---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the… — Just So Stories, The Crab that Played… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the growth of real crabs? Exam question 4 of lesson 91 «Just So Stories, The Crab that Played with the Sea, part 2: Pau Amma loses his shell» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the q
---

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# Exam question 4 · Just So Stories, The Crab that Played with the Sea, part 2…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the growth of real crabs?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** real crabs · **What happens:** follow, characteris, grow · **To what, where:** growth

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 91 «Just So Stories, The Crab that Played with the Sea, part 2: Pau Amma loses his shell» of the books 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/books/91-justso-crab-2-pau-amma-loses-his-shell/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:91-justso-crab-2-pau-amma-loses-his-shell:e4:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the growth of real crabs?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	nsubj	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	following	follow	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	amod	_	_
5	statements	statement	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	_
6	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	7	advmod	_	_
7	accurately	accurately	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	characterises	characteris	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	growth	growth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	real	real	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	crabs	crab	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **follow** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **characteris** | present |  | the growth of real crabs |  |  |  | of the following statements; accurately *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **grow** |  | real crabs |  |  |  |  |  | nom growth «process intransitive»: of=agent |

<!-- .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 -->
They moult their old shell and remain soft until a new one hardens

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:91-justso-crab-2-pau-amma-loses-his-shell:e4:o1:1
# text = They moult their old shell and remain soft until a new one hardens
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	moult	moult	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
4	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	shell	shell	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	remain	remain	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
8	soft	soft	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	xcomp	_	_
9	until	until	SCONJ	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
11	new	new	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	one	one	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	_
13	hardens	harden	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **moult** | present | They | their old shell |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **remain** | present | They *not said here* |  |  |  |  | soft *property* | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **harden** | present | a new one |  |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They shed their old shell and stay soft for a while

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:91-justso-crab-2-pau-amma-loses-his-shell:e4:o2:1
# text = They shed their old shell and stay soft for a while
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	shed	shed	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
4	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	shell	shell	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	stay	stay	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
8	soft	soft	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	xcomp	_	_
9	for	for	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	while	while	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **shed** | past | They | their old shell |  |  |  |  | vn substance\_emission-43.4-1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location shell=Source |
| 2 | **stay** | infinitive | They *not said here* |  |  |  |  | soft *property* | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They moult their shell, and stay hard all the time

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:91-justso-crab-2-pau-amma-loses-his-shell:e4:o3:1
# text = They moult their shell, and stay hard all the time
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	moult	moult	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	4	nmod:poss	_	_
4	shell	shell	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	stay	stay	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
8	hard	hard	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	7	advmod	_	_
9	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	11	det:predet	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl:unmarked	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **moult** | present | They | their shell |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **stay** | infinitive | They *not said here* |  |  |  | time | hard *property* | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They never change their shell

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:91-justso-crab-2-pau-amma-loses-his-shell:e4:o4:1
# text = They never change their shell
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	3	advmod	_	_
3	change	change	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	shell	shell	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **change** | present | They | their shell |  |  |  |  | vn dress-41.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent shell=Patient |

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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: [Just So Stories, The Crab that Played…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/91-justso-crab-2-pau-amma-loses-his-shell/e3/)
- next →: [Just So Stories, The Crab that Played…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/92-justso-crab-3-the-moon-pulls-the-sea/t1/)
- ↑ back to [Just So Stories, The Crab that Played with the Sea, part 2: Pau Amma loses his shell](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/91-justso-crab-2-pau-amma-loses-his-shell/)