---
title: Why does a flea need a spring and not just strong muscles? — Tiny champions: the strongest beetle,… · tree and pragmatics
description: Why does a flea need a spring and not just strong muscles? Test 6 · ★★★ of lesson 365 «Tiny champions: the strongest beetle, the highest-jumping flea and the leggiest millipede» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option
---

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# Test 6 · ★★★ · Tiny champions: the strongest beetle, the highest-jumping…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why does a flea need a spring and not just strong muscles?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** flea · **What happens:** need

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 6 · ★★★ of lesson 365 «Tiny champions: the strongest beetle, the highest-jumping flea and the leggiest millipede» 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/365-tiny-champions-the-strongest-beetle-the-highest-jumping-flea-and-the-leggiest-millipede/#t6).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:365-tiny-champions-the-strongest-beetle-the-highest-jumping-flea-and-the-leggiest-millipede:t6:1
# text = Why does a flea need a spring and not just strong muscles?
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	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	flea	flea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	need	need	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	spring	spring	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
9	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	12	advmod	_	_
10	just	just	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
11	strong	strong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	muscles	muscle	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **need** | present · do-support | a flea |  |  |  | spring |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot |

<!-- .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 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Fleas have no muscles at all anywhere in their bodies

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:365-tiny-champions-the-strongest-beetle-the-highest-jumping-flea-and-the-leggiest-millipede:t6:o1:1
# text = Fleas have no muscles at all anywhere in their bodies
1	Fleas	flea	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	have	have	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	4	det	_	_
4	muscles	muscle	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	4	nmod	_	_
7	anywhere	anywhere	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	2	advmod	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
10	bodies	body	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | Fleas | no muscles |  | all |  | in Fleas's bodies; anywhere *property* | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent muscle=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Springs are lighter than legs

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:365-tiny-champions-the-strongest-beetle-the-highest-jumping-flea-and-the-leggiest-millipede:t6:o2:1
# text = Springs are lighter than legs
1	Springs	spring	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	lighter	light	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	_
4	than	than	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	legs	leg	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Springs |  |  |  |  | than legs; light *property* | tree rules |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A spring lets go its energy faster than any muscle could

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:365-tiny-champions-the-strongest-beetle-the-highest-jumping-flea-and-the-leggiest-millipede:t6:o3:1
# text = A spring lets go its energy faster than any muscle could
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	spring	spring	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	lets	let	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	go	go	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
5	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	energy	energy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	faster	fast	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	4	advmod	_	_
8	than	than	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	10	det	_	_
10	muscle	muscle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
11	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **let** | present | a spring |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **go** | infinitive | a spring *not said here* | its energy |  |  |  | fast *property* | vn meander-47.7 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location energy=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A spring helps it fly

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:365-tiny-champions-the-strongest-beetle-the-highest-jumping-flea-and-the-leggiest-millipede:t6:o4:1
# text = A spring helps it fly
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	spring	spring	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	helps	help	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	obj	_	_
5	fly	fly	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **help** | present | a spring | it |  |  |  |  | vn help-72.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent it=Beneficiary clause=Theme |
| 2 | **fly** | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

<!-- 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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