---
title: Why might two groups of porcupines far apart both have quills, if th… — Rodents of every kind: squirrels, marm… · tree and pragmatics
description: Why might two groups of porcupines far apart both have quills, if they are only distant relatives? Test 11 of lesson 317 «Rodents of every kind: squirrels, marmots, prairie dogs, porcupines, chinchillas and dormice» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmat
---

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# Test 11 · Rodents of every kind: squirrels, marmots, prairie dogs, p…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why might two groups of porcupines far apart both have quills, if they are only distant relatives?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** two groups, groups · **What happens:** have, be · **To what, where:** quills, distant relatives

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 11 of lesson 317 «Rodents of every kind: squirrels, marmots, prairie dogs, porcupines, chinchillas and dormice» 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/317-rodents-of-every-kind-squirrels-marmots-prairie-dogs-porcupines-chinchillas-and-dormice/#t11).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:317-rodents-of-every-kind-squirrels-marmots-prairie-dogs-porcupines-chinchillas-and-dormice:t11:1
# text = Why might two groups of porcupines far apart both have quills, if they are only distant relatives?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	10	advmod	_	_
2	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	4	nummod	_	_
4	groups	group	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nsubj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	porcupines	porcupine	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nmod	_	_
7	far	far	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	8	advmod	_	_
8	apart	apart	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
9	both	both	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	10	nsubj	_	_
10	have	have	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
11	quills	quill	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
13	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	18	mark	_	_
14	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	nsubj	_	_
15	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	18	cop	_	_
16	only	only	ADV	RB	_	18	advmod	_	_
17	distant	distant	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	amod	_	_
18	relatives	relative	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	10	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | two groups of porcupines | quills |  |  |  | apart *property* | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent quill=Patient |
| 2 | **is a** *a condition, not said to happen* | present | groups *= group* | distant relatives |  |  |  |  | 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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Quills helped both stay safe, so both grew them separately, many scientists think

<!-- fold The tree, 13 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:317-rodents-of-every-kind-squirrels-marmots-prairie-dogs-porcupines-chinchillas-and-dormice:t11:o1:1
# text = Quills helped both stay safe, so both grew them separately, many scientists think
1	Quills	quill	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	helped	help	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	both	both	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	4	nsubj	_	_
4	stay	stay	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
5	safe	safe	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
7	so	so	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
8	both	both	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	9	nsubj	_	_
9	grew	grow	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
10	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	obj	_	_
11	separately	separately	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
13	many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	scientists	scientist	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	15	nsubj	_	_
15	think	think	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **help** | past | Quills |  |  |  |  |  | vn help-72.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 2 | **stay** | infinitive | both |  |  |  |  | safe *property* | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **grow** | past | both | Quills *= quill* |  |  |  | separately *property* | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location they=Theme |
| 4 | **think** *speech: other* | present | many scientists |  |  |  |  |  | vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
One group swam across the wide sea every year to visit the other and share quills

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:317-rodents-of-every-kind-squirrels-marmots-prairie-dogs-porcupines-chinchillas-and-dormice:t11:o2:1
# text = One group swam across the wide sea every year to visit the other and share quills
1	One	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	2	nummod	_	_
2	group	group	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	swam	swim	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	across	across	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	wide	wide	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	sea	sea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
8	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	9	det	_	_
9	year	year	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl:unmarked	_	_
10	to	to	PART	TO	_	11	mark	_	_
11	visit	visit	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	advcl	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	obj	_	_
14	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
15	share	share	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
16	quills	quill	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	15	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **swim** | past | One group |  |  | the wide sea | year |  | vn run-51.3.2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme across sea=Trajectory |
| 2 | **visit** | to-infinitive | One group *not said here* | the other |  |  |  |  | vn meet-36.3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent other=Co-Agent |
| 3 | **share** | present | One group *not said here* | quills |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They swapped quills long ago

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:317-rodents-of-every-kind-squirrels-marmots-prairie-dogs-porcupines-chinchillas-and-dormice:t11:o3:1
# text = They swapped quills long ago
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	swapped	swap	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	quills	quill	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
4	long	long	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	2	advmod	_	_
5	ago	ago	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **swap** | past | They | quills |  |  |  | ago, long *property* | vn exchange-13.6.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent quill=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Quills are glued on by people

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:317-rodents-of-every-kind-squirrels-marmots-prairie-dogs-porcupines-chinchillas-and-dormice:t11:o4:1
# text = Quills are glued on by people
1	Quills	quill	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	glued	glue	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	on	on	ADP	RP	_	3	compound:prt	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **glue on** | present · passive | people | Quills |  |  |  |  | vn tape-22.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Patient |

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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.

<!-- /div -->

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