---
title: Pine trees keep their needles all winter while oak trees drop their… — The big biology quiz, part 2: plants,… · tree and pragmatics
description: Pine trees keep their needles all winter while oak trees drop their leaves. Why do oaks drop theirs? Test 9 · ★ of lesson 299 «The big biology quiz, part 2: plants, the body and microbes» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of e
---

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# Test 9 · ★ · The big biology quiz, part 2: plants, the body and microbes

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Pine trees keep their needles all winter while oak trees drop their leaves. Why do oaks drop theirs?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** Pine trees, oak trees, oaks · **What happens:** keep, drop · **To what, where:** needles, leaves

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 9 · ★ of lesson 299 «The big biology quiz, part 2: plants, the body and microbes» 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/299-the-big-biology-quiz-part-2-plants-the-body-and-microbes/#t9).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Pine trees keep their needles all winter while oak trees drop their leaves.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:299-the-big-biology-quiz-part-2-plants-the-body-and-microbes:t9:1
# text = Pine trees keep their needles all winter while oak trees drop their leaves.
1	Pine	pine	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	compound	_	_
2	trees	tree	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	keep	keep	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	needles	needle	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
6	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	7	det	_	_
7	winter	winter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl:unmarked	_	_
8	while	while	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
9	oak	oak	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	trees	tree	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	nsubj	_	_
11	drop	drop	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
12	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	13	nmod:poss	_	_
13	leaves	leaf	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **keep** | present | Pine trees | trees's needles |  |  | winter |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent needle=Theme |
| 2 | **drop** | present | oak trees | trees's leaves |  |  |  |  | vn put\_direction-9.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent leaf=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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* Why do oaks drop theirs?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:299-the-big-biology-quiz-part-2-plants-the-body-and-microbes:t9:2
# text = Why do oaks drop theirs?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	oaks	oak	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	drop	drop	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	theirs	their	PRON	PRP	Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **drop** | present · do-support | oaks | leaves *= leaf* |  |  |  |  | vn put\_direction-9.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent their=Theme |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To keep the birds warm

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:299-the-big-biology-quiz-part-2-plants-the-body-and-microbes:t9:o1:1
# text = To keep the birds warm
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	keep	keep	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	birds	bird	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	warm	warm	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **keep** | to-infinitive |  | the birds |  |  |  | warm *property* | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent bird=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Because the wind blows them off by accident every year in the autumn storms

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:299-the-big-biology-quiz-part-2-plants-the-body-and-microbes:t9:o2:1
# text = Because the wind blows them off by accident every year in the autumn storms
1	Because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	4	mark	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	wind	wind	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	blows	blow	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	obj	_	_
6	off	off	ADP	RP	_	4	compound:prt	_	_
7	by	by	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	accident	accident	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
9	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	10	det	_	_
10	year	year	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl:unmarked	_	_
11	in	in	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
13	autumn	autumn	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	compound	_	_
14	storms	storm	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **blow off** | present | the wind | them *= they* |  |  | year | by accident; in the autumn storms | vn crane-40.3.2 «NP V NP PP.recipient PP.theme»: agent=Agent they=Patient in storm=Topic |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Because the leaves get bored

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:299-the-big-biology-quiz-part-2-plants-the-body-and-microbes:t9:o3:1
# text = Because the leaves get bored
1	Because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	4	mark	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	leaves	leaf	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	get	get	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	bored	bored	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **get** | present | the leaves |  |  |  |  | bored *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To save water through the winter when the ground is frozen

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:299-the-big-biology-quiz-part-2-plants-the-body-and-microbes:t9:o4:1
# text = To save water through the winter when the ground is frozen
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	save	save	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
4	through	through	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	winter	winter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
7	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	11	advmod	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	ground	ground	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj:pass	_	_
10	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	aux:pass	_	_
11	frozen	freeze	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **save** | to-infinitive |  | water |  |  | winter |  | vn get-13.5.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent water=Theme |
| 2 | **freeze** | present · passive |  | the ground |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4-1 «NP V NP ADJ»: subject=Result |

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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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