---
title: Why are rice fields on hills built as steps? — Rice, maize and potatoes: the plants t… · tree and pragmatics
description: Why are rice fields on hills built as steps? Test 11 · ★ of lesson 345 «Rice, maize and potatoes: the plants that feed the world» 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 · ★ · Rice, maize and potatoes: the plants that feed the world

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why are rice fields on hills built as steps?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** be, build · **To what, where:** rice fields, hills

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 11 · ★ of lesson 345 «Rice, maize and potatoes: the plants that feed the world» 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/345-rice-maize-and-potatoes-the-plants-that-feed-the-world/#t11).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:345-rice-maize-and-potatoes-the-plants-that-feed-the-world:t11:1
# text = Why are rice fields on hills built as steps?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	rice	rice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
4	fields	field	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
5	on	on	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	hills	hill	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nmod	_	_
7	built	build	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	acl	_	_
8	as	as	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	steps	step	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present |  | rice fields |  | hills |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **build** | participle |  | hills *not said here* |  |  |  | as steps | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |

<!-- .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 -->
Each flat step can hold water

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:345-rice-maize-and-potatoes-the-plants-that-feed-the-world:t11:o1:1
# text = Each flat step can hold water
1	Each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	3	det	_	_
2	flat	flat	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	step	step	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
4	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
5	hold	hold	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hold** | can | each flat step | water |  |  |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent water=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Steps keep the rice dry

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:345-rice-maize-and-potatoes-the-plants-that-feed-the-world:t11:o2:1
# text = Steps keep the rice dry
1	Steps	step	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	keep	keep	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	rice	rice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	dry	dry	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **keep** | present | Steps | the rice dry |  |  |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent dry=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Steps make it easier to climb

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:345-rice-maize-and-potatoes-the-plants-that-feed-the-world:t11:o3:1
# text = Steps make it easier to climb
1	Steps	step	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	make	make	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obj	_	_
4	easier	easy	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	2	xcomp	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	climb	climb	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | present | Steps | it |  |  |  | easy *property* | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset it=Product |
| 2 | **climb** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Rice grows only on stairs

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:345-rice-maize-and-potatoes-the-plants-that-feed-the-world:t11:o4:1
# text = Rice grows only on stairs
1	Rice	rice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	grows	grow	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	only	only	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
4	on	on	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	stairs	stair	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **grow** | present | Rice |  |  | stairs |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme on stair=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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