---
title: In a cartoon a cat solves a maths test faster than the class. If a r… — How scientists test animal minds: the… · tree and pragmatics
description: In a cartoon a cat solves a maths test faster than the class. If a real scientist saw a cat do this, what should they do first? Test 3 · ★★★ of lesson 389 «How scientists test animal minds: the mirror test, puzzle boxes and Clever Hans» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the depend
---

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# Test 3 · ★★★ · How scientists test animal minds: the mirror test, puzzle…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
In a cartoon a cat solves a maths test faster than the class. If a real scientist saw a cat do this, what should they do first?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** cat, real scientist, they · **What happens:** solve, see, do · **To what, where:** maths test, cartoon, cat, this

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 3 · ★★★ of lesson 389 «How scientists test animal minds: the mirror test, puzzle boxes and Clever Hans» 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/389-how-scientists-test-animal-minds-the-mirror-test-puzzle-boxes-and-clever-hans/#t3).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* In a cartoon a cat solves a maths test faster than the class.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:389-how-scientists-test-animal-minds-the-mirror-test-puzzle-boxes-and-clever-hans:t3:1
# text = In a cartoon a cat solves a maths test faster than the class.
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	cartoon	cartoon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	cat	cat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	solves	solve	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	maths	maths	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	test	test	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
10	faster	fast	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	6	advmod	_	_
11	than	than	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	class	class	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **solve** | present | a cat | a maths test |  | a cartoon |  | fast *property* | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent test=Topic |

<!-- .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:* If a real scientist saw a cat do this, what should they do first?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:389-how-scientists-test-animal-minds-the-mirror-test-puzzle-boxes-and-clever-hans:t3:2
# text = If a real scientist saw a cat do this, what should they do first?
1	If	if	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	real	real	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	scientist	scientist	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	saw	see	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	14	advcl	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	cat	cat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	do	do	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	xcomp	_	_
9	this	this	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
11	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	14	obj	_	_
12	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	14	aux	_	_
13	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	_
14	do	do	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
15	first	first	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	14	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	14	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **see** *a condition, not said to happen* | past | a real scientist | a cat |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **do** | infinitive | a cat *not said here* | this |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent this=Eventuality |
| 3 | **do** | should | they |  |  |  |  | first *property* | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent what=Eventuality |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Believe it straight away and tell the newspapers

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:389-how-scientists-test-animal-minds-the-mirror-test-puzzle-boxes-and-clever-hans:t3:o1:1
# text = Believe it straight away and tell the newspapers
1	Believe	believe	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	1	obj	_	_
3	straight	straight	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	away	away	ADV	RB	_	1	advmod	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	tell	tell	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	1	conj	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	newspapers	newspaper	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **believe** | imperative | you *not said here* | it |  |  |  | away *property* | vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer it=Stimulus |
| 2 | **tell** *speech: assert* | infinitive | you *not said here* | the newspapers |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent newspaper=Recipient |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Check for hidden hints and repeat the test fairly

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:389-how-scientists-test-animal-minds-the-mirror-test-puzzle-boxes-and-clever-hans:t3:o2:1
# text = Check for hidden hints and repeat the test fairly
1	Check	check	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	for	for	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	hidden	hidden	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	hints	hint	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	obl	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	repeat	repeat	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	1	conj	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	test	test	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
9	fairly	fairly	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **check** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  | for hidden hints | vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Agent for hint=Attribute |
| 2 | **repeat** | infinitive | you *not said here* | the test |  |  |  | fairly *property* | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent test=Eventuality |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Make the cat a teacher

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:389-how-scientists-test-animal-minds-the-mirror-test-puzzle-boxes-and-clever-hans:t3:o3:1
# text = Make the cat a teacher
1	Make	make	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	cat	cat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	teacher	teacher	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | imperative | you *not said here* | a teacher | the cat |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP NP»: agent=Asset cat=Beneficiary teacher=Product |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ban maths for cats

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:389-how-scientists-test-animal-minds-the-mirror-test-puzzle-boxes-and-clever-hans:t3:o4:1
# text = Ban maths for cats
1	Ban	ban	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	compound	_	_
2	maths	math	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
3	for	for	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	cats	cat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

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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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