---
title: my mate says the shell rings tell u the age like a tree, his tortois… — Turtles and tortoises · tree and pragmatics
description: my mate says the shell rings tell u the age like a tree, his tortoise is 30 cos it has 30 rings. right? Test 2 of lesson 31 «Turtles and tortoises» 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 2 · Turtles and tortoises

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
my mate says the shell rings tell u the age like a tree, his tortoise is 30 cos it has 30 rings. right?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** mate, shell rings, tortoise · **What happens:** say, tell, be, have · **To what, where:** 30, 30 rings · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 2 of lesson 31 «Turtles and tortoises» 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/31-turtles-and-tortoises/#t2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:31-turtles-and-tortoises:t2:1
# text = my mate says the shell rings tell u the age like a tree, his tortoise is 30 cos it has 30 rings. right?
1	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	mate	mate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	shell	shell	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	rings	ring	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
7	tell	tell	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	ccomp	_	_
8	u	u	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	age	age	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
11	like	like	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	tree	tree	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
15	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	16	nmod:poss	_	_
16	tortoise	tortoise	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	nsubj	_	_
17	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	18	cop	_	_
18	30	30	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	7	ccomp	_	_
19	cos	cos	SCONJ	IN	_	21	mark	_	_
20	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	21	nsubj	_	_
21	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	18	advcl	_	_
22	30	30	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	23	nummod	_	_
23	rings	ring	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	21	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
25	right	right	INTJ	UH	_	3	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | my mate |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **tell** *speech: assert* | present | the shell rings |  |  |  | u the age | like a tree | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **is a** | present | mate's tortoise | 30 |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **have** | present | tortoise | 30 rings |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent ring=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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, but you must add ten

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:31-turtles-and-tortoises:t2:o1:1
# text = Yes, but you must add ten
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	6	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
3	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
4	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
5	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
6	add	add	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
7	ten	ten	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	6	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **add** *speech: assert* | must | you | ten |  |  |  |  | vn mix-22.1-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent ten=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, one ring is exactly one year

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:31-turtles-and-tortoises:t2:o2:1
# text = Yes, one ring is exactly one year
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	8	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	4	nummod	_	_
4	ring	ring	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
5	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
6	exactly	exactly	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	8	nummod	_	_
8	year	year	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No, you must count the spots on its legs, one spot for each year of life

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:31-turtles-and-tortoises:t2:o3:1
# text = No, you must count the spots on its legs, one spot for each year of life
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	5	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
4	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
5	count	count	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	spots	spot	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
8	on	on	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
10	legs	leg	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
12	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	13	nummod	_	_
13	spot	spot	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
14	for	for	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	16	det	_	_
16	year	year	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nmod	_	_
17	of	of	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
18	life	life	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **count** | must | you | the spots |  | its legs |  | one spot for each year of life *obl* | vn multiply-108 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent spot=Theme |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No, rings can grow several a year or none, so it is only a rough guess

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:31-turtles-and-tortoises:t2:o4:1
# text = No, rings can grow several a year or none, so it is only a rough guess
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	5	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	rings	ring	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
4	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
5	grow	grow	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	several	several	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	year	year	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl:unmarked	_	_
9	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
10	none	none	PRON	NN	PronType=Neg	8	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
12	so	so	ADV	RB	_	18	advmod	_	_
13	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	nsubj	_	_
14	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	18	cop	_	_
15	only	only	ADV	RB	_	18	advmod	_	_
16	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
17	rough	rough	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	amod	_	_
18	guess	guess	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **grow** | can | rings |  |  |  | year |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **is a** | present | it | a rough guess |  |  |  |  | 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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