---
title: «it itches like mad, gonna scratch till it bleeds» What is the best… — Bites, stings and scratches: mosquitoe… · tree and pragmatics
description: «it itches like mad, gonna scratch till it bleeds» What is the best advice? Test 2 · ★★ of lesson 399 «Bites, stings and scratches: mosquitoes, wasps, ticks, dog bites and cat scratches» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of ea
---

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# Test 2 · ★★ · Bites, stings and scratches: mosquitoes, wasps, ticks, dog…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«it itches like mad, gonna scratch till it bleeds» What is the best advice?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** it, you, best advice · **What happens:** itch, scratch, bleed, be

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 2 · ★★ of lesson 399 «Bites, stings and scratches: mosquitoes, wasps, ticks, dog bites and cat scratches» 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/399-bites-stings-and-scratches-mosquitoes-wasps-ticks-dog-bites-and-cat-scratches/#t2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:399-bites-stings-and-scratches-mosquitoes-wasps-ticks-dog-bites-and-cat-scratches:t2:1
# text = «it itches like mad, gonna scratch till it bleeds» What is the best advice?
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	itches	itch	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	advcl	_	_
4	like	like	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	mad	mad	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
7	gonna	gonna	X	FW	Foreign=Yes	8	dep	_	_
8	scratch	scratch	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	till	till	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
10	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
11	bleeds	bleed	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	8	punct	_	_
13	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	8	conj	_	_
14	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	cop	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
16	best	good	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	17	amod	_	_
17	advice	advice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **itch** *in a quote* | present | it |  |  |  |  | like mad | vn pain-40.8.1 «NP V»: agent=Patient |
| 2 | **scratch** *in a quote* | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **bleed** *in a quote* | present | it |  |  |  |  |  | vn substance\_emission-43.4-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Source |
| 4 | **is a** | present | the best advice |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

<!-- .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 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Scratching hard makes the itch go away for good, so keep going

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:399-bites-stings-and-scratches-mosquitoes-wasps-ticks-dog-bites-and-cat-scratches:t2:o1:1
# text = Scratching hard makes the itch go away for good, so keep going
1	Scratching	scratch	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	3	csubj	_	_
2	hard	hard	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	1	advmod	_	_
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	itch	itch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	go	go	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
7	away	away	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
8	for	for	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	good	good	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
11	so	so	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
12	keep	keep	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	conj	_	_
13	going	go	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	12	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **scratch** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | hard *property* | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **make** | present | Scratching | the itch |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **go away** | infinitive | the itch *not said here* |  |  |  |  | for good; away *property* | vn help-72.1-2 «NP V PP.beneficiary»: agent=Agent for good=Beneficiary |
| 4 | **keep** | infinitive | Scratching *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 5 | **go** | gerund | Scratching *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Scratching removes all the spit

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:399-bites-stings-and-scratches-mosquitoes-wasps-ticks-dog-bites-and-cat-scratches:t2:o2:1
# text = Scratching removes all the spit
1	Scratching	scratch	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	nsubj	_	_
2	removes	remove	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	5	det:predet	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	spit	spit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **scratch** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **remove** | present |  | all spit |  |  |  |  | vn fire-10.10 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent spit=Theme |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Scratching makes it itch more, so leave it and use a cool cloth

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:399-bites-stings-and-scratches-mosquitoes-wasps-ticks-dog-bites-and-cat-scratches:t2:o3:1
# text = Scratching makes it itch more, so leave it and use a cool cloth
1	Scratching	scratch	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	nsubj	_	_
2	makes	make	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obj	_	_
4	itch	itch	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
5	more	more	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	4	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
7	so	so	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	leave	leave	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	parataxis	_	_
9	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	obj	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
11	use	use	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	conj	_	_
12	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
13	cool	cool	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	cloth	cloth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **scratch** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **make** | present |  | it |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **itch** | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn pain-40.8.1 «NP V»: agent=Patient |
| 4 | **leave** | infinitive |  | it |  |  |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |
| 5 | **use** | infinitive |  | a cool cloth |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent cloth=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Scratch it with a stick instead

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:399-bites-stings-and-scratches-mosquitoes-wasps-ticks-dog-bites-and-cat-scratches:t2:o4:1
# text = Scratch it with a stick instead
1	Scratch	scratch	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	with	with	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	stick	stick	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
6	instead	instead	ADV	RB	_	1	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **scratch** | imperative | you *not said here* | it |  |  |  | with a stick; instead *property* | vn cut-21.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Patient with stick=Instrument |

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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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- ← previous: [Bites, stings and scratches: mosquitoe…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/399-bites-stings-and-scratches-mosquitoes-wasps-ticks-dog-bites-and-cat-scratches/t1/)
- next →: [Bites, stings and scratches: mosquitoe…, test 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/399-bites-stings-and-scratches-mosquitoes-wasps-ticks-dog-bites-and-cat-scratches/t3/)
- ↑ back to [Bites, stings and scratches: mosquitoes, wasps, ticks, dog bites and cat scratches](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/399-bites-stings-and-scratches-mosquitoes-wasps-ticks-dog-bites-and-cat-scratches/)