---
title: If porcupines cannot throw quills, how do quills end up stuck in a d… — How animals defend themselves · tree and pragmatics
description: If porcupines cannot throw quills, how do quills end up stuck in a dog's nose? Test 2 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 2 · How animals defend themselves

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
If porcupines cannot throw quills, how do quills end up stuck in a dog's nose?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** porcupines, quills · **What happens:** not throw, end up · **To what, where:** quills

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 2 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/#t2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:53-how-animals-defend-themselves:t2:1
# text = If porcupines cannot throw quills, how do quills end up stuck in a dog's nose?
1	If	if	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
2	porcupines	porcupine	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
3	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
5	throw	throw	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	quills	quill	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
8	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	11	advmod	_	_
9	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	aux	_	_
10	quills	quill	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	nsubj	_	_
11	end	end	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	parataxis	_	_
12	up	up	ADP	RP	_	11	compound:prt	_	_
13	stuck	stuck	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	xcomp	_	_
14	in	in	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
15	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	dog	dog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	's	's	PART	POS	_	16	case	_	_
18	nose	nose	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **throw** | can | porcupines | quills |  |  |  |  | vn throw-17.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent quill=Theme |
| 2 | **end up** | present · do-support | quills |  |  |  |  | stuck *property* | vn become-109.1-1-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Patient |

<!-- .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 -->
The porcupine stabbed it again and again with its long sharp front teeth

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:53-how-animals-defend-themselves:t2:o1:1
# text = The porcupine stabbed it again and again with its long sharp front teeth
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	porcupine	porcupine	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	stabbed	stab	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	obj	_	_
5	again	again	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	again	again	ADV	RB	_	5	conj	_	_
8	with	with	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
9	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	13	nmod:poss	_	_
10	long	long	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
11	sharp	sharp	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
12	front	front	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	teeth	tooth	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stab** | past | the porcupine | it |  |  | again | with porcupine's long sharp front teeth | vn poison-42.2 «NP V NP PP.instrument»: agent=Agent it=Patient with tooth=Instrument |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The wind blew them at the dog

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:53-how-animals-defend-themselves:t2:o2:1
# text = The wind blew them at the dog
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	wind	wind	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	blew	blow	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	obj	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	dog	dog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **blow** | past | the wind | them *= they* |  |  |  | at the dog | vn split-23.2 «NP V NP apart»: agent=Agent they=Patient |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The dog touched or bit the porcupine and the barbed quills came off

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:53-how-animals-defend-themselves:t2:o3:1
# text = The dog touched or bit the porcupine and the barbed quills came off
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	dog	dog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	touched	touch	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	bit	bite	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	porcupine	porcupine	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	barbed	barbed	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	quills	quill	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	nsubj	_	_
12	came	come	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
13	off	off	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **touch** | past | the dog |  |  |  |  |  | vn contiguous\_location-47.8-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **bite** | past | the dog *not said here* | the porcupine |  |  |  |  | vn swat-18.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent porcupine=Patient |
| 3 | **come off** | past | the barbed quills |  |  |  |  | off *property* | vn occur-48.3-2 «NP V ADV»: agent=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The dog rolled in an old nest

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:53-how-animals-defend-themselves:t2:o4:1
# text = The dog rolled in an old nest
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	dog	dog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	rolled	roll	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	nest	nest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **roll** | participle |  | the dog *not said here* |  | a old nest |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in nest=Trajectory |

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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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