---
title: «zebra's white with black stripes, everyone knows that» Which is clo… — The savanna: grass, trees and the grea… · tree and pragmatics
description: «zebra's white with black stripes, everyone knows that» Which is closest to the truth? Test 9 of lesson 4 «The savanna: grass, trees and the great herds» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was righ
---

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# Test 9 · The savanna: grass, trees and the great herds

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«zebra's white with black stripes, everyone knows that» Which is closest to the truth?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** zebra, everyone · **What happens:** be, know · **To what, where:** that · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 9 of lesson 4 «The savanna: grass, trees and the great herds» 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/4-the-savanna/#t9).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:4-the-savanna:t9:1
# text = «zebra's white with black stripes, everyone knows that» Which is closest to the truth?
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	zebra	zebra	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	white	white	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	with	with	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	black	black	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	stripes	stripe	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
9	everyone	everyone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Tot	10	nsubj	_	_
10	knows	know	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	csubj	_	_
11	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	10	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	10	punct	_	_
13	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	15	nsubj	_	_
14	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	cop	_	_
15	closest	close	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	4	parataxis	_	_
16	to	to	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	truth	truth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** *in a quote* | present | zebra |  |  |  |  | with black stripes; white *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **know** *in a quote* | present | everyone | that |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer that=Stimulus |
| 3 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | to the truth; close *property* | 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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Under the hair its skin is dark, and every zebra's pattern is different

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:4-the-savanna:t9:o1:1
# text = Under the hair its skin is dark, and every zebra's pattern is different
1	Under	under	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	hair	hair	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
4	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	skin	skin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
6	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
7	dark	dark	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
10	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	11	det	_	_
11	zebra	zebra	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	's	's	PART	POS	_	11	case	_	_
13	pattern	pattern	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nsubj	_	_
14	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	cop	_	_
15	different	different	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | hair's skin |  |  | the hair |  | dark *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** | present | every zebra's pattern |  |  |  |  | different *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **pattern** |  | every zebra |  |  |  |  |  | nom pattern «cognition intransitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Zebras can change their stripes each year

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:4-the-savanna:t9:o2:1
# text = Zebras can change their stripes each year
1	Zebras	zebra	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	change	change	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	stripes	stripe	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
6	each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	7	det	_	_
7	year	year	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl:unmarked	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **change** | can | Zebras | Zebras's stripes |  |  | year |  | vn dress-41.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent stripe=Patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
All zebras have exactly the same stripes

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:4-the-savanna:t9:o3:1
# text = All zebras have exactly the same stripes
1	All	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	2	det	_	_
2	zebras	zebra	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	have	have	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	exactly	exactly	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	same	same	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	stripes	stripe	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | all zebras | the same stripes |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent stripe=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Under the hair a zebra is white, and the black stripes are just painted on

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:4-the-savanna:t9:o4:1
# text = Under the hair a zebra is white, and the black stripes are just painted on
1	Under	under	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	hair	hair	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	zebra	zebra	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
6	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
7	white	white	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
11	black	black	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	stripes	stripe	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	15	nsubj:pass	_	_
13	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	aux:pass	_	_
14	just	just	ADV	RB	_	15	advmod	_	_
15	painted	paint	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	parataxis	_	_
16	on	on	ADP	RP	_	15	compound:prt	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | a zebra |  |  | the hair |  | white *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **paint on** | present · passive |  | the black stripes |  |  |  |  | vn image\_impression-25.1 «NP V NP.destination»: subject=Destination |

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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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