---
title: In Tom and Jerry the mouse always outsmarts the cat. Which real fact… — The Chinese zodiac: the twelve real an… · tree and pragmatics
description: In Tom and Jerry the mouse always outsmarts the cat. Which real fact about rats and mice is closest? Test 9 of lesson 382 «The Chinese zodiac: the twelve real animals behind the signs» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each
---

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# Test 9 · The Chinese zodiac: the twelve real animals behind the signs

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
In Tom and Jerry the mouse always outsmarts the cat. Which real fact about rats and mice is closest?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** mouse · **What happens:** outsmart, fact, be · **To what, where:** cat

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 9 of lesson 382 «The Chinese zodiac: the twelve real animals behind the signs» 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/382-the-chinese-zodiac-the-twelve-real-animals-behind-the-signs/#t9).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* In Tom and Jerry the mouse always outsmarts the cat.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:382-the-chinese-zodiac-the-twelve-real-animals-behind-the-signs:t9:1
# text = In Tom and Jerry the mouse always outsmarts the cat.
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	Tom	Tom	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
3	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	4	cc	_	_
4	Jerry	Jerry	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	conj	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	mouse	mouse	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
7	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	8	advmod	_	_
8	outsmarts	outsmart	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	cat	cat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **outsmart** | present | the mouse | the cat |  |  |  | in Tom and Jerry; always *property* | vn exceed-90 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Pivot cat=Theme in tom=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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* Which real fact about rats and mice is closest?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:382-the-chinese-zodiac-the-twelve-real-animals-behind-the-signs:t9:2
# text = Which real fact about rats and mice is closest?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	3	nsubj	_	_
2	real	real	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	fact	fact	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
4	about	about	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	rats	rat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nmod	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	mice	mouse	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	conj	_	_
8	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
9	closest	close	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	9	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fact** |  |  |  |  |  |  | about rats and mice | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | close *property* | tree rules |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They learn fast and are clever at finding food

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:382-the-chinese-zodiac-the-twelve-real-animals-behind-the-signs:t9:o1:1
# text = They learn fast and are clever at finding food
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	learn	learn	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	fast	fast	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	2	advmod	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
5	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
6	clever	clever	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	conj	_	_
7	at	at	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
8	finding	find	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	6	advcl	_	_
9	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **learn** | present | They |  |  |  |  | fast *property* | vn learn-14-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is** | present | They *not said here* |  |  |  |  | clever *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **find** | gerund | They *not said here* | food |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent food=Topic |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They never run from cats, they always stand and fight back

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:382-the-chinese-zodiac-the-twelve-real-animals-behind-the-signs:t9:o2:1
# text = They never run from cats, they always stand and fight back
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	3	advmod	_	_
3	run	run	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	from	from	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	cats	cat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
7	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
8	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	9	advmod	_	_
9	stand	stand	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
11	fight	fight	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
12	back	back	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **run** | present | They |  |  |  |  | from cats | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme from cat=Trajectory |
| 2 | **stand** | present | cats *= cat* |  |  |  |  | always *property* | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **fight back** | present | They *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn battle-36.4-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They can carry heavy cats

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:382-the-chinese-zodiac-the-twelve-real-animals-behind-the-signs:t9:o3:1
# text = They can carry heavy cats
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	carry	carry	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	heavy	heavy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	cats	cat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **carry** | can | They | heavy cats |  |  |  |  | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent cat=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They are stronger than cats

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:382-the-chinese-zodiac-the-twelve-real-animals-behind-the-signs:t9:o4:1
# text = They are stronger than cats
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	stronger	strong	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	_
4	than	than	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	cats	cat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

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

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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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