---
title: A game says fireflies glow because they swallowed tiny stars. What r… — Colours of fire: fireworks · tree and pragmatics
description: A game says fireflies glow because they swallowed tiny stars. What really happens? Test 4 · ★ of lesson 26 «Colours of fire: fireworks» of the chemistry 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 4 · ★ · Colours of fire: fireworks

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A game says fireflies glow because they swallowed tiny stars. What really happens?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** game, fireflies · **What happens:** say, glow, swallow, happen · **To what, where:** tiny stars · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 4 · ★ of lesson 26 «Colours of fire: fireworks» of the chemistry 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/chemistry/26-colours-of-fire-fireworks/#t4).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* A game says fireflies glow because they swallowed tiny stars.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chemistry:26-colours-of-fire-fireworks:t4:1
# text = A game says fireflies glow because they swallowed tiny stars.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	game	game	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	fireflies	firefly	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
5	glow	glow	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	ccomp	_	_
6	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
7	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
8	swallowed	swallow	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	advcl	_	_
9	tiny	tiny	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	stars	star	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | a game |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **glow** | present | fireflies |  |  |  |  |  | vn light\_emission-43.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **swallow** | past | fireflies *= firefly* | tiny stars |  |  |  |  | vn gobble-39.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent star=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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* What really happens?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chemistry:26-colours-of-fire-fireworks:t4:2
# text = What really happens?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	_
2	really	really	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	happens	happen	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **happen** | present |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They store sunlight in their wings all day

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chemistry:26-colours-of-fire-fireworks:t4:o1:1
# text = They store sunlight in their wings all day
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	store	store	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	sunlight	sunlight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	wings	wing	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
7	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	8	det	_	_
8	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl:unmarked	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **store** | present | They | sunlight |  | their wings | day |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent sunlight=Theme in wing=Location |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Glowing bacteria live on their backs

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chemistry:26-colours-of-fire-fireworks:t4:o2:1
# text = Glowing bacteria live on their backs
1	Glowing	glow	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	amod	_	_
2	bacteria	bacterium	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	live	live	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	on	on	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	backs	back	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **glow** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn light\_emission-43.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **live** | present | Glowing bacteria |  |  | bacteria's backs |  |  | vn exist-47.1-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme on back=Location |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A chemical reaction in their body makes light

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chemistry:26-colours-of-fire-fireworks:t4:o3:1
# text = A chemical reaction in their body makes light
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	chemical	chemical	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	reaction	reaction	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	body	body	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
7	makes	make	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	light	light	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | present | a chemical reaction in their body | light |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset light=Product |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They rub their legs together to make sparks

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chemistry:26-colours-of-fire-fireworks:t4:o4:1
# text = They rub their legs together to make sparks
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	rub	rub	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	legs	leg	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	together	together	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	make	make	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	advcl	_	_
8	sparks	spark	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **rub** | present | They | their legs |  |  |  | together *property* | vn spray-9.7-1 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent leg=Theme |
| 2 | **make** | to-infinitive | They *not said here* | sparks |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset spark=Product |

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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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