---
title: Why does damp air help a gecko shed its skin? — Tortoises, lizards and geckos as pets:… · tree and pragmatics
description: Why does damp air help a gecko shed its skin? Test 11 of lesson 329 «Tortoises, lizards and geckos as pets: heat, light and washing hands» 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 wrong.
---

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# Test 11 · Tortoises, lizards and geckos as pets: heat, light and was…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why does damp air help a gecko shed its skin?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** damp air, gecko · **What happens:** help, shed · **To what, where:** skin

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This is test 11 of lesson 329 «Tortoises, lizards and geckos as pets: heat, light and washing hands» 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/329-tortoises-lizards-and-geckos-as-pets-heat-light-and-washing-hands/#t11).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:329-tortoises-lizards-and-geckos-as-pets-heat-light-and-washing-hands:t11:1
# text = Why does damp air help a gecko shed its skin?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	5	advmod	_	_
2	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
3	damp	damp	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	air	air	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	help	help	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	gecko	gecko	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
8	shed	shed	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	ccomp	_	_
9	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
10	skin	skin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **help** | present · do-support | damp air |  |  |  |  |  | vn help-72.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 2 | **shed** | past | a gecko | gecko's skin |  |  |  |  | vn substance\_emission-43.4-1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location skin=Source |

<!-- .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 -->
Damp skin peels off more easily, so none gets stuck on its toes

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:329-tortoises-lizards-and-geckos-as-pets-heat-light-and-washing-hands:t11:o1:1
# text = Damp skin peels off more easily, so none gets stuck on its toes
1	Damp	damp	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	skin	skin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	peels	peel	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	off	off	ADP	RP	_	3	compound:prt	_	_
5	more	more	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	6	advmod	_	_
6	easily	easily	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
8	so	so	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
9	none	none	PRON	NN	PronType=Neg	11	nsubj:pass	_	_
10	gets	get	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	aux:pass	_	_
11	stuck	stick	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	parataxis	_	_
12	on	on	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	14	nmod:poss	_	_
14	toes	toe	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **peel off** | present | Damp skin |  |  |  |  | easily *property* | vn pit-10.7 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **stick** | present · passive |  | none |  | skin's toes |  |  | vn spray-9.7-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: subject=Theme on toe=Destination |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Water soaks into the old skin and dissolves it all away at once

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:329-tortoises-lizards-and-geckos-as-pets-heat-light-and-washing-hands:t11:o2:1
# text = Water soaks into the old skin and dissolves it all away at once
1	Water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	soaks	soak	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	into	into	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	skin	skin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	dissolves	dissolve	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
9	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	obj	_	_
10	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	9	det	_	_
11	away	away	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
12	at	at	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	once	once	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **soak** | present | Water |  |  | the old skin |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |
| 2 | **dissolve away** | present | Water *not said here* | Water |  |  |  | away *property* | vn break-45.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Damp air makes geckos sleep

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:329-tortoises-lizards-and-geckos-as-pets-heat-light-and-washing-hands:t11:o3:1
# text = Damp air makes geckos sleep
1	Damp	damp	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	air	air	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	makes	make	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	geckos	gecko	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
5	sleep	sleep	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | present | Damp air | sleep | geckos |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP NP»: agent=Asset gecko=Beneficiary sleep=Product |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Damp air makes the skin grow faster

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:329-tortoises-lizards-and-geckos-as-pets-heat-light-and-washing-hands:t11:o4:1
# text = Damp air makes the skin grow faster
1	Damp	damp	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	air	air	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	makes	make	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	skin	skin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	grow	grow	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	xcomp	_	_
7	faster	fast	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	3	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | present | Damp air | the skin |  |  |  | fast *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **grow** | present | the skin *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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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.

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- ← previous: [Tortoises, lizards and geckos as pets:…, test 10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/329-tortoises-lizards-and-geckos-as-pets-heat-light-and-washing-hands/t10/)
- next →: [Tortoises, lizards and geckos as pets:…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/329-tortoises-lizards-and-geckos-as-pets-heat-light-and-washing-hands/e1/)
- ↑ back to [Tortoises, lizards and geckos as pets: heat, light and washing hands](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/329-tortoises-lizards-and-geckos-as-pets-heat-light-and-washing-hands/)