---
title: A lizard dropped its tail to escape a cat. What is different about t… — Snakes and lizards · tree and pragmatics
description: A lizard dropped its tail to escape a cat. What is different about the tail that grows back? Test 7 · ★★★ 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 right.
---

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# Test 7 · ★★★ · Snakes and lizards

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A lizard dropped its tail to escape a cat. What is different about the tail that grows back?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** lizard, tail · **What happens:** drop, escape, be, grow back · **To what, where:** tail, cat

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 7 · ★★★ 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/#t7).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* A lizard dropped its tail to escape a cat.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:30-snakes-and-lizards:t7:1
# text = A lizard dropped its tail to escape a cat.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	lizard	lizard	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	dropped	drop	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	tail	tail	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	escape	escape	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	advcl	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	cat	cat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **drop** | past | a lizard | lizard's tail |  |  |  |  | vn put\_direction-9.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent tail=Theme |
| 2 | **escape** | to-infinitive | a lizard *not said here* | a cat |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme cat=Initial\_Location |

<!-- .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:* What is different about the tail that grows back?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:30-snakes-and-lizards:t7:2
# text = What is different about the tail that grows back?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	different	different	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	about	about	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	tail	tail	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
7	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	nsubj	_	_
8	grows	grow	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	acl:relcl	_	_
9	back	back	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | about the tail; different *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **grow back** | present | the tail |  |  |  |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It has cartilage inside instead of bone

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:30-snakes-and-lizards:t7:o1:1
# text = It has cartilage inside instead of bone
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	cartilage	cartilage	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
4	inside	inside	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
5	instead	instead	ADV	RB	ExtPos=ADP	7	case	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	fixed	_	_
7	bone	bone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | It | cartilage |  |  |  | instead bone; inside *property* | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent cartilage=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It grows back exactly the same, with bone

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:30-snakes-and-lizards:t7:o2:1
# text = It grows back exactly the same, with bone
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	grows	grow	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	back	back	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
4	exactly	exactly	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	same	same	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
8	with	with	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	bone	bone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	parataxis	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **grow back** | present | It |  |  |  |  | same *property* | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It never grows back, so the lizard has no tail for life

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:30-snakes-and-lizards:t7:o3:1
# text = It never grows back, so the lizard has no tail for life
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	3	advmod	_	_
3	grows	grow	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	back	back	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
6	so	so	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	lizard	lizard	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
9	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
10	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	11	det	_	_
11	tail	tail	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
12	for	for	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	life	life	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **grow back** | present | It |  |  |  |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **have** | present | the lizard | no tail |  |  |  | for life | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent tail=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It grows back as two tails

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:30-snakes-and-lizards:t7:o4:1
# text = It grows back as two tails
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	grows	grow	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	back	back	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
4	as	as	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	6	nummod	_	_
6	tails	tail	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **grow back** | present | It |  |  |  |  | as two tails | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=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.

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