---
title: Why does a spitting cobra aim at the eyes and not the legs? — Snakes to keep away from: cobras, mamb… · tree and pragmatics
description: Why does a spitting cobra aim at the eyes and not the legs? Test 10 · ★ of lesson 322 «Snakes to keep away from: cobras, mambas, vipers and rattlesnakes» 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 wron
---

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# Test 10 · ★ · Snakes to keep away from: cobras, mambas, vipers and rattl…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why does a spitting cobra aim at the eyes and not the legs?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** do, spit · **To what, where:** spitting cobra aim, eyes

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 10 · ★ of lesson 322 «Snakes to keep away from: cobras, mambas, vipers and rattlesnakes» 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/322-snakes-to-keep-away-from-cobras-mambas-vipers-and-rattlesnakes/#t10).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:322-snakes-to-keep-away-from-cobras-mambas-vipers-and-rattlesnakes:t10:1
# text = Why does a spitting cobra aim at the eyes and not the legs?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	0	root	_	_
2	does	do	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	conj	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
4	spitting	spit	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	6	amod	_	_
5	cobra	cobra	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	aim	aim	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
7	at	at	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	eyes	eye	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nmod	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
11	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	13	advmod	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	legs	leg	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | present |  | a spitting cobra aim |  | the eyes and the legs |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent aim=Eventuality |
| 2 | **spit** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn breathe-40.1.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Venom in the eyes hurts and blinds an attacker quickly

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:322-snakes-to-keep-away-from-cobras-mambas-vipers-and-rattlesnakes:t10:o1:1
# text = Venom in the eyes hurts and blinds an attacker quickly
1	Venom	venom	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
2	in	in	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	eyes	eye	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	nmod	_	_
5	hurts	hurt	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	blinds	blind	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
8	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	attacker	attacker	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
10	quickly	quickly	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hurt** | present | Venom in the eyes |  |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer |
| 2 | **blind** | present | Venom in the eyes *not said here* | a attacker |  |  |  | quickly *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Legs are too far for it to see

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:322-snakes-to-keep-away-from-cobras-mambas-vipers-and-rattlesnakes:t10:o2:1
# text = Legs are too far for it to see
1	Legs	leg	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	too	too	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	far	far	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	obl	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Legs |  |  |  |  | for it; far *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **see** | to-infinitive | Legs *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is aiming at the ears really

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:322-snakes-to-keep-away-from-cobras-mambas-vipers-and-rattlesnakes:t10:o3:1
# text = It is aiming at the ears really
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	aiming	aim	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
4	at	at	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	ears	ear	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
7	really	really	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **aim** | present · progressive | It |  |  | the ears |  |  | vn wish-62 «NP V for NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It wants to clean the attacker's eyes

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:322-snakes-to-keep-away-from-cobras-mambas-vipers-and-rattlesnakes:t10:o4:1
# text = It wants to clean the attacker's eyes
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	wants	want	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	clean	clean	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	attacker	attacker	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	's	's	PART	POS	_	6	case	_	_
8	eyes	eye	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **want** | present | It |  |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 2 | **clean** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive |  | the attacker's eyes |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent eye=Patient |

<!-- div src -->

**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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