---
title: What would happen if there were no decomposers like bacteria? — The microscopic world: bacteria, good… · tree and pragmatics
description: What would happen if there were no decomposers like bacteria? Test 5 of lesson 257 «The microscopic world: bacteria, good and bad» 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 5 · The microscopic world: bacteria, good and bad

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What would happen if there were no decomposers like bacteria?

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

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 5 of lesson 257 «The microscopic world: bacteria, good and bad» 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/257-the-microscopic-world-bacteria-good-and-bad/#t5).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:257-the-microscopic-world-bacteria-good-and-bad:t5:1
# text = What would happen if there were no decomposers like bacteria?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	happen	happen	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
5	there	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	6	expl	_	_
6	were	be	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
7	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	8	det	_	_
8	decomposers	decomposer	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
9	like	like	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	bacteria	bacterium	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **happen** | would |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **be** *a condition, not said to happen* | past | no decomposers like bacteria |  |  | there |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nothing would ever die

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:257-the-microscopic-world-bacteria-good-and-bad:t5:o1:1
# text = Nothing would ever die
1	Nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	4	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	ever	ever	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	4	advmod	_	_
4	die	die	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **die** | would | Nothing |  |  |  | ever |  | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Dead leaves and bodies would pile up and soil would lose its nutrients

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:257-the-microscopic-world-bacteria-good-and-bad:t5:o2:1
# text = Dead leaves and bodies would pile up and soil would lose its nutrients
1	Dead	dead	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	leaves	leaf	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
3	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	4	cc	_	_
4	bodies	body	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	conj	_	_
5	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
6	pile	pile	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
7	up	up	ADP	RP	_	6	compound:prt	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
9	soil	soil	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
10	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	11	aux	_	_
11	lose	lose	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	conj	_	_
12	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	13	nmod:poss	_	_
13	nutrients	nutrient	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pile up** | would | Dead leaves and bodies |  |  |  |  |  | vn spray-9.7-1-1 «NP V PP.destination»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **lose** | would | soil | soil's nutrients |  |  |  |  | vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent nutrient=Eventuality |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Plants would grow much faster, with no bacteria about to steal their food

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:257-the-microscopic-world-bacteria-good-and-bad:t5:o3:1
# text = Plants would grow much faster, with no bacteria about to steal their food
1	Plants	plant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	grow	grow	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	much	much	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	faster	fast	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	3	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
7	with	with	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	9	det	_	_
9	bacteria	bacteria	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
10	about	about	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
11	to	to	PART	TO	_	12	mark	_	_
12	steal	steal	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	acl	_	_
13	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	14	nmod:poss	_	_
14	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **grow** | would | Plants |  |  |  |  | with no bacteria; fast *property* | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **steal** | to-infinitive | Plants *not said here* | Plants's food |  |  |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location food=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The air would fill with oxygen

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:257-the-microscopic-world-bacteria-good-and-bad:t5:o4:1
# text = The air would fill with oxygen
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	air	air	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	fill	fill	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	with	with	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	oxygen	oxygen	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fill** | would | the air |  |  |  |  | with oxygen | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP V NP PP.instrument»: agent=Agent with oxygen=Instrument |

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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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