---
title: Why does a snake's tongue look scary even though it can't hurt you? — Snakes and lizards · tree and pragmatics
description: Why does a snake's tongue look scary even though it can't hurt you? Test 5 · ★★★ 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 5 · ★★★ · Snakes and lizards

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why does a snake's tongue look scary even though it can't hurt you?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** tongue · **What happens:** look, not hurt · **To what, where:** you

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 5 · ★★★ 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/#t5).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:30-snakes-and-lizards:t5:1
# text = Why does a snake's tongue look scary even though it can't hurt you?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	7	advmod	_	_
2	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	snake	snake	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	's	's	PART	POS	_	4	case	_	_
6	tongue	tongue	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	look	look	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
8	scary	scary	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	xcomp	_	_
9	even	even	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
10	though	though	SCONJ	IN	_	14	mark	_	_
11	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	_
12	ca	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	14	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	14	advmod	_	_
14	hurt	hurt	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	advcl	_	_
15	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs	14	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **look** | present · do-support | a snake's tongue |  |  |  |  | scary *property* | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V ADJ»: agent=Stimulus |
| 2 | **not** **hurt** | can | tongue | you |  |  |  |  | vn hurt-40.8.3-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer you=Patient |

<!-- .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 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It can grab your finger

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:30-snakes-and-lizards:t5:o1:1
# text = It can grab your finger
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	grab	grab	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	finger	finger	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **grab** | can | It | your finger |  |  |  |  | vn steal-10.5-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent finger=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It burns your skin like a nettle sting

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:30-snakes-and-lizards:t5:o2:1
# text = It burns your skin like a nettle sting
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	burns	burn	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	4	nmod:poss	_	_
4	skin	skin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	like	like	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	nettle	nettle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	sting	sting	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **burn** | present | It | your skin |  |  |  | like a nettle sting | vn light\_emission-43.1 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent skin=Theme |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It isn't a sting; it is only for smelling

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:30-snakes-and-lizards:t5:o3:1
# text = It isn't a sting; it is only for smelling
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	sting	sting	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	11	punct	_	_
7	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
8	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	cop	_	_
9	only	only	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
10	for	for	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	smelling	smell	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	5	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **is a** | present | It | a sting |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** | present | sting |  |  |  |  | smell *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is full of venom

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:30-snakes-and-lizards:t5:o4:1
# text = It is full of venom
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	full	full	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	venom	venom	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | It |  |  |  |  | of venom; full *property* | tree rules |

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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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