---
title: Why might a stubbed toe give a quick bump first and the real ache a… — The brain and nerves · tree and pragmatics
description: Why might a stubbed toe give a quick bump first and the real ache a moment later? Test 6 · ★★★ of lesson 68 «The brain and nerves» 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 6 · ★★★ · The brain and nerves

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why might a stubbed toe give a quick bump first and the real ache a moment later?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** stubbed toe · **What happens:** stub, give · **To what, where:** quick bump

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 6 · ★★★ of lesson 68 «The brain and nerves» 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/68-the-brain-and-nerves/#t6).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:68-the-brain-and-nerves:t6:1
# text = Why might a stubbed toe give a quick bump first and the real ache a moment later?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	6	advmod	_	_
2	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	stubbed	stub	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	amod	_	_
5	toe	toe	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	give	give	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	quick	quick	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	bump	bump	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
10	first	first	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	6	advmod	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
13	real	real	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	ache	ache	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	conj	_	_
15	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	moment	moment	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	obl:unmarked	_	_
17	later	late	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	6	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stub** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn hurt-40.8.3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer |
| 2 | **give** | might | a stubbed toe | a quick bump |  |  |  | first, late *property* | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent bump=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 -->
Different nerve signals travel at different speeds

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:68-the-brain-and-nerves:t6:o1:1
# text = Different nerve signals travel at different speeds
1	Different	different	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
2	nerve	nerve	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	signals	signal	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	travel	travel	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	different	different	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	speeds	speed	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **travel** | present | Different nerve signals |  |  | different speeds |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme at speed=Trajectory |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The brain waits to decide if it cares

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:68-the-brain-and-nerves:t6:o2:1
# text = The brain waits to decide if it cares
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	brain	brain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	waits	wait	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	decide	decide	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	advcl	_	_
6	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
7	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
8	cares	care	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	ccomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **wait** | present | the brain |  |  |  |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **decide** | to-infinitive | the brain *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn correspond-36.1-1 «NP V what S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **care** *a condition, not said to happen* | present | brain |  |  |  |  |  | vn care-88.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The toe sends two letters to the brain by post, one after the other

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:68-the-brain-and-nerves:t6:o3:1
# text = The toe sends two letters to the brain by post, one after the other
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	toe	toe	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	sends	send	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	5	nummod	_	_
5	letters	letter	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
6	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	brain	brain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
9	by	by	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	post	post	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
12	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	10	appos	_	_
13	after	after	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **send** | present | the toe | two letters |  | the brain |  | by post | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent letter=Theme to brain=Destination |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The ache has to go round the body twice

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:68-the-brain-and-nerves:t6:o4:1
# text = The ache has to go round the body twice
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	ache	ache	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	go	go	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
6	round	round	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	body	body	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
9	twice	twice	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	5	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | the ache |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **go** | to-infinitive | the ache *not said here* |  |  | the body |  | twice *property* | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme round body=Initial\_Location |

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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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- ← previous: [The brain and nerves, test 5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/68-the-brain-and-nerves/t5/)
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