---
title: why'd the lark keep pecking the straw, fam? — Picture-Book without Pictures, The Moo… · tree and pragmatics
description: why'd the lark keep pecking the straw, fam? Test 6 · ★ of lesson 903 «Picture-Book without Pictures, The Moon's Tales, part 114: Greenland, the old maid's coffin, Pompeii» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's
---

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# Test 6 · ★ · Picture-Book without Pictures, The Moon's Tales, part 114:…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
why'd the lark keep pecking the straw, fam?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** lark · **What happens:** keep, peck · **To what, where:** straw

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 6 · ★ of lesson 903 «Picture-Book without Pictures, The Moon's Tales, part 114: Greenland, the old maid's coffin, Pompeii» of the books 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/books/903-pg27200-part114/#t6).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:903-pg27200-part114:t6:1
# text = why'd the lark keep pecking the straw, fam?
1	why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	5	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	'd	'd	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	lark	lark	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	keep	keep	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	pecking	peck	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	xcomp	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	straw	straw	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
10	fam	fam	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **keep** | present | the lark |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **peck** | gerund | the lark *not said here* | the straw and fam |  |  |  |  | vn chew-39.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent straw=Patient |

<!-- .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 -->
She was hunting for the seeds

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:903-pg27200-part114:t6:o1:1
# text = She was hunting for the seeds
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	hunting	hunt	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
4	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	seeds	seed	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hunt** | past · progressive | She |  |  |  |  | for the seeds | vn hunt-35.1 «NP V PP.theme PP.location»: agent=Agent for seed=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She wanted to tear the covering

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:903-pg27200-part114:t6:o2:1
# text = She wanted to tear the covering
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	wanted	want	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	tear	tear	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	covering	covering	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **want** | past | She |  |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 2 | **tear** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | She *not said here* | the covering |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Initial\_Location covering=Theme |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She tried to break the coffin lid

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:903-pg27200-part114:t6:o3:1
# text = She tried to break the coffin lid
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	tried	try	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	break	break	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	coffin	coffin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	lid	lid	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **try** | past | She |  |  |  |  |  | vn try-61.1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **break** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | She *not said here* | the coffin lid |  |  |  |  | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer lid=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She was hungry

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:903-pg27200-part114:t6:o4:1
# text = She was hungry
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	hungry	hungry	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | She |  |  |  |  | hungry *property* | tree rules |

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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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- ← previous: [Picture-Book without Pictures, The Moo…, test 5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/903-pg27200-part114/t5/)
- next →: [Picture-Book without Pictures, The Moo…, test 7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/903-pg27200-part114/t7/)
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