---
title: It is given that a cat's tail is puffed up and its back is arched. D… — Understanding cats · tree and pragmatics
description: It is given that a cat's tail is puffed up and its back is arched. Determine the state of the animal. Exam question 4 of lesson 23 «Understanding cats» of the everyday course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was wrong
---

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# Exam question 4 · Understanding cats

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is given that a cat's tail is puffed up and its back is arched. Determine the state of the animal.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** give, puff up, arch, determine · **To what, where:** It, tail, back, state

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 23 «Understanding cats» of the everyday 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/everyday/23-understanding-cats/#e4).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* It is given that a cat's tail is puffed up and its back is arched.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:23-understanding-cats:e4:1
# text = It is given that a cat's tail is puffed up and its back is arched.
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	given	give	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	cat	cat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	's	's	PART	POS	_	6	case	_	_
8	tail	tail	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj:pass	_	_
9	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	aux:pass	_	_
10	puffed	puff	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	advcl	_	_
11	up	up	ADP	RP	_	10	compound:prt	_	_
12	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
13	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	14	nmod:poss	_	_
14	back	back	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nsubj:pass	_	_
15	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	16	aux:pass	_	_
16	arched	arch	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	10	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give** | present · passive |  | It |  |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 2 | **puff up** | present · passive |  | a cat's tail |  |  |  |  | vn substance\_emission-43.4-1 «PP.location V NP»: subject=Source |
| 3 | **arch** | present · passive |  | tail's back |  |  |  |  | vn crane-40.3.2 «NP V NP»: subject=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:* Determine the state of the animal.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:23-understanding-cats:e4:2
# text = Determine the state of the animal.
1	Determine	determine	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	state	state	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	animal	animal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	.	.	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 state of the animal |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent state=Topic |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The cat is content and relaxed

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:23-understanding-cats:e4:o1:1
# text = The cat is content and relaxed
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	cat	cat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	content	content	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	relaxed	relaxed	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the cat |  |  |  |  | content *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **be** |  | the cat *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The cat is inviting play

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:23-understanding-cats:e4:o2:1
# text = The cat is inviting play
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	cat	cat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	inviting	invite	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
5	play	play	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **invite** | present · progressive | the cat | play |  |  |  |  | vn urge-58.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent play=Recipient |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The cat is frightened

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:23-understanding-cats:e4:o3:1
# text = The cat is frightened
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	cat	cat	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	frightened	frighten	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **frighten** | present · passive |  | the cat |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Experiencer |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The cat is about to sleep

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:23-understanding-cats:e4:o4:1
# text = The cat is about to sleep
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	cat	cat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	about	about	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	sleep	sleep	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the cat |  |  |  |  | about *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **sleep** | to-infinitive | the cat *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn snooze-40.4-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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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: [Understanding cats, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/23-understanding-cats/e3/)
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