---
title: «there's a snake on the path, chuck a stick at it!» What is the best… — Mushrooms and creatures to avoid in th… · tree and pragmatics
description: «there's a snake on the path, chuck a stick at it!» What is the best thing to do? Test 4 of lesson 393 «Mushrooms and creatures to avoid in the woods: death caps, adders, ticks and hornets» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of
---

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# Test 4 · Mushrooms and creatures to avoid in the woods: death caps,…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«there's a snake on the path, chuck a stick at it!» What is the best thing to do?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** snake, you, best thing · **What happens:** be, chuck, do · **To what, where:** stick

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 4 of lesson 393 «Mushrooms and creatures to avoid in the woods: death caps, adders, ticks and hornets» 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/393-mushrooms-and-creatures-to-avoid-in-the-woods-death-caps-adders-ticks-and-hornets/#t4).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* «there's a snake on the path, chuck a stick at it!»

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:393-mushrooms-and-creatures-to-avoid-in-the-woods-death-caps-adders-ticks-and-hornets:t4:1
# text = «there's a snake on the path, chuck a stick at it!»
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	there	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	3	expl	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	's	be	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	advcl	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	snake	snake	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
6	on	on	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	path	path	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
10	chuck	chuck	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	stick	stick	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	_
13	at	at	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	!	!	PUNCT	.	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	10	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **be** *in a quote* | present | a snake on the path |  |  | there |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **chuck** *in a quote* | imperative | you *not said here* | a stick |  |  |  | at snake | vn throw-17.1-1 «NP V NP PP.destinations»: agent=Agent stick=Theme at it=Destination |

<!-- .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:* What is the best thing to do?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:393-mushrooms-and-creatures-to-avoid-in-the-woods-death-caps-adders-ticks-and-hornets:t4:2
# text = What is the best thing to do?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	best	good	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	5	amod	_	_
5	thing	thing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	do	do	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	acl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | the best thing |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **do** | to-infinitive | the best thing *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Stamp near it to scare it

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:393-mushrooms-and-creatures-to-avoid-in-the-woods-death-caps-adders-ticks-and-hornets:t4:o1:1
# text = Stamp near it to scare it
1	Stamp	stamp	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
2	near	near	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	1	nmod	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	scare	scare	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	1	acl	_	_
6	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **scare** | to-infinitive |  | Stamp |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus it=Experiencer |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Stand still, let it slide away, or go round it at a distance

<!-- fold The tree, 13 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:393-mushrooms-and-creatures-to-avoid-in-the-woods-death-caps-adders-ticks-and-hornets:t4:o2:1
# text = Stand still, let it slide away, or go round it at a distance
1	Stand	stand	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	still	still	ADV	RB	_	1	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
4	let	let	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	1	conj	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	obj	_	_
6	slide	slide	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	_
7	away	away	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
9	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
10	go	go	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	1	conj	_	_
11	round	round	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	obl	_	_
13	at	at	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	distance	distance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stand** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  | still |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **let** | infinitive | you *not said here* | it |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **slide away** | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | away *property* | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 4 | **go** | infinitive | you *not said here* |  |  | it |  | at a distance | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme round it=Initial\_Location |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Pick it up by the tail and put it to one side

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:393-mushrooms-and-creatures-to-avoid-in-the-woods-death-caps-adders-ticks-and-hornets:t4:o3:1
# text = Pick it up by the tail and put it to one side
1	Pick	pick	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	up	up	ADP	RP	_	1	compound:prt	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	tail	tail	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	put	put	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	1	conj	_	_
9	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	obj	_	_
10	to	to	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	12	nummod	_	_
12	side	side	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pick up** | imperative | you *not said here* | it |  |  |  | by the tail | vn discover-84-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Topic |
| 2 | **put** | infinitive | you *not said here* | tail |  |  |  | to one side | vn invest-13.5.4-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Agent it=Goal |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Throw sticks at it until it moves off the path and into the grass

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:393-mushrooms-and-creatures-to-avoid-in-the-woods-death-caps-adders-ticks-and-hornets:t4:o4:1
# text = Throw sticks at it until it moves off the path and into the grass
1	Throw	throw	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	sticks	stick	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	at	at	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obl	_	_
5	until	until	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
6	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
7	moves	move	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	advcl	_	_
8	off	off	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	path	path	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
12	into	into	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	grass	grass	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stick** | present | Throw |  |  | it |  |  | vn spray-9.7-1 «NP V PP.destination»: agent=Theme at it=Destination |
| 2 | **move off** | present | Throw | the path and the grass |  |  |  |  | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V ADJ.result»: agent=Theme path=Result |

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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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