---
title: Why might a bee give its life for the hive? — How animals defend themselves · tree and pragmatics
description: Why might a bee give its life for the hive? Test 12 of lesson 53 «How animals defend themselves» 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 12 · How animals defend themselves

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why might a bee give its life for the hive?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** bee · **What happens:** give · **To what, where:** life

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 12 of lesson 53 «How animals defend themselves» 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/53-how-animals-defend-themselves/#t12).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:53-how-animals-defend-themselves:t12:1
# text = Why might a bee give its life for the hive?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	5	advmod	_	_
2	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	bee	bee	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	give	give	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	life	life	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	for	for	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	hive	hive	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give** | might | a bee | bee's life |  |  |  | for the hive | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP PP.asset»: agent=Agent life=Theme for hive=Asset |

<!-- .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 -->
Bees always die after a week anyway, so it doesn't lose much at all

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:53-how-animals-defend-themselves:t12:o1:1
# text = Bees always die after a week anyway, so it doesn't lose much at all
1	Bees	bee	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	3	advmod	_	_
3	die	die	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	after	after	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	week	week	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
7	anyway	anyway	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
9	so	so	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
10	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
11	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	13	advmod	_	_
13	lose	lose	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	conj	_	_
14	much	much	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
15	at	at	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	13	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **die** | present | Bees |  |  |  | week | always, anyway *property* | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |
| 2 | **not** **lose** | present · do-support | it |  |  | all |  |  | vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V PP.eventuality S\_ING»: agent=Agent at all=Eventuality |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The hive is full of its sisters, so protecting it protects its family

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:53-how-animals-defend-themselves:t12:o2:1
# text = The hive is full of its sisters, so protecting it protects its family
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	hive	hive	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	full	full	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	sisters	sister	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
9	so	so	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
10	protecting	protect	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	12	csubj	_	_
11	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	obj	_	_
12	protects	protect	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
13	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	14	nmod:poss	_	_
14	family	family	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the hive |  |  |  |  | of hive's sisters; full *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **protect** | gerund |  | hive |  |  |  |  | vn defend-72.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Beneficiary |
| 3 | **protect** | present | protecting | hive's family |  |  |  |  | vn defend-72.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent family=Beneficiary |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It wants to save its own honey for itself

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:53-how-animals-defend-themselves:t12:o3:1
# text = It wants to save its own honey for itself
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	wants	want	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	save	save	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
5	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
6	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	honey	honey	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
8	for	for	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	itself	itself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **want** | present | It |  |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 2 | **save** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive |  | its own honey |  |  |  | for honey | vn get-13.5.1-1 «NP V NP PP.source»: agent=Agent honey=Theme for itself=Source |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It does not like the person it stung

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:53-how-animals-defend-themselves:t12:o4:1
# text = It does not like the person it stung
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	like	like	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
8	stung	sting	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	acl:relcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **like** | present · do-support | It | the person |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot person=Theme |
| 2 | **sting** | past | person | the person *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus person=Experiencer |

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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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