---
title: Why might a nerve cell need to be so long? — The microscopic world: cells, the buil… · tree and pragmatics
description: Why might a nerve cell need to be so long? Test 11 of lesson 256 «The microscopic world: cells, the building blocks of life» 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 · The microscopic world: cells, the building blocks of life

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why might a nerve cell need to be so long?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** nerve cell · **What happens:** need, be

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 11 of lesson 256 «The microscopic world: cells, the building blocks of life» 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/256-the-microscopic-world-cells-the-building-blocks-of-life/#t11).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:256-the-microscopic-world-cells-the-building-blocks-of-life:t11:1
# text = Why might a nerve cell need to be so long?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	6	advmod	_	_
2	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	nerve	nerve	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	cell	cell	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	need	need	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
8	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	cop	_	_
9	so	so	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
10	long	long	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	6	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **need** | might | a nerve cell |  |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot |
| 2 | **is** | to-infinitive | a nerve cell *not said here* |  |  |  |  | long *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 -->
Because long cells store more food

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:256-the-microscopic-world-cells-the-building-blocks-of-life:t11:o1:1
# text = Because long cells store more food
1	Because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	4	mark	_	_
2	long	long	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	cells	cell	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	store	store	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	more	more	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	6	amod	_	_
6	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
```

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

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To carry messages fast all the way from one place to another

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:256-the-microscopic-world-cells-the-building-blocks-of-life:t11:o2:1
# text = To carry messages fast all the way from one place to another
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	carry	carry	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	messages	message	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
4	fast	fast	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	2	advmod	_	_
5	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	7	det:predet	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl:unmarked	_	_
8	from	from	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	10	nummod	_	_
10	place	place	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
11	to	to	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	another	another	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **carry** | to-infinitive |  | messages |  | one place |  | to another; all way *obl:unmarked*; fast *property* | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP PP.initial\_location PP.destination»: agent=Agent message=Theme from place=Initial\_Location to another=Destination |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Because it is the oldest cell

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:256-the-microscopic-world-cells-the-building-blocks-of-life:t11:o3:1
# text = Because it is the oldest cell
1	Because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
2	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	oldest	old	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	6	amod	_	_
6	cell	cell	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | it | the oldest cell |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To hold up the leg like a strong bone, from the hip down to the toe

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:256-the-microscopic-world-cells-the-building-blocks-of-life:t11:o4:1
# text = To hold up the leg like a strong bone, from the hip down to the toe
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	hold	hold	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	up	up	ADP	RP	_	2	compound:prt	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	leg	leg	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	like	like	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	strong	strong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	bone	bone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
11	from	from	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	hip	hip	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
14	down	down	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
15	to	to	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	toe	toe	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hold up** | to-infinitive |  | the leg |  | the hip |  | like a strong bone; to the toe | vn support-15.3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot leg=Theme |

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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.

<!-- /div -->

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