---
title: Why would a farmer not spread muck just before heavy rain? — A year on a farm: lambing, haymaking,… · tree and pragmatics
description: Why would a farmer not spread muck just before heavy rain? Test 8 · ★★ of lesson 349 «A year on a farm: lambing, haymaking, harvest and winter feeding» 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 right.
---

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# Test 8 · ★★ · A year on a farm: lambing, haymaking, harvest and winter f…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why would a farmer not spread muck just before heavy rain?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **What happens:** not spread · **To what, where:** farmer

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 · ★★ of lesson 349 «A year on a farm: lambing, haymaking, harvest and winter feeding» 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/349-a-year-on-a-farm-lambing-haymaking-harvest-and-winter-feeding/#t8).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:349-a-year-on-a-farm-lambing-haymaking-harvest-and-winter-feeding:t8:1
# text = Why would a farmer not spread muck just before heavy rain?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	6	advmod	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	farmer	farmer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj:pass	_	_
5	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	6	advmod	_	_
6	spread	spread	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
7	muck	muck	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
8	just	just	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
9	before	before	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	heavy	heavy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	rain	rain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **spread** | would · passive |  | a farmer |  |  | before heavy rain |  | 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.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Rain makes muck smell sweeter

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:349-a-year-on-a-farm-lambing-haymaking-harvest-and-winter-feeding:t8:o1:1
# text = Rain makes muck smell sweeter
1	Rain	rain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	makes	make	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	muck	muck	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
4	smell	smell	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
5	sweeter	sweet	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	4	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | present | Rain | muck |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **smell** | infinitive | muck *not said here* |  |  |  |  | sweet *property* | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V ADJ»: agent=Stimulus |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The tractor would float away

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:349-a-year-on-a-farm-lambing-haymaking-harvest-and-winter-feeding:t8:o2:1
# text = The tractor would float away
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	tractor	tractor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	float	float	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	away	away	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **float away** | would | the tractor |  |  |  |  | away *property* | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Muck turns to ice in rain

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:349-a-year-on-a-farm-lambing-haymaking-harvest-and-winter-feeding:t8:o3:1
# text = Muck turns to ice in rain
1	Muck	muck	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	turns	turn	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	ice	ice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	rain	rain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **turn** | present | Muck |  |  | rain |  | to ice | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP.theme V PP.source PP.trajectory PP.destination»: agent=Theme to ice=Source in rain=Trajectory |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The rain could wash it into rivers and harm fish

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:349-a-year-on-a-farm-lambing-haymaking-harvest-and-winter-feeding:t8:o4:1
# text = The rain could wash it into rivers and harm fish
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	rain	rain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	wash	wash	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	obj	_	_
6	into	into	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	rivers	river	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
9	harm	harm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	fish	fish	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **wash** | could | the rain | it |  | rivers and harm fish |  |  | vn floss-41.2.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Patient |

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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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