---
title: In a cartoon, a giraffe ties its long neck in a knot and then untang… — Evolution: why giraffes really have lo… · tree and pragmatics
description: In a cartoon, a giraffe ties its long neck in a knot and then untangles it. Why can't a real giraffe? Test 6 · ★★ of lesson 278 «Evolution: why giraffes really have long necks» 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 6 · ★★ · Evolution: why giraffes really have long necks

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
In a cartoon, a giraffe ties its long neck in a knot and then untangles it. Why can't a real giraffe?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** giraffe · **What happens:** tie, untangle · **To what, where:** long neck, cartoon, neck

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 6 · ★★ of lesson 278 «Evolution: why giraffes really have long necks» 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/278-evolution-why-giraffes-really-have-long-necks/#t6).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* In a cartoon, a giraffe ties its long neck in a knot and then untangles it.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:278-evolution-why-giraffes-really-have-long-necks:t6:1
# text = In a cartoon, a giraffe ties its long neck in a knot and then untangles it.
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	cartoon	cartoon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	giraffe	giraffe	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	ties	tie	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
9	long	long	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	neck	neck	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
11	in	in	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	knot	knot	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
14	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
15	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	16	advmod	_	_
16	untangles	untangle	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	conj	_	_
17	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	16	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tie** | present | a giraffe | giraffe's long neck |  | a cartoon |  | in a knot | vn mix-22.1-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent neck=Patient |
| 2 | **untangle** | present | a giraffe *not said here* | neck |  |  | then |  | 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:* Why can't a real giraffe?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:278-evolution-why-giraffes-really-have-long-necks:t6:2
# text = Why can't a real giraffe?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	0	root	_	_
2	ca	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	6	advmod	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	real	real	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	giraffe	giraffe	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Real giraffes have no bones in their necks, but their skin is far too thick

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:278-evolution-why-giraffes-really-have-long-necks:t6:o1:1
# text = Real giraffes have no bones in their necks, but their skin is far too thick
1	Real	real	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	giraffes	giraffe	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	have	have	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	5	det	_	_
5	bones	bone	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
8	necks	neck	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
10	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
11	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	12	nmod:poss	_	_
12	skin	skin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nsubj	_	_
13	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	16	cop	_	_
14	far	far	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	16	advmod	_	_
15	too	too	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	_
16	thick	thick	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | Real giraffes | no bones |  | giraffes's necks |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent bone=Patient |
| 2 | **is** | present | giraffes's skin |  |  |  |  | far, thick *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Real giraffes can tie two knots, not one

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:278-evolution-why-giraffes-really-have-long-necks:t6:o2:1
# text = Real giraffes can tie two knots, not one
1	Real	real	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	giraffes	giraffe	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	tie	tie	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	6	nummod	_	_
6	knots	knot	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
8	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	9	advmod	_	_
9	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tie** | can | Real giraffes | two knots |  |  |  | one *obl* | vn mix-22.1-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent knot=Patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Its neck is made of rubber

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:278-evolution-why-giraffes-really-have-long-necks:t6:o3:1
# text = Its neck is made of rubber
1	Its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	neck	neck	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	made	make	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	rubber	rubber	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | present · passive |  | Its neck |  |  |  | of rubber | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: subject=Product |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Its neck has only 7 long bones and bends like ours, not like rope

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:278-evolution-why-giraffes-really-have-long-necks:t6:o4:1
# text = Its neck has only 7 long bones and bends like ours, not like rope
1	Its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	neck	neck	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	only	only	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	7	7	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	7	nummod	_	_
6	long	long	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	bones	bone	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	bends	bend	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
10	like	like	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	ours	our	PRON	PRP	Number=Plur|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
13	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	15	advmod	_	_
14	like	like	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	rope	rope	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | Its neck | 7 long bones |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent bone=Patient |
| 2 | **bend** | present | Its neck *not said here* |  |  |  |  | like ours; like rope | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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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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