---
title: Identify the principal reason for which house mice are able to gnaw… — Pests: mice in the kitchen, cockroache… · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal reason for which house mice are able to gnaw through a wide variety of materials, including electrical wires. Exam question 1 of lesson 397 «Pests: mice in the kitchen, cockroaches, clothes moths, fleas and head lice» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the de
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/397-pests-mice-in-the-kitchen-cockroaches-clothes-moths-fleas-and-head-lice/e1/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [Biology](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/) / [Pests: mice in the kitchen, cockroache…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/397-pests-mice-in-the-kitchen-cockroaches-clothes-moths-fleas-and-head-lice/) / e1

# Exam question 1 · Pests: mice in the kitchen, cockroaches, clothes moths, fl…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal reason for which house mice are able to gnaw through a wide variety of materials, including electrical wires.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, house mice · **What happens:** identify, be, gnaw · **To what, where:** principal reason, wide variety

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 397 «Pests: mice in the kitchen, cockroaches, clothes moths, fleas and head lice» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, asked in stiff, formal language. 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/397-pests-mice-in-the-kitchen-cockroaches-clothes-moths-fleas-and-head-lice/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:397-pests-mice-in-the-kitchen-cockroaches-clothes-moths-fleas-and-head-lice:e1:1
# text = Identify the principal reason for which house mice are able to gnaw through a wide variety of materials, including electrical wires.
1	Identify	identify	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	10	obl	_	_
7	house	house	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	mice	mouse	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nsubj	_	_
9	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	cop	_	_
10	able	able	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	acl	_	_
11	to	to	PART	TO	_	12	mark	_	_
12	gnaw	gnaw	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	xcomp	_	_
13	through	through	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
14	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
15	wide	wide	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	amod	_	_
16	variety	variety	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	_
17	of	of	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
18	materials	material	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	16	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	22	punct	_	_
20	including	including	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
21	electrical	electrical	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	22	amod	_	_
22	wires	wire	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	18	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **identify** | imperative | you *not said here* | the principal reason |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent reason=Theme |
| 2 | **is** | present | house mice |  |  |  |  | for the principal reason; able *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **gnaw** | to-infinitive | house mice *not said here* |  |  | a wide variety of materials and electrical wires |  |  | vn chew-39.2 «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 -->
Their saliva contains a substance which dissolves plastic and copper

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:397-pests-mice-in-the-kitchen-cockroaches-clothes-moths-fleas-and-head-lice:e1:o1:1
# text = Their saliva contains a substance which dissolves plastic and copper
1	Their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	saliva	saliva	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	contains	contain	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	substance	substance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	7	nsubj	_	_
7	dissolves	dissolve	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	acl:relcl	_	_
8	plastic	plastic	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
10	copper	copper	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **contain** | present | Their saliva | a substance |  |  |  |  | vn comprise-107.2-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot substance=Theme |
| 2 | **dissolve** | present | a substance | plastic and copper |  |  |  |  | vn break-45.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent plastic=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They possess an exceptional number of teeth

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:397-pests-mice-in-the-kitchen-cockroaches-clothes-moths-fleas-and-head-lice:e1:o2:1
# text = They possess an exceptional number of teeth
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	possess	possess	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	exceptional	exceptional	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	number	number	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	teeth	tooth	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **possess** | present | They | a exceptional number of teeth |  |  |  |  | vn own-100.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot number=Theme |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Their teeth grow continuously throughout their lives

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:397-pests-mice-in-the-kitchen-cockroaches-clothes-moths-fleas-and-head-lice:e1:o3:1
# text = Their teeth grow continuously throughout their lives
1	Their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	teeth	tooth	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	grow	grow	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	continuously	continuously	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
5	throughout	throughout	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	lives	life	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **grow** | present | Their teeth |  |  | teeth's lives |  | continuously *property* | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme throughout life=Location |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Their teeth are composed of metal

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:397-pests-mice-in-the-kitchen-cockroaches-clothes-moths-fleas-and-head-lice:e1:o4:1
# text = Their teeth are composed of metal
1	Their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	teeth	tooth	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	composed	compose	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	metal	metal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **compose** | present · passive |  | Their teeth |  |  |  | of metal | vn create-26.4-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Result |

<!-- 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 -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [Pests: mice in the kitchen, cockroache…, test 12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/397-pests-mice-in-the-kitchen-cockroaches-clothes-moths-fleas-and-head-lice/t12/)
- next →: [Pests: mice in the kitchen, cockroache…, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/397-pests-mice-in-the-kitchen-cockroaches-clothes-moths-fleas-and-head-lice/e2/)
- ↑ back to [Pests: mice in the kitchen, cockroaches, clothes moths, fleas and head lice](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/397-pests-mice-in-the-kitchen-cockroaches-clothes-moths-fleas-and-head-lice/)