---
title: Determine the reason for which a tortoise is unable to depart from i… — The reptile house: Komodo dragons, cha… · tree and pragmatics
description: Determine the reason for which a tortoise is unable to depart from its shell. Exam question 4 of lesson 88 «The reptile house: Komodo dragons, chameleons, tortoises and crocodiles» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each opt
---

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# Exam question 4 · The reptile house: Komodo dragons, chameleons, tortoises a…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Determine the reason for which a tortoise is unable to depart from its shell.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, tortoise · **What happens:** determine, be, depart · **To what, where:** reason, shell

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 88 «The reptile house: Komodo dragons, chameleons, tortoises and crocodiles» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, asked in stiff, formal language. 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/88-reptile-house-komodo-chameleons-tortoises-crocodiles/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:88-reptile-house-komodo-chameleons-tortoises-crocodiles:e4:1
# text = Determine the reason for which a tortoise is unable to depart from its shell.
1	Determine	determine	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	for	for	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	9	obl	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	tortoise	tortoise	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
8	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
9	unable	unable	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	acl	_	_
10	to	to	PART	TO	_	11	mark	_	_
11	depart	depart	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	xcomp	_	_
12	from	from	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	14	nmod:poss	_	_
14	shell	shell	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **determine** | imperative | you *not said here* | the reason |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent reason=Topic |
| 2 | **is** | present | a tortoise |  |  |  |  | for the reason; unable *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **depart** | to-infinitive | a tortoise *not said here* |  |  | tortoise's shell |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme from shell=Initial\_Location |

<!-- .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 -->
The shell is too heavy to lift

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:88-reptile-house-komodo-chameleons-tortoises-crocodiles:e4:o1:1
# text = The shell is too heavy to lift
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	shell	shell	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	too	too	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	heavy	heavy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	lift	lift	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the shell |  |  |  |  | heavy *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **lift** | to-infinitive | the shell *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn put\_direction-9.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The shell forms part of its skeleton, joined to ribs and backbone

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:88-reptile-house-komodo-chameleons-tortoises-crocodiles:e4:o2:1
# text = The shell forms part of its skeleton, joined to ribs and backbone
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	shell	shell	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	forms	form	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	part	part	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	skeleton	skeleton	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
9	joined	join	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	conj	_	_
10	to	to	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	ribs	rib	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obl	_	_
12	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
13	backbone	backbone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **form** | present | the shell | part of shell's skeleton |  |  |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location part=Theme |
| 2 | **join** | participle | the shell *not said here* |  |  |  |  | to ribs and backbone | vn mix-22.1-2-1 «NP V PP.patient»: agent=Patient to rib=Co-Patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The shell has no opening of sufficient size

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:88-reptile-house-komodo-chameleons-tortoises-crocodiles:e4:o3:1
# text = The shell has no opening of sufficient size
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	shell	shell	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	5	det	_	_
5	opening	opening	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	sufficient	sufficient	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	size	size	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | the shell | no opening of sufficient size |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent opening=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The tortoise is held in place within the shell by its claws

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:88-reptile-house-komodo-chameleons-tortoises-crocodiles:e4:o4:1
# text = The tortoise is held in place within the shell by its claws
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	tortoise	tortoise	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	held	hold	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	place	place	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
7	within	within	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	shell	shell	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
10	by	by	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	12	nmod:poss	_	_
12	claws	claw	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hold** | present · passive | tortoise's claws | the tortoise |  | place |  | within the shell | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent subject=Theme in place=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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