---
title: What would happen if a sleeping sperm whale sank too deep to reach t… — Whales by kind, the toothed whales: sp… · tree and pragmatics
description: What would happen if a sleeping sperm whale sank too deep to reach the air? Test 6 · ★ of lesson 313 «Whales by kind, the toothed whales: sperm whale, orca, beluga and beaked whales» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each o
---

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# Test 6 · ★ · Whales by kind, the toothed whales: sperm whale, orca, bel…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What would happen if a sleeping sperm whale sank too deep to reach the air?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** sleeping sperm whale · **What happens:** happen, sleep, sink, reach · **To what, where:** air

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 6 · ★ of lesson 313 «Whales by kind, the toothed whales: sperm whale, orca, beluga and beaked whales» 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/313-whales-by-kind-the-toothed-whales-sperm-whale-orca-beluga-and-beaked-whales/#t6).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:313-whales-by-kind-the-toothed-whales-sperm-whale-orca-beluga-and-beaked-whales:t6:1
# text = What would happen if a sleeping sperm whale sank too deep to reach the air?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	happen	happen	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
6	sleeping	sleep	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	8	amod	_	_
7	sperm	sperm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	whale	whale	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
9	sank	sink	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
10	too	too	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
11	deep	deep	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	xcomp	_	_
12	to	to	PART	TO	_	13	mark	_	_
13	reach	reach	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	11	advcl	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	air	air	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **happen** | would |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **sleep** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn snooze-40.4-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **sink** *a condition, not said to happen* | past | a sleeping sperm whale |  |  |  |  | deep *property* | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |
| 4 | **reach** | to-infinitive | a sleeping sperm whale *not said here* | the air |  |  |  |  | vn body\_motion-49.2-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Agent air=Theme |

<!-- .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 -->
It would float up by itself, with no need for any air

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:313-whales-by-kind-the-toothed-whales-sperm-whale-orca-beluga-and-beaked-whales:t6:o1:1
# text = It would float up by itself, with no need for any air
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	float	float	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	up	up	ADP	RP	_	3	compound:prt	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	itself	itself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
8	with	with	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	10	det	_	_
10	need	need	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	parataxis	_	_
11	for	for	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	13	det	_	_
13	air	air	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **float up** | would | It |  |  |  |  | by itself *= it* | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme by itself=Trajectory |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It would breathe through its gills

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:313-whales-by-kind-the-toothed-whales-sperm-whale-orca-beluga-and-beaked-whales:t6:o2:1
# text = It would breathe through its gills
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	breathe	breathe	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	through	through	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	gills	gill	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **breathe** | would | It |  |  | its gills |  |  | vn breathe-40.1.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It would sleep on the seabed for a year

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:313-whales-by-kind-the-toothed-whales-sperm-whale-orca-beluga-and-beaked-whales:t6:o3:1
# text = It would sleep on the seabed for a year
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	sleep	sleep	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	on	on	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	seabed	seabed	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
7	for	for	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	year	year	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sleep** | would | It |  |  | the seabed | year |  | vn snooze-40.4-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It would have to wake and swim up to breathe

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:313-whales-by-kind-the-toothed-whales-sperm-whale-orca-beluga-and-beaked-whales:t6:o4:1
# text = It would have to wake and swim up to breathe
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	have	have	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	wake	wake	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	swim	swim	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	conj	_	_
8	up	up	ADP	RP	_	7	compound:prt	_	_
9	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
10	breathe	breathe	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | would | It |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **wake** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |
| 3 | **swim up** | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 4 | **breathe** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn breathe-40.1.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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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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