---
title: «a skunk's raising its tail at our tent, shut up and keep still or c… — Animals of North America and Britain:… · tree and pragmatics
description: «a skunk's raising its tail at our tent, shut up and keep still or chase it?» What is the best answer? Test 6 · ★★★ of lesson 80 «Animals of North America and Britain: moose, bald eagles, raccoons, beavers, foxes, badgers, hedgehogs, robins» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the d
---

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# Test 6 · ★★★ · Animals of North America and Britain: moose, bald eagles,…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«a skunk's raising its tail at our tent, shut up and keep still or chase it?» What is the best answer?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** best answer · **What happens:** raise, shut up, keep, chase, be · **To what, where:** tail, tent

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This is test 6 · ★★★ of lesson 80 «Animals of North America and Britain: moose, bald eagles, raccoons, beavers, foxes, badgers, hedgehogs, robins» 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/80-animals-of-north-america-and-britain/#t6).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* «a skunk's raising its tail at our tent, shut up and keep still or chase it?»

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:80-animals-of-north-america-and-britain:t6:1
# text = «a skunk's raising its tail at our tent, shut up and keep still or chase it?»
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	skunk	skunk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	's	's	PART	POS	_	3	case	_	_
5	raising	raise	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
6	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	tail	tail	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	at	at	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	our	our	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
10	tent	tent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
12	shut	shut	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	conj	_	_
13	up	up	ADP	RP	_	12	compound:prt	_	_
14	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
15	keep	keep	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	conj	_	_
16	still	still	ADV	RB	_	15	advmod	_	_
17	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	18	cc	_	_
18	chase	chase	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	15	conj	_	_
19	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **raise** *in a quote* | gerund |  | skunk's tail |  | our tent |  |  | vn put\_direction-9.4 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent tail=Theme at tent=Destination |
| 2 | **shut up** *in a quote* | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn subjugate-42.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **keep** *in a quote* | infinitive |  |  |  |  | still |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **chase** *in a quote* | infinitive |  | tail |  |  |  |  | vn chase-51.6 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* What is the best answer?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:80-animals-of-north-america-and-britain:t6:2
# text = What is the best answer?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	best	good	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	5	amod	_	_
5	answer	answer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | the best answer |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Try to pick it up gently

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:80-animals-of-north-america-and-britain:t6:o1:1
# text = Try to pick it up gently
1	Try	try	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	to	to	PART	TO	_	3	mark	_	_
3	pick	pick	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	1	xcomp	_	_
4	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	obj	_	_
5	up	up	ADP	RP	_	3	compound:prt	_	_
6	gently	gently	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **try** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn try-61.1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **pick up** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | you *not said here* | it |  |  |  | gently *property* | vn discover-84-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Topic |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Back away slowly and give it lots of room; that is a warning

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:80-animals-of-north-america-and-britain:t6:o2:1
# text = Back away slowly and give it lots of room; that is a warning
1	Back	back	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
2	away	away	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	slowly	slowly	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	give	give	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	obj	_	_
7	lots	lot	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	room	room	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	14	punct	_	_
11	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	14	nsubj	_	_
12	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	cop	_	_
13	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	warning	warning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	parataxis	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give** | imperative | you *not said here* | it |  |  |  | slowly *property* | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: agent=Agent it=Recipient lot=Theme |
| 2 | **is a** | present | that | a warning |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Run straight at it shouting

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:80-animals-of-north-america-and-britain:t6:o3:1
# text = Run straight at it shouting
1	Run	run	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	straight	straight	ADV	RB	_	1	advmod	_	_
3	at	at	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	1	obl	_	_
5	shouting	shout	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	1	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **run** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  | it |  | straight *property* | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme at it=Trajectory |
| 2 | **shout** *speech: express* | gerund | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Chase it off with a stick before it gets any closer to the tent

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:80-animals-of-north-america-and-britain:t6:o4:1
# text = Chase it off with a stick before it gets any closer to the tent
1	Chase	chase	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	1	obj	_	_
3	off	off	ADP	RP	_	1	compound:prt	_	_
4	with	with	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	stick	stick	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
7	before	before	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
8	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
9	gets	get	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	advcl	_	_
10	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	11	det	_	_
11	closer	close	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	9	xcomp	_	_
12	to	to	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	tent	tent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **chase off** | imperative | you *not said here* | it |  |  |  | with a stick | vn chase-51.6 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |
| 2 | **get** | present | stick |  |  |  |  | close *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer |

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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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