---
title: A stick insect is half a metre long with its legs out. Why might a b… — Unusual pets: stick insects, giant sna… · tree and pragmatics
description: A stick insect is half a metre long with its legs out. Why might a bird still miss it? Test 12 · ★★★ of lesson 330 «Unusual pets: stick insects, giant snails, ant farms and hermit crabs» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of ea
---

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# Test 12 · ★★★ · Unusual pets: stick insects, giant snails, ant farms and h…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A stick insect is half a metre long with its legs out. Why might a bird still miss it?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** stick insect, bird · **What happens:** be, miss · **To what, where:** metre, insect

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 12 · ★★★ of lesson 330 «Unusual pets: stick insects, giant snails, ant farms and hermit crabs» 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/330-unusual-pets-stick-insects-giant-snails-ant-farms-and-hermit-crabs/#t12).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* A stick insect is half a metre long with its legs out.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:330-unusual-pets-stick-insects-giant-snails-ant-farms-and-hermit-crabs:t12:1
# text = A stick insect is half a metre long with its legs out.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	stick	stick	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	insect	insect	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
5	half	half	DET	PDT	NumForm=Word|NumType=Frac|PronType=Ind	7	det:predet	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	metre	metre	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
8	long	long	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	7	advmod	_	_
9	with	with	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
11	legs	leg	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nmod	_	_
12	out	out	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | a stick insect | half metre |  |  |  | with insect's legs; long *property* | tree rules |

<!-- .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:* Why might a bird still miss it?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:330-unusual-pets-stick-insects-giant-snails-ant-farms-and-hermit-crabs:t12:2
# text = Why might a bird still miss it?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	6	advmod	_	_
2	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	bird	bird	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
5	still	still	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	miss	miss	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
7	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **miss** | might | a bird | insect |  |  | still |  | vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer it=Stimulus |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It looks and sways like a twig, so the bird ignores it

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:330-unusual-pets-stick-insects-giant-snails-ant-farms-and-hermit-crabs:t12:o1:1
# text = It looks and sways like a twig, so the bird ignores it
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	looks	look	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	4	cc	_	_
4	sways	sway	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
5	like	like	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	twig	twig	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
9	so	so	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	bird	bird	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
12	ignores	ignore	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
13	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **look** | present | It |  |  |  |  |  | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Stimulus |
| 2 | **sway** | present |  |  |  |  |  | like a twig | vn modes\_of\_being\_with\_motion-47.3 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **ignore** | present | the bird | twig |  |  |  |  | vn neglect-75.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It sings to scare birds

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:330-unusual-pets-stick-insects-giant-snails-ant-farms-and-hermit-crabs:t12:o2:1
# text = It sings to scare birds
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	sings	sing	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	scare	scare	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
5	birds	bird	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sing** *speech: express* | present | It |  |  |  |  |  | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V how S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **scare** | to-infinitive |  | birds |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus bird=Experiencer |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Birds cannot see anything long and thin, only round things

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:330-unusual-pets-stick-insects-giant-snails-ant-farms-and-hermit-crabs:t12:o3:1
# text = Birds cannot see anything long and thin, only round things
1	Birds	bird	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
2	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	anything	anything	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	4	obj	_	_
6	long	long	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	thin	thin	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
10	only	only	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
11	round	round	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	things	thing	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **see** | can | Birds | anything |  |  |  | round things *obl* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer anything=Stimulus |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It hides under water

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:330-unusual-pets-stick-insects-giant-snails-ant-farms-and-hermit-crabs:t12:o4:1
# text = It hides under water
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	hides	hide	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	under	under	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hide** | present | It |  |  | water |  |  | vn concealment-16-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent under water=Location |

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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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