---
title: Identify the reason for which kittens knead with their forepaws. — A kitten at home: litter trays, scratc… · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the reason for which kittens knead with their forepaws. Exam question 1 of lesson 327 «A kitten at home: litter trays, scratching posts and play» 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 wro
---

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# Exam question 1 · A kitten at home: litter trays, scratching posts and play

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the reason for which kittens knead with their forepaws.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, kittens · **What happens:** identify, knead · **To what, where:** reason

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 327 «A kitten at home: litter trays, scratching posts and play» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, asked in stiff, formal language. 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/327-a-kitten-at-home-litter-trays-scratching-posts-and-play/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:327-a-kitten-at-home-litter-trays-scratching-posts-and-play:e1:1
# text = Identify the reason for which kittens knead with their forepaws.
1	Identify	identify	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	for	for	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	7	obl	_	_
6	kittens	kitten	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
7	knead	knead	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	acl:relcl	_	_
8	with	with	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
10	forepaws	forepaw	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **identify** | imperative | you *not said here* | the reason |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent reason=Theme |
| 2 | **knead** | present | kittens |  |  |  |  | for the reason; with kittens's forepaws | vn touch-20 «NP V NP PP.instrument»: agent=Agent with forepaw=Instrument |

<!-- .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 -->
The behaviour is learnt from dogs

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:327-a-kitten-at-home-litter-trays-scratching-posts-and-play:e1:o1:1
# text = The behaviour is learnt from dogs
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	behaviour	behaviour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	learnt	learn	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	from	from	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	dogs	dog	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **learn** | present · passive |  | the behaviour |  |  |  | from dogs | vn learn-14-2-1 «NP V NP PP.source»: subject=Topic from dog=Source |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The behaviour is a signal of hunger for meat and is directed at the owner

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:327-a-kitten-at-home-litter-trays-scratching-posts-and-play:e1:o2:1
# text = The behaviour is a signal of hunger for meat and is directed at the owner
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	behaviour	behaviour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	signal	signal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	hunger	hunger	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
8	for	for	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	meat	meat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
11	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	aux:pass	_	_
12	directed	direct	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	conj	_	_
13	at	at	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	owner	owner	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl:agent	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | the behaviour | a signal |  |  |  | of hunger; for meat | tree rules |
| 2 | **direct** | present · passive | the owner |  |  |  |  |  | vn performance-26.7 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The behaviour originates in stimulating the flow of the mother's milk

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:327-a-kitten-at-home-litter-trays-scratching-posts-and-play:e1:o3:1
# text = The behaviour originates in stimulating the flow of the mother's milk
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	behaviour	behaviour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	originates	originate	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	in	in	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
5	stimulating	stimulate	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	3	advcl	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	flow	flow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	mother	mother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	's	's	PART	POS	_	10	case	_	_
12	milk	milk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **originate** | present | the behaviour |  |  |  |  |  | vn establish-55.5-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **stimulate** | gerund | the behaviour *not said here* | the flow of the mother's milk |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus flow=Experiencer |
| 3 | **flow** |  | the mother's milk |  |  |  |  |  | nom flow «event intransitive»: of=agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The behaviour serves to sharpen the teeth

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:327-a-kitten-at-home-litter-trays-scratching-posts-and-play:e1:o4:1
# text = The behaviour serves to sharpen the teeth
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	behaviour	behaviour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	serves	serve	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	sharpen	sharpen	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	teeth	tooth	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **serve** | present | the behaviour |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **sharpen** | to-infinitive | the behaviour *not said here* | the teeth |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent tooth=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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