---
title: «why's the snake going sideways, is it broken or what» Which is the… — The desert: living with little water · tree and pragmatics
description: «why's the snake going sideways, is it broken or what» Which is the best answer? Test 11 · ★ of lesson 5 «The desert: living with little water» 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 right.
---

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# Test 11 · ★ · The desert: living with little water

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«why's the snake going sideways, is it broken or what» Which is the best answer?

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

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 11 · ★ of lesson 5 «The desert: living with little water» 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/5-the-desert/#t11).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:5-the-desert:t11:1
# text = «why's the snake going sideways, is it broken or what» Which is the best answer?
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	6	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	snake	snake	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	going	go	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	11	advcl	_	_
7	sideways	sideways	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
9	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	aux:pass	_	_
10	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj:pass	_	_
11	broken	break	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
12	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
13	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	11	obl:agent	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	13	punct	_	_
15	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	19	nsubj	_	_
16	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	19	cop	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
18	best	good	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	19	amod	_	_
19	answer	answer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	11	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **go** *in a quote* | present · progressive | the snake |  |  |  |  | sideways *property* | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **break** *in a quote* | present · passive |  | snake |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **be** *speech: assert* | present |  | the best answer |  |  |  |  | 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 -->
Sidewinding touches the hot sand at only two points and does not slip

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:5-the-desert:t11:o1:1
# text = Sidewinding touches the hot sand at only two points and does not slip
1	Sidewinding	sidewinding	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	touches	touch	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	hot	hot	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	sand	sand	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	at	at	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	only	only	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	9	nummod	_	_
9	points	point	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
11	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	_
12	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	13	advmod	_	_
13	slip	slip	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **touch** | present | Sidewinding | the hot sand |  | two points |  |  | vn contiguous\_location-47.8-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme sand=Co-Theme |
| 2 | **not** **slip** | present · do-support | Sidewinding *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1-1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The snake is injured and limping

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:5-the-desert:t11:o2:1
# text = The snake is injured and limping
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	snake	snake	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	injured	injured	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	limping	limping	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the snake |  |  |  |  | injured *property* | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is lost and looking for home

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:5-the-desert:t11:o3:1
# text = It is lost and looking for home
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	lost	lose	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	looking	look	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	3	conj	_	_
6	for	for	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	home	home	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lose** | present · passive |  | It |  |  |  |  | vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Eventuality |
| 2 | **look** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | for home | vn rummage-35.5 «NP V PP.location PP.theme»: agent=Agent for home=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It always moves sideways, even in water, because it cannot go forwards

<!-- fold The tree, 13 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:5-the-desert:t11:o4:1
# text = It always moves sideways, even in water, because it cannot go forwards
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	3	advmod	_	_
3	moves	move	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	sideways	sideways	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
6	even	even	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
10	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	14	mark	_	_
11	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	_
12	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	14	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	14	advmod	_	_
14	go	go	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	conj	_	_
15	forwards	forwards	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **move** | present | It |  |  | water |  | always, sideways *property* | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V PP.trajectory»: agent=Theme in water=Trajectory |
| 2 | **not** **go** | can | water |  |  |  |  | forwards *property* | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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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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