---
title: Why are most leaves flat instead of round like a ball? — Roots, stems and leaves · tree and pragmatics
description: Why are most leaves flat instead of round like a ball? Test 4 · ★ of lesson 57 «Roots, stems and leaves» 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 4 · ★ · Roots, stems and leaves

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why are most leaves flat instead of round like a ball?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** most leaves · **What happens:** be

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This is test 4 · ★ of lesson 57 «Roots, stems and leaves» 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/57-roots-stems-and-leaves/#t4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:57-roots-stems-and-leaves:t4:1
# text = Why are most leaves flat instead of round like a ball?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	5	advmod	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	most	most	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	4	amod	_	_
4	leaves	leaf	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
5	flat	flat	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
6	instead	instead	ADV	RB	ExtPos=ADP	11	case	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	fixed	_	_
8	round	round	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
9	like	like	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	ball	ball	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | most leaves |  |  |  |  | instead a ball; flat *property* | 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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Leaves are flat only because they are squashed in the bud

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:57-roots-stems-and-leaves:t4:o1:1
# text = Leaves are flat only because they are squashed in the bud
1	Leaves	leaf	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	flat	flat	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	only	only	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
5	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
6	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj:pass	_	_
7	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux:pass	_	_
8	squashed	squash	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	advcl	_	_
9	in	in	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	bud	bud	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Leaves |  |  |  |  | flat *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **squash** | present · passive |  | Leaves *= leaf* |  | the bud |  |  | vn funnel-9.3-1 «NP V NP PP.trajectory»: subject=Theme in bud=Trajectory |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Round leaves would roll away

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:57-roots-stems-and-leaves:t4:o2:1
# text = Round leaves would roll away
1	Round	round	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	leaves	leaf	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	roll	roll	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	away	away	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **roll away** | would | Round leaves |  |  |  |  | away *property* | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Flat leaves are easier for insects to eat

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:57-roots-stems-and-leaves:t4:o3:1
# text = Flat leaves are easier for insects to eat
1	Flat	flat	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	leaves	leaf	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	easier	easy	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	insects	insect	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	eat	eat	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Flat leaves |  |  |  |  | for insects; easy *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **eat** | to-infinitive | Flat leaves *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Flat leaves catch more light and let gases in and out

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:57-roots-stems-and-leaves:t4:o4:1
# text = Flat leaves catch more light and let gases in and out
1	Flat	flat	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	leaves	leaf	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	catch	catch	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	more	more	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	5	amod	_	_
5	light	light	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	let	let	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
8	gases	gas	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obj	_	_
9	in	in	ADV	RB	_	7	xcomp	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
11	out	out	ADV	RB	_	9	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **catch** | present | Flat leaves | more light |  |  |  |  | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent light=Theme |
| 2 | **let** | infinitive | Flat leaves *not said here* | gases |  |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent gas=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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