---
title: What would happen if a whiting tried to breathe on the beach like a… — Wonderland's sea creatures and made-up… · tree and pragmatics
description: What would happen if a whiting tried to breathe on the beach like a porpoise does at the surface? Test 11 · ★★ of lesson 402 «Wonderland's sea creatures and made-up ones: lobsters, whiting, turtles, the Mock Turtle, the Gryphon and the Caterpillar» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, wit
---

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# Test 11 · ★★ · Wonderland's sea creatures and made-up ones: lobsters, whi…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What would happen if a whiting tried to breathe on the beach like a porpoise does at the surface?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** whiting, porpoise · **What happens:** happen, try, breathe, do · **To what, where:** beach, surface

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 11 · ★★ of lesson 402 «Wonderland's sea creatures and made-up ones: lobsters, whiting, turtles, the Mock Turtle, the Gryphon and the Caterpillar» 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/402-wonderland-sea-creatures-and-made-up-ones-lobster-whiting-turtle-mock-turtle-gryphon/#t11).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:402-wonderland-sea-creatures-and-made-up-ones-lobster-whiting-turtle-mock-turtle-gryphon:t11:1
# text = What would happen if a whiting tried to breathe on the beach like a porpoise does at the surface?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	happen	happen	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	whiting	whiting	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	tried	try	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	breathe	breathe	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	xcomp	_	_
10	on	on	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	beach	beach	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
13	like	like	SCONJ	IN	_	16	mark	_	_
14	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	porpoise	porpoise	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nsubj	_	_
16	does	do	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	advcl	_	_
17	at	at	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
18	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
19	surface	surface	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **happen** | would |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **try** *a condition, not said to happen* | past | a whiting |  |  |  |  |  | vn try-61.1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 3 | **breathe** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | a whiting *not said here* |  |  | the beach |  |  | vn breathe-40.1.2-1 «NP V PP.destination»: agent=Agent on beach=Destination |
| 4 | **do** | present | a porpoise |  |  | the surface |  |  | vn act-114-1 «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 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It could not, because fish take air from water with gills

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:402-wonderland-sea-creatures-and-made-up-ones-lobster-whiting-turtle-mock-turtle-gryphon:t11:o1:1
# text = It could not, because fish take air from water with gills
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
3	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	2	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
5	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
6	fish	fish	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
7	take	take	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	air	air	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
9	from	from	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
11	with	with	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	gills	gill	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **take** | could | fish | air |  | water |  | with gills | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP PP.initial\_location»: agent=Agent air=Theme from water=Initial\_Location |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It would hold its breath like a turtle

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:402-wonderland-sea-creatures-and-made-up-ones-lobster-whiting-turtle-mock-turtle-gryphon:t11:o2:1
# text = It would hold its breath like a turtle
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	hold	hold	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	breath	breath	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	like	like	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	turtle	turtle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hold** | would | It | its breath |  |  |  | like a turtle | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent breath=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It would grow lungs after a few minutes

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:402-wonderland-sea-creatures-and-made-up-ones-lobster-whiting-turtle-mock-turtle-gryphon:t11:o3:1
# text = It would grow lungs after a few minutes
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	grow	grow	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	lungs	lung	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
5	after	after	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	few	few	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	minutes	minute	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **grow** | would | It | lungs |  |  | minute |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location lung=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It would breathe through its blowhole easily

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:402-wonderland-sea-creatures-and-made-up-ones-lobster-whiting-turtle-mock-turtle-gryphon:t11:o4:1
# text = It would breathe through its blowhole easily
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	breathe	breathe	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	through	through	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	blowhole	blowhole	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
7	easily	easily	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **breathe** | would | It |  |  | its blowhole |  | easily *property* | vn breathe-40.1.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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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.

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- ↑ back to [Wonderland's sea creatures and made-up ones: lobsters, whiting, turtles, the Mock Turtle, the Gryphon and the Caterpillar](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/402-wonderland-sea-creatures-and-made-up-ones-lobster-whiting-turtle-mock-turtle-gryphon/)