---
title: Charlie's cat leaves a dead mouse on the doormat in Bristol. What is… — Thinking like an animal · tree and pragmatics
description: Charlie's cat leaves a dead mouse on the doormat in Bristol. What is the best way to understand it? Test 1 · ★★★ of lesson 30 «Thinking like an animal» 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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# Test 1 · ★★★ · Thinking like an animal

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Charlie's cat leaves a dead mouse on the doormat in Bristol. What is the best way to understand it?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** cat, best way · **What happens:** leave, be, understand · **To what, where:** dead mouse, doormat, way

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 1 · ★★★ of lesson 30 «Thinking like an animal» of the everyday 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/everyday/30-thinking-like-an-animal/#t1).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Charlie's cat leaves a dead mouse on the doormat in Bristol.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:30-thinking-like-an-animal:t1:1
# text = Charlie's cat leaves a dead mouse on the doormat in Bristol.
1	Charlie	Charlie	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	's	PART	POS	_	1	case	_	_
3	cat	cat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	leaves	leave	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	dead	dead	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	mouse	mouse	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
8	on	on	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	doormat	doormat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
11	in	in	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	Bristol	Bristol	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **leave** | present | Charlie's cat | a dead mouse |  | the doormat in Bristol |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent mouse=Theme on doormat=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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* What is the best way to understand it?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:30-thinking-like-an-animal:t1:2
# text = What is the best way to understand it?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	best	good	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	5	amod	_	_
5	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	understand	understand	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	acl	_	_
8	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | the best way |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **understand** | to-infinitive | the best way *not said here* | way |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer it=Stimulus |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The cat is hungry and asking for its dinner to be put out much earlier

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:30-thinking-like-an-animal:t1:o1:1
# text = The cat is hungry and asking for its dinner to be put out much earlier
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	hungry	hungry	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	asking	ask	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	4	conj	_	_
7	for	for	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
9	dinner	dinner	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
10	to	to	PART	TO	_	12	mark	_	_
11	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	aux:pass	_	_
12	put	put	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	advcl	_	_
13	out	out	ADP	RP	_	12	compound:prt	_	_
14	much	much	ADV	RB	_	15	advmod	_	_
15	earlier	early	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	12	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the cat |  |  |  |  | hungry *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **ask** *speech: ask* | gerund | the cat *not said here* |  |  |  |  | for cat's dinner | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **put out** | to-infinitive · passive | the cat *not said here* |  |  |  |  | early *property* | vn invest-13.5.4-1 «NP V PP» |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The cat wants to make him ill

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:30-thinking-like-an-animal:t1:o2:1
# text = The cat wants to make him ill
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	cat	cat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	wants	want	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	make	make	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
6	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	obj	_	_
7	ill	ill	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **want** | present | the cat |  |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 2 | **make** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | the cat *not said here* | cat |  |  |  | ill *property* | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset he=Product |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The cat is angry with him

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:30-thinking-like-an-animal:t1:o3:1
# text = The cat is angry with him
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	angry	angry	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	with	with	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the cat |  |  |  |  | with him *= he*; angry *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is the cat's natural hunting behaviour, so he should not punish it

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:30-thinking-like-an-animal:t1:o4:1
# text = It is the cat's natural hunting behaviour, so he should not punish it
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	cat	cat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	's	's	PART	POS	_	4	case	_	_
6	natural	natural	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
7	hunting	hunting	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	behaviour	behaviour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
10	so	so	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
11	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	_
12	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	14	aux	_	_
13	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	14	advmod	_	_
14	punish	punish	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	conj	_	_
15	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | It | the cat's natural hunting behaviour |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **not** **punish** | should | cat | behaviour |  |  |  |  | vn prosecute-33.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=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: [Wild birds, bats and germs from animals, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/29-germs-from-animals/e4/)
- next →: [Thinking like an animal, test 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/30-thinking-like-an-animal/t2/)
- ↑ back to [Thinking like an animal](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/30-thinking-like-an-animal/)