---
title: «why's the ground so bare under all them massive trees?» Which is th… — The rainforest from below: understorey… · tree and pragmatics
description: «why's the ground so bare under all them massive trees?» Which is the best answer? Test 10 · ★ of lesson 3 «The rainforest from below: understorey and forest floor» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choi
---

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# Test 10 · ★ · The rainforest from below: understorey and forest floor

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«why's the ground so bare under all them massive trees?» Which is the best answer?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** ground · **What happens:** be · **To what, where:** all, best answer

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 10 · ★ of lesson 3 «The rainforest from below: understorey and forest floor» 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/3-the-rainforest-from-below/#t10).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* «why's the ground so bare under all them massive trees?»

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:3-the-rainforest-from-below:t10:1
# text = «why's the ground so bare under all them massive trees?»
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	7	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	ground	ground	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
6	so	so	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	bare	bare	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
8	under	under	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	7	obl	_	_
10	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nmod	_	_
11	massive	massive	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	trees	tree	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** *in a quote* | present | the ground |  |  | all |  | bare *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:* Which is the best answer?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:3-the-rainforest-from-below:t10:2
# text = Which is the best answer?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	5	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	best	good	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	5	amod	_	_
5	answer	answer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Animals eat everything that grows there

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:3-the-rainforest-from-below:t10:o1:1
# text = Animals eat everything that grows there
1	Animals	animal	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	eat	eat	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	everything	everything	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Tot	2	obj	_	_
4	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	5	nsubj	_	_
5	grows	grow	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	acl:relcl	_	_
6	there	there	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	5	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **eat** | present | Animals | everything |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent everything=Patient |
| 2 | **grow** | present |  |  |  | there |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The canopy takes almost all the light, so little can grow below

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:3-the-rainforest-from-below:t10:o2:1
# text = The canopy takes almost all the light, so little can grow below
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	canopy	canopy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	takes	take	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	almost	almost	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	7	det:predet	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	light	light	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
9	so	so	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
10	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	advcl	_	_
11	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	12	aux	_	_
12	grow	grow	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	advcl	_	_
13	below	below	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **take** | present | the canopy | all light |  |  |  |  | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent light=Theme |
| 2 | **grow** | can | the canopy *not said here* |  |  |  |  | below *property* | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Trees poison the ground under them so that no other plant can ever grow there

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:3-the-rainforest-from-below:t10:o3:1
# text = Trees poison the ground under them so that no other plant can ever grow there
1	Trees	tree	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	poison	poison	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	ground	ground	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	under	under	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obl	_	_
7	so	so	SCONJ	IN	ExtPos=SCONJ	14	mark	_	_
8	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	7	fixed	_	_
9	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	11	det	_	_
10	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	plant	plant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nsubj	_	_
12	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	14	aux	_	_
13	ever	ever	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	14	advmod	_	_
14	grow	grow	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	advcl	_	_
15	there	there	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	14	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **poison** | present | Trees | the ground |  |  |  | under them *= they* | vn poison-42.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent ground=Patient |
| 2 | **grow** | can | no other plant |  |  | there | ever |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The floor is too wet to grow anything

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:3-the-rainforest-from-below:t10:o4:1
# text = The floor is too wet to grow anything
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	floor	floor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	too	too	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	wet	wet	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	grow	grow	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	advcl	_	_
8	anything	anything	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	7	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the floor |  |  |  |  | wet *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **grow** | to-infinitive | the floor *not said here* | anything |  |  |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location anything=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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