---
title: A gecko's hair-like toes stick by very weak forces. How can such wea… — Snakes and lizards · tree and pragmatics
description: A gecko's hair-like toes stick by very weak forces. How can such weak forces hold it on a ceiling? Test 11 · ★★★ of lesson 30 «Snakes and lizards» 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 wrong.
---

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# Test 11 · ★★★ · Snakes and lizards

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A gecko's hair-like toes stick by very weak forces. How can such weak forces hold it on a ceiling?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** like toes, weak forces · **What happens:** stick, such, hold · **To what, where:** gecko, ceiling

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This is test 11 · ★★★ of lesson 30 «Snakes and lizards» 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/30-snakes-and-lizards/#t11).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* A gecko's hair-like toes stick by very weak forces.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:30-snakes-and-lizards:t11:1
# text = A gecko's hair-like toes stick by very weak forces.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	gecko	gecko	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	's	's	PART	POS	_	2	case	_	_
4	hair	hair	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	like	like	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	toes	toe	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
8	stick	stick	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	by	by	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
10	very	very	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
11	weak	weak	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	forces	force	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stick** | present | a gecko's like toes |  |  |  |  | by weak forces | vn spray-9.7-1 «NP V PP.destination»: agent=Theme by force=Destination |

<!-- .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:* How can such weak forces hold it on a ceiling?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:30-snakes-and-lizards:t11:2
# text = How can such weak forces hold it on a ceiling?
1	How	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	3	advmod	_	_
2	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	such	such	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	weak	weak	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	forces	force	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
6	hold	hold	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	ccomp	_	_
7	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	obj	_	_
8	on	on	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	ceiling	ceiling	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **such** | can |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **hold** | present | weak forces | gecko |  | a ceiling |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent it=Theme on ceiling=Location |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The ceiling pulls it up

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:30-snakes-and-lizards:t11:o1:1
# text = The ceiling pulls it up
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	ceiling	ceiling	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	pulls	pull	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	obj	_	_
5	up	up	ADP	RP	_	3	compound:prt	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pull up** | present | the ceiling | it |  |  |  |  | vn push-12-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Each single hair is very strong on its own, like a hook

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:30-snakes-and-lizards:t11:o2:1
# text = Each single hair is very strong on its own, like a hook
1	Each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	3	det	_	_
2	single	single	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	hair	hair	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
5	very	very	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	strong	strong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
7	on	on	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
9	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
11	like	like	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	hook	hook	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | each single hair |  |  | hair's own |  | strong *property* | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The gecko is lighter than air

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:30-snakes-and-lizards:t11:o3:1
# text = The gecko is lighter than air
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	gecko	gecko	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	lighter	light	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	_
5	than	than	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	air	air	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the gecko |  |  |  |  | than air; light *property* | tree rules |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Millions of tiny hairs add up to a strong grip

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:30-snakes-and-lizards:t11:o4:1
# text = Millions of tiny hairs add up to a strong grip
1	Millions	million	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	tiny	tiny	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	hairs	hair	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	nmod	_	_
5	add	add	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	up	up	ADP	RP	_	5	compound:prt	_	_
7	to	to	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	strong	strong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	grip	grip	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **add up** *speech: assert* | present | Millions of tiny hairs |  |  |  |  | to a strong grip | vn mix-22.1-2 «NP V ADVP-Middle PP»: agent=Patient to grip=Co-Patient |

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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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- ← previous: [Snakes and lizards, test 10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/30-snakes-and-lizards/t10/)
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