---
title: «why do mice have SO many babies, mad» What is the best answer? — Rodents: the biggest group of mammals… · tree and pragmatics
description: «why do mice have SO many babies, mad» What is the best answer? Test 7 · ★ of lesson 316 «Rodents: the biggest group of mammals and their ever-growing teeth» 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 
---

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# Test 7 · ★ · Rodents: the biggest group of mammals and their ever-growi…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«why do mice have SO many babies, mad» What is the best answer?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** mice, many babies · **What happens:** have, be · **To what, where:** many babies, best answer · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 7 · ★ of lesson 316 «Rodents: the biggest group of mammals and their ever-growing teeth» 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/316-rodents-the-biggest-group-of-mammals-and-their-ever-growing-teeth/#t7).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:316-rodents-the-biggest-group-of-mammals-and-their-ever-growing-teeth:t7:1
# text = «why do mice have SO many babies, mad» What is the best answer?
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	5	advmod	_	_
3	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	mice	mouse	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
5	have	have	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	SO	so	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	babies	baby	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
10	mad	mad	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	10	punct	_	_
12	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	16	nsubj	_	_
13	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	16	cop	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
15	best	good	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	16	amod	_	_
16	answer	answer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** *in a quote* | present · do-support | mice | many babies and the best answer |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent baby=Patient |
| 2 | **be** *speech: assert* | present | many babies and the best answer | the best answer |  |  |  |  | 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.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Mice live for a hundred years

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:316-rodents-the-biggest-group-of-mammals-and-their-ever-growing-teeth:t7:o1:1
# text = Mice live for a hundred years
1	Mice	mouse	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	live	live	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	hundred	hundred	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	6	nummod	_	_
6	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **live** | present | Mice |  |  |  | year |  | vn exist-47.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Mice cannot count, so they never know how many babies they have already had

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:316-rodents-the-biggest-group-of-mammals-and-their-ever-growing-teeth:t7:o2:1
# text = Mice cannot count, so they never know how many babies they have already had
1	Mice	mouse	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
2	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	count	count	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
6	so	so	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
7	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
8	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	9	advmod	_	_
9	know	know	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	parataxis	_	_
10	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	11	advmod	_	_
11	many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	babies	baby	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obj	_	_
13	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	16	nsubj	_	_
14	have	have	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	16	aux	_	_
15	already	already	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	_
16	had	have	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	12	acl:relcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **count** | can | Mice |  |  |  |  |  | vn matter-91 «NP V»: agent=Stimulus |
| 2 | **not** **know** | present | Mice *= mouse* | many babies |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer baby=Stimulus |
| 3 | **have** | present · perfect | Mice *= mouse* | many babies *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent baby=Patient |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Many animals eat mice, so having lots of babies helps some survive

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:316-rodents-the-biggest-group-of-mammals-and-their-ever-growing-teeth:t7:o3:1
# text = Many animals eat mice, so having lots of babies helps some survive
1	Many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	animals	animal	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	eat	eat	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	mice	mouse	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
6	so	so	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
7	having	have	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	11	csubj	_	_
8	lots	lot	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obj	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	babies	baby	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nmod	_	_
11	helps	help	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
12	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	11	obj	_	_
13	survive	survive	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	11	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **eat** | present | Many animals | mice |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent mouse=Patient |
| 2 | **have** | gerund |  | lots of babies |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent lot=Patient |
| 3 | **help** | present | having | some |  |  |  |  | vn help-72.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent some=Beneficiary clause=Theme |
| 4 | **survive** | infinitive | some *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn exist-47.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Babies stay small for ever

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:316-rodents-the-biggest-group-of-mammals-and-their-ever-growing-teeth:t7:o4:1
# text = Babies stay small for ever
1	Babies	baby	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	stay	stay	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	small	small	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	xcomp	_	_
4	for	for	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	ever	ever	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stay** | present | Babies |  |  |  |  | small *property* | vn exist-47.1 «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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