---
title: «a rat that never drinks? rubbish» Which is the best answer? — The desert: living with little water · tree and pragmatics
description: «a rat that never drinks? rubbish» Which is the best answer? Test 9 · ★ 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 wrong.
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/5-the-desert/t9/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [Biology](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/) / [The desert: living with little water](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/5-the-desert/) / t9

# Test 9 · ★ · The desert: living with little water

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«a rat that never drinks? rubbish» Which is the best answer?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** rat · **What happens:** not drink, be · **To what, where:** rubbish, best answer · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 9 · ★ 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/#t9).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:5-the-desert:t9:1
# text = «a rat that never drinks? rubbish» Which is the best answer?
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	rat	rat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	6	nsubj	_	_
5	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	6	advmod	_	_
6	drinks	drink	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
8	rubbish	rubbish	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	8	punct	_	_
10	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	14	nsubj	_	_
11	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	cop	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
13	best	good	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	14	amod	_	_
14	answer	answer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **drink** *in a quote* | present | a rat | rubbish |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
True, but only because it drinks blood

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:5-the-desert:t9:o1:1
# text = True, but only because it drinks blood
1	True	true	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
3	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
4	only	only	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
5	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
6	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
7	drinks	drink	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	conj	_	_
8	blood	blood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **drink** | present | it |  |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
True, because it stores water in its cheeks

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:5-the-desert:t9:o2:1
# text = True, because it stores water in its cheeks
1	True	true	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
3	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
4	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
5	stores	store	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
9	cheeks	cheek	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **store** | present | it | water |  | water's cheeks |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent water=Theme in cheek=Location |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Rubbish, every rat must drink water every single day, or it will die within a week

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:5-the-desert:t9:o3:1
# text = Rubbish, every rat must drink water every single day, or it will die within a week
1	Rubbish	rubbish	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	4	det	_	_
4	rat	rat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
5	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
6	drink	drink	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
7	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
8	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	10	det	_	_
9	single	single	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl:unmarked	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
12	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
13	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	_
14	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	15	aux	_	_
15	die	die	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	conj	_	_
16	within	within	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	week	week	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **drink** | must | Rubbish | water |  |  | day |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent water=Patient |
| 2 | **die** | future | rat |  |  |  | week |  | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
True: the kangaroo rat gets water from its food and wastes almost none

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:5-the-desert:t9:o4:1
# text = True: the kangaroo rat gets water from its food and wastes almost none
1	True	true	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	6	punct	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	kangaroo	kangaroo	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	rat	rat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	gets	get	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
8	from	from	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
10	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
12	wastes	waste	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	conj	_	_
13	almost	almost	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
14	none	none	PRON	NN	PronType=Neg	12	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **get** | present | the kangaroo rat | water |  | rat's food |  |  | vn get-13.5.1-1 «NP V NP PP.source»: agent=Agent water=Theme from food=Source |
| 2 | **waste** | present | the kangaroo rat *not said here* | none |  |  |  |  | vn destroy-44 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent none=Patient |

<!-- div src -->

**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 -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [The desert: living with little water, test 8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/5-the-desert/t8/)
- next →: [The desert: living with little water, test 10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/5-the-desert/t10/)
- ↑ back to [The desert: living with little water](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/5-the-desert/)