---
title: Why does hagfish slime work better than spines against a shark? — Odd-looking animals: shoebills, star-n… · tree and pragmatics
description: Why does hagfish slime work better than spines against a shark? Test 10 of lesson 366 «Odd-looking animals: shoebills, star-nosed moles, saigas, pangolins and hagfish» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's c
---

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# Test 10 · Odd-looking animals: shoebills, star-nosed moles, saigas,…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why does hagfish slime work better than spines against a shark?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** hagfish slime · **What happens:** work

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 10 of lesson 366 «Odd-looking animals: shoebills, star-nosed moles, saigas, pangolins and hagfish» 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/366-odd-looking-animals-shoebills-star-nosed-moles-saigas-pangolins-and-hagfish/#t10).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:366-odd-looking-animals-shoebills-star-nosed-moles-saigas-pangolins-and-hagfish:t10:1
# text = Why does hagfish slime work better than spines against a shark?
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	hagfish	hagfish	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	compound	_	_
4	slime	slime	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	work	work	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	better	well	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	5	advmod	_	_
7	than	than	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	spines	spine	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
9	against	against	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	shark	shark	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **work** | present · do-support | hagfish slime |  |  |  |  | than spines against a shark; well *property* | vn employment-95.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .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 -->
The slime makes the hagfish invisible in the dark deep water

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:366-odd-looking-animals-shoebills-star-nosed-moles-saigas-pangolins-and-hagfish:t10:o1:1
# text = The slime makes the hagfish invisible in the dark deep water
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	slime	slime	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	hagfish	hagfish	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	invisible	invisible	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	xcomp	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
9	dark	dark	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
10	deep	deep	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | present | the slime | the hagfish |  | the dark deep water |  | invisible *property* | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset hagfish=Product |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It clogs the gills so the shark cannot breathe and spits it out

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:366-odd-looking-animals-shoebills-star-nosed-moles-saigas-pangolins-and-hagfish:t10:o2:1
# text = It clogs the gills so the shark cannot breathe and spits it out
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	clogs	clog	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	gills	gill	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	so	so	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	shark	shark	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
8	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	10	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	10	advmod	_	_
10	breathe	breathe	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	advcl	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
12	spits	spit	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	_	_
14	out	out	ADP	RP	_	12	compound:prt	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **clog** | present | It | the gills |  |  |  |  | vn fill-9.8 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme gill=Destination |
| 2 | **not** **breathe** | can | the shark |  |  |  |  |  | vn breathe-40.1.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **spit out** | present |  | shark |  |  |  |  | vn breathe-40.1.2 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent it=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Spines would be far too heavy for a small hagfish to carry

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:366-odd-looking-animals-shoebills-star-nosed-moles-saigas-pangolins-and-hagfish:t10:o3:1
# text = Spines would be far too heavy for a small hagfish to carry
1	Spines	spine	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
3	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	cop	_	_
4	far	far	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	6	advmod	_	_
5	too	too	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	heavy	heavy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
7	for	for	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	small	small	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	hagfish	hagfish	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
11	to	to	PART	TO	_	12	mark	_	_
12	carry	carry	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | would | Spines |  |  |  |  | for a small hagfish; far, heavy *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **carry** | to-infinitive | Spines *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Sharks love the taste of spines and eat them happily

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:366-odd-looking-animals-shoebills-star-nosed-moles-saigas-pangolins-and-hagfish:t10:o4:1
# text = Sharks love the taste of spines and eat them happily
1	Sharks	shark	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	love	love	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	taste	taste	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	spines	spine	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nmod	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	eat	eat	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
9	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	obj	_	_
10	happily	happily	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **love** | present | Sharks | the taste of spines |  |  |  |  | vn admire-31.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer taste=Stimulus |
| 2 | **eat** | present | Sharks *not said here* | Sharks *= shark* |  |  |  | happily *property* | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Patient |
| 3 | **taste** |  |  | spines |  |  |  |  | nom taste «cognition transitive»: of=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.

<!-- /div -->

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