---
title: In a cowboy film a rattlesnake buzzes before it strikes. What is the… — Snakes to keep away from: cobras, mamb… · tree and pragmatics
description: In a cowboy film a rattlesnake buzzes before it strikes. What is the buzz really for? Test 2 · ★ 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 optio
---

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# Test 2 · ★ · Snakes to keep away from: cobras, mambas, vipers and rattl…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
In a cowboy film a rattlesnake buzzes before it strikes. What is the buzz really for?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** rattlesnake, buzz · **What happens:** buzz, strike, be · **To what, where:** cowboy film

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 2 · ★ 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/#t2).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* In a cowboy film a rattlesnake buzzes before it strikes.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:322-snakes-to-keep-away-from-cobras-mambas-vipers-and-rattlesnakes:t2:1
# text = In a cowboy film a rattlesnake buzzes before it strikes.
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	cowboy	cowboy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
4	film	film	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	rattlesnake	rattlesnake	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	buzzes	buzz	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	before	before	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
9	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
10	strikes	strike	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **buzz** | present | a rattlesnake |  |  | a cowboy film |  |  | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in film=Location |
| 2 | **strike** | present | rattlesnake |  |  |  |  |  | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «NP V»: agent=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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* What is the buzz really for?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:322-snakes-to-keep-away-from-cobras-mambas-vipers-and-rattlesnakes:t2:2
# text = What is the buzz really for?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	buzz	buzz	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	_
5	really	really	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	for	for	ADP	IN	_	4	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Telling the time

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:322-snakes-to-keep-away-from-cobras-mambas-vipers-and-rattlesnakes:t2:o1:1
# text = Telling the time
1	Telling	tell	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tell** *speech: assert* | gerund |  |  |  |  | time |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Scaring mice out of holes

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:322-snakes-to-keep-away-from-cobras-mambas-vipers-and-rattlesnakes:t2:o2:1
# text = Scaring mice out of holes
1	Scaring	scare	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	mice	mouse	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	obj	_	_
3	out	out	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	holes	hole	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **scare** | gerund |  | mice |  | holes |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus mouse=Experiencer |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Calling other snakes to help

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:322-snakes-to-keep-away-from-cobras-mambas-vipers-and-rattlesnakes:t2:o3:1
# text = Calling other snakes to help
1	Calling	call	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	snakes	snake	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	obj	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	help	help	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	1	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **call** | gerund |  |  | other snakes |  |  |  | vn initiate\_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent snake=Recipient |
| 2 | **help** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn help-72.1-1-1 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Warning big animals not to step on it

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:322-snakes-to-keep-away-from-cobras-mambas-vipers-and-rattlesnakes:t2:o4:1
# text = Warning big animals not to step on it
1	Warning	warn	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	6	csubj	_	_
2	big	big	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	animals	animal	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	obj	_	_
4	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	6	advmod	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	step	step	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
7	on	on	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **warn** *speech: warn* | gerund |  |  | big animals |  |  |  | vn advise-37.9-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent animal=Recipient |
| 2 | **not** **step** | to-infinitive | Warning |  |  | it |  |  | vn run-51.3.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme on it=Trajectory |

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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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- ↑ back to [Snakes to keep away from: cobras, mambas, vipers and rattlesnakes](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/322-snakes-to-keep-away-from-cobras-mambas-vipers-and-rattlesnakes/)