---
title: A pit viper and a lizard are in a dark cage with a warm mouse. Which… — Snakes and lizards · tree and pragmatics
description: A pit viper and a lizard are in a dark cage with a warm mouse. Which finds it first and why? Test 9 · ★★★ 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 9 · ★★★ · Snakes and lizards

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A pit viper and a lizard are in a dark cage with a warm mouse. Which finds it first and why?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** pit viper · **What happens:** be, find · **To what, where:** dark cage, mouse

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 9 · ★★★ 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/#t9).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* A pit viper and a lizard are in a dark cage with a warm mouse.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:30-snakes-and-lizards:t9:1
# text = A pit viper and a lizard are in a dark cage with a warm mouse.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	pit	pit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	viper	viper	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	lizard	lizard	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	conj	_	_
7	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	cop	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	dark	dark	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	cage	cage	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
12	with	with	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
13	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
14	warm	warm	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	15	amod	_	_
15	mouse	mouse	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	11	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | a pit viper and a lizard |  |  | a dark cage |  | with a warm mouse | 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 finds it first and why?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:30-snakes-and-lizards:t9:2
# text = Which finds it first and why?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	2	nsubj	_	_
2	finds	find	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obj	_	_
4	first	first	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	2	advmod	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	2	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **find** | present |  | mouse |  |  |  | first *property* | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Topic |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The lizard, because it can see perfectly well in the dark

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:30-snakes-and-lizards:t9:o1:1
# text = The lizard, because it can see perfectly well in the dark
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	lizard	lizard	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
4	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
6	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
7	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	acl:relcl	_	_
8	perfectly	perfectly	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
9	well	well	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	8	fixed	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	dark	dark	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **see** | can | lizard | the lizard *not said here* |  | the dark |  | perfectly *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer lizard=Stimulus |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Both at once, by hearing

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:30-snakes-and-lizards:t9:o2:1
# text = Both at once, by hearing
1	Both	both	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	0	root	_	_
2	at	at	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
3	once	once	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	1	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	hearing	hearing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Neither, mice give off no heat

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:30-snakes-and-lizards:t9:o3:1
# text = Neither, mice give off no heat
1	Neither	neither	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	mice	mouse	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	give	give	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	off	off	ADP	RP	_	4	compound:prt	_	_
6	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	7	det	_	_
7	heat	heat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give off** | present | mice | no heat |  |  |  | neither *property* | vn substance\_emission-43.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Source heat=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The pit viper, because its pits sense heat

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:30-snakes-and-lizards:t9:o4:1
# text = The pit viper, because its pits sense heat
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	pit	pit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	viper	viper	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
5	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
6	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	pits	pit	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
8	sense	sense	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	acl:relcl	_	_
9	heat	heat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sense** | present | viper's pits | heat |  |  |  |  | vn see-30.1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Experiencer heat=Stimulus |

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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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