---
title: Why does a broken arm need a cast for weeks? — Cells, bones and muscles · tree and pragmatics
description: Why does a broken arm need a cast for weeks? Test 10 of lesson 64 «Cells, bones and muscles» 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 10 · Cells, bones and muscles

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why does a broken arm need a cast for weeks?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** broken arm · **What happens:** break, need · **To what, where:** cast

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 10 of lesson 64 «Cells, bones and muscles» 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/64-cells-bones-and-muscles/#t10).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:64-cells-bones-and-muscles:t10:1
# text = Why does a broken arm need a cast for weeks?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	6	advmod	_	_
2	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	broken	break	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	amod	_	_
5	arm	arm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	need	need	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	cast	cast	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
9	for	for	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	weeks	week	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **break** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Patient |
| 2 | **need** | present · do-support | a broken arm | a cast |  |  | week |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot cast=Theme |

<!-- .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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Living bone mends itself slowly and must be kept still

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:64-cells-bones-and-muscles:t10:o1:1
# text = Living bone mends itself slowly and must be kept still
1	Living	living	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	bone	bone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	mends	mend	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	itself	itself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	3	obj	_	_
5	slowly	slowly	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
7	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
8	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	aux:pass	_	_
9	kept	keep	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	conj	_	_
10	still	still	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mend** | present | Living bone | bone |  |  |  | slowly *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **keep** | must · passive | Living bone *not said here* |  |  |  | still |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP» |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The cast keeps germs out of the bone only

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:64-cells-bones-and-muscles:t10:o2:1
# text = The cast keeps germs out of the bone only
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	cast	cast	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	keeps	keep	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	germs	germ	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
5	out	out	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	bone	bone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
9	only	only	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **keep** | present | the cast | germs |  | the bone |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent germ=Theme out bone=Location |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Bones never mend, so the cast stays for life

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:64-cells-bones-and-muscles:t10:o3:1
# text = Bones never mend, so the cast stays for life
1	Bones	bone	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	3	advmod	_	_
3	mend	mend	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
5	so	so	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	cast	cast	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
8	stays	stay	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
9	for	for	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	life	life	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **mend** | present | Bones |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **stay** | present | the cast |  |  |  |  | for life | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The cast makes new bone out of plaster

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:64-cells-bones-and-muscles:t10:o4:1
# text = The cast makes new bone out of plaster
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	cast	cast	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	makes	make	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	new	new	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	bone	bone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	out	out	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	plaster	plaster	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | present | the cast | new bone |  | plaster |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset bone=Product |

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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.

<!-- /div -->

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