---
title: Why would a cactus open its stomata at night instead of during the d… — Roots, stems and leaves · tree and pragmatics
description: Why would a cactus open its stomata at night instead of during the day? Test 5 · ★ 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 5 · ★ · Roots, stems and leaves

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why would a cactus open its stomata at night instead of during the day?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 5 · ★ 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/#t5).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:57-roots-stems-and-leaves:t5:1
# text = Why would a cactus open its stomata at night instead of during the day?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	5	advmod	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	cactus	cactus	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl:unmarked	_	_
5	open	open	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
6	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	stomata	stomata	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
8	at	at	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	night	night	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
10	instead	instead	ADV	RB	ExtPos=ADP	14	case	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	fixed	_	_
12	during	during	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Cacti only breathe in the dark, just like bats do

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:57-roots-stems-and-leaves:t5:o1:1
# text = Cacti only breathe in the dark, just like bats do
1	Cacti	cactus	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	only	only	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	breathe	breathe	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	dark	dark	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
8	just	just	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
9	like	like	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	bats	bat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	nsubj	_	_
11	do	do	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **breathe** | present | Cacti |  |  | the dark |  |  | vn breathe-40.1.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **do** | present | bats |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is hiding from bees

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:57-roots-stems-and-leaves:t5:o2:1
# text = It is hiding from bees
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	hiding	hide	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
4	from	from	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	bees	bee	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hide** | present · progressive | It |  |  |  |  | from bees | vn concealment-16-1 «NP V PP.beneficiary»: agent=Agent from bee=Beneficiary |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It loses much less water in the cool night

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:57-roots-stems-and-leaves:t5:o3:1
# text = It loses much less water in the cool night
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	loses	lose	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	much	much	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	less	less	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	5	amod	_	_
5	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	cool	cool	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	night	night	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lose** | present | It | less water |  |  | night |  | vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent water=Eventuality |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The hot Sun burns the tiny holes shut

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:57-roots-stems-and-leaves:t5:o4:1
# text = The hot Sun burns the tiny holes shut
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	hot	hot	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	Sun	Sun	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	burns	burn	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	tiny	tiny	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	holes	hole	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
8	shut	shut	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	acl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **burn** | present | the hot Sun | the tiny holes |  |  |  |  | vn light\_emission-43.1 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent hole=Theme |
| 2 | **shut** | participle |  | the tiny holes *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

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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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