---
title: «a duck bill + beaver tail?? that thing's fake mate» Why should a sc… — The platypus and the echidna: mammals… · tree and pragmatics
description: «a duck bill + beaver tail?? that thing's fake mate» Why should a scientist be careful before deciding? Test 5 of lesson 43 «The platypus and the echidna: mammals that lay eggs» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option
---

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# Test 5 · The platypus and the echidna: mammals that lay eggs

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«a duck bill + beaver tail?? that thing's fake mate» Why should a scientist be careful before deciding?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** duck bill · **What happens:** be, decide

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This is test 5 of lesson 43 «The platypus and the echidna: mammals that lay eggs» 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/43-platypus-and-echidna/#t5).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:43-platypus-and-echidna:t5:1
# text = «a duck bill + beaver tail?? that thing's fake mate» Why should a scientist be careful before deciding?
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	20	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	duck	duck	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
4	bill	bill	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	nsubj	_	_
5	+	+	SYM	SYM	_	7	cc	_	_
6	beaver	beaver	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	tail	tail	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	??	??	PUNCT	.	_	13	punct	_	_
9	that	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	10	det	_	_
10	thing	thing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	's	's	PART	POS	_	10	case	_	_
12	fake	fake	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	mate	mate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	13	punct	_	_
15	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
16	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	20	aux	_	_
17	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	scientist	scientist	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	nsubj	_	_
19	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	20	cop	_	_
20	careful	careful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
21	before	before	SCONJ	IN	_	22	mark	_	_
22	deciding	decide	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	20	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	20	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | should | a duck bill + beaver tail |  |  |  |  | careful *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **decide** | gerund | a duck bill + beaver tail *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn correspond-36.1-1 «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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Animals with bills are always birds

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:43-platypus-and-echidna:t5:o1:1
# text = Animals with bills are always birds
1	Animals	animal	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
2	with	with	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
3	bills	bill	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	nmod	_	_
4	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
5	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	6	advmod	_	_
6	birds	bird	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | Animals with bills | birds |  |  |  | always *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Scientists never doubt anything

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:43-platypus-and-echidna:t5:o2:1
# text = Scientists never doubt anything
1	Scientists	scientist	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	3	advmod	_	_
3	doubt	doubt	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	anything	anything	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **doubt** | present | Scientists | anything |  |  |  |  | vn judgment-33.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent anything=Theme |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Anything that looks that strange is always fake, so throw it straight out

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:43-platypus-and-echidna:t5:o3:1
# text = Anything that looks that strange is always fake, so throw it straight out
1	Anything	anything	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	8	nsubj	_	_
2	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	3	nsubj	_	_
3	looks	look	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	acl:relcl	_	_
4	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	5	nsubj	_	_
5	strange	strange	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	xcomp	_	_
6	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
7	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	8	advmod	_	_
8	fake	fake	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
10	so	so	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
11	throw	throw	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	conj	_	_
12	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	obj	_	_
13	straight	straight	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
14	out	out	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **look** | present |  |  |  |  |  | strange *property* | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V ADJ»: agent=Stimulus |
| 2 | **is** | present | Anything |  |  |  |  | always, fake *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **throw** | infinitive | Anything *not said here* | it |  |  |  | out *property* | vn throw-17.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Strange things can be real, so check the evidence before deciding

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:43-platypus-and-echidna:t5:o4:1
# text = Strange things can be real, so check the evidence before deciding
1	Strange	strange	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	things	thing	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
3	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	cop	_	_
5	real	real	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
7	so	so	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	check	check	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	conj	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	evidence	evidence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	before	before	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
12	deciding	decide	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	8	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | can | Strange things |  |  |  |  | real *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **check** | infinitive | Strange things *not said here* | the evidence |  |  |  |  | vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent evidence=Theme |
| 3 | **decide** | gerund | Strange things *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn correspond-36.1-1 «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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