film a talking willow tree says she is four hundred years old. Can trees really be that old?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** willow tree, tree, trees · **What happens:** say, be · **To what, where:** film · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 1 of lesson 253 «Plants deeper: the oldest, tallest and strangest trees» 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/253-plants-deeper-the-oldest-tallest-and-strangest-trees/#t1).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* In a film a talking willow tree says she is four hundred years old.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:253-plants-deeper-the-oldest-tallest-and-strangest-trees:t1:1
# text = In a film a talking willow tree says she is four hundred years old.
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	film	film	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
5	talking	talking	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	willow	willow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	tree	tree	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
8	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	_
10	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	cop	_	_
11	four	four	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	12	compound	_	_
12	hundred	hundred	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	13	nummod	_	_
13	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	obl:unmarked	_	_
14	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | a willow tree |  |  | a film |  |  | vn pronounce-29.3.1 «NP V NP PP.manner»: agent=Agent in film=Manner |
| 2 | **is** | present | tree |  |  |  | year | old *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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* Can trees really be that old?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:253-plants-deeper-the-oldest-tallest-and-strangest-trees:t1:2
# text = Can trees really be that old?
1	Can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
2	trees	tree	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
3	really	really	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
4	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	cop	_	_
5	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	6	advmod	_	_
6	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, and some, like bristlecone pines, are nearly 5,000 years old

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:253-plants-deeper-the-oldest-tallest-and-strangest-trees:t1:o1:1
# text = Yes, and some, like bristlecone pines, are nearly 5,000 years old
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	14	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
4	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	14	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
6	like	like	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	bristlecone	bristlecone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	pines	pine	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
10	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	cop	_	_
11	nearly	nearly	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
12	5,000	5000	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	13	nummod	_	_
13	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	obl:unmarked	_	_
14	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No, no tree anywhere on Earth lives for more than about 100 years at most

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:253-plants-deeper-the-oldest-tallest-and-strangest-trees:t1:o2:1
# text = No, no tree anywhere on Earth lives for more than about 100 years at most
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
3	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	4	det	_	_
4	tree	tree	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
5	anywhere	anywhere	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	4	advmod	_	_
6	on	on	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	Earth	Earth	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
8	lives	live	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	for	for	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
10	more	more	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp|ExtPos=ADV	13	advmod	_	_
11	than	than	ADP	IN	_	10	fixed	_	_
12	about	about	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
13	100	100	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	14	nummod	_	_
14	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	_
15	at	at	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	most	most	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **live** | present | no tree on Earth |  |  | most | year |  | vn lodge-46 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme at most=Location |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, but only willows

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:253-plants-deeper-the-oldest-tallest-and-strangest-trees:t1:o3:1
# text = Yes, but only willows
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	5	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
4	only	only	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	willows	willow	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No, trees die after 40 years

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:253-plants-deeper-the-oldest-tallest-and-strangest-trees:t1:o4:1
# text = No, trees die after 40 years
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
3	trees	tree	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	die	die	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	after	after	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	40	40	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	7	nummod	_	_
7	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **die** | present | trees |  |  |  | year |  | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |

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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: [Plants deeper: do trees talk? Fungi, w…, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/252-plants-deeper-do-trees-talk-fungi-warning-smells-and-giant-clones/e4/)
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- ↑ back to [Plants deeper: the oldest, tallest and strangest trees](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/253-plants-deeper-the-oldest-tallest-and-strangest-trees/)