---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the… — A kitten at home: litter trays, scratc… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the difficulty of a cat in descending a tree? Exam question 3 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 quest
---

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# Exam question 3 · A kitten at home: litter trays, scratching posts and play

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the difficulty of a cat in descending a tree?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** difficulty · **What happens:** follow, characteris, descend · **To what, where:** difficulty, tree

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 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/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:327-a-kitten-at-home-litter-trays-scratching-posts-and-play:e3:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the difficulty of a cat in descending a tree?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	nsubj	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	following	follow	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	amod	_	_
5	statements	statement	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	_
6	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	7	advmod	_	_
7	accurately	accurately	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	characterises	characteris	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	difficulty	difficulty	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	cat	cat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	_
14	in	in	SCONJ	IN	_	15	mark	_	_
15	descending	descend	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	10	acl	_	_
16	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	tree	tree	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **follow** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **characteris** | present |  | the difficulty of a cat |  |  |  | of the following statements; accurately *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **descend** | gerund | the difficulty of a cat *not said here* | a tree |  |  |  |  | vn meander-47.7-1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location tree=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.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is unable to see the ground from a height

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:327-a-kitten-at-home-litter-trays-scratching-posts-and-play:e3:o1:1
# text = It is unable to see the ground from a height
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	cop	_	_
3	unable	unable	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	ground	ground	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	from	from	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	height	height	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | It |  |  |  |  | unable *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **see** | to-infinitive |  | the ground |  | a height |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer ground=Stimulus |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Its claws curve backwards and grip effectively only during ascent

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:327-a-kitten-at-home-litter-trays-scratching-posts-and-play:e3:o2:1
# text = Its claws curve backwards and grip effectively only during ascent
1	Its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	claws	claw	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	curve	curve	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	backwards	backwards	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	grip	grip	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
7	effectively	effectively	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
8	only	only	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
9	during	during	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	ascent	ascent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **curve** | present | Its claws |  |  |  |  | backwards *property* | vn knead-26.5 «NP.material V PP.product»: agent=Material |
| 2 | **grip** | present | Its claws *not said here* |  |  |  | during ascent | effectively *property* | vn touch-20-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Its claws are retracted entirely during descent, so that it cannot grip the bark

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:327-a-kitten-at-home-litter-trays-scratching-posts-and-play:e3:o3:1
# text = Its claws are retracted entirely during descent, so that it cannot grip the bark
1	Its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	claws	claw	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	retracted	retract	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	entirely	entirely	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
6	during	during	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	descent	descent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
9	so	so	SCONJ	IN	ExtPos=SCONJ	14	mark	_	_
10	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	9	fixed	_	_
11	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	_
12	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	14	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	14	advmod	_	_
14	grip	grip	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	conj	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	bark	bark	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **retract** | present · passive |  | Its claws |  |  | during descent | entirely *property* | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 2 | **not** **grip** | can | descent | the bark |  |  |  |  | vn touch-20-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent bark=Experiencer |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is afraid of the bark of the tree

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:327-a-kitten-at-home-litter-trays-scratching-posts-and-play:e3:o4:1
# text = It is afraid of the bark of the tree
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	cop	_	_
3	afraid	afraid	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	bark	bark	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	tree	tree	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | It |  |  |  |  | of the bark of the tree; afraid *property* | tree rules |

<!-- 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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