---
title: Which is the best reason for being «a tree» when a strange dog runs… — Thinking like an animal · tree and pragmatics
description: Which is the best reason for being «a tree» when a strange dog runs at you? Test 3 · ★★★ 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 3 · ★★★ · Thinking like an animal

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which is the best reason for being «a tree» when a strange dog runs at you?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** strange dog · **What happens:** be, run · **To what, where:** best reason

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This is test 3 · ★★★ 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/#t3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:30-thinking-like-an-animal:t3:1
# text = Which is the best reason for being «a tree» when a strange dog runs at you?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	5	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	best	good	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	5	amod	_	_
5	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	for	for	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
7	being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	10	cop	_	_
8	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	tree	tree	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	10	punct	_	_
12	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	16	advmod	_	_
13	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
14	strange	strange	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	15	amod	_	_
15	dog	dog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nsubj	_	_
16	runs	run	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
17	at	at	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
18	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs	16	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present |  | the best reason |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** *in a quote* | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | for a tree | tree rules |
| 3 | **run** | present | a strange dog |  |  |  |  | at you | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme at you=Trajectory |

<!-- .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 -->
Trees are scary to dogs

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:30-thinking-like-an-animal:t3:o1:1
# text = Trees are scary to dogs
1	Trees	tree	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	scary	scary	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	dogs	dog	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Trees |  |  |  |  | to dogs; scary *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Dogs cannot see things that stand still, so you disappear

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:30-thinking-like-an-animal:t3:o2:1
# text = Dogs cannot see things that stand still, so you disappear
1	Dogs	dog	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
2	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	things	thing	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
6	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	7	nsubj	_	_
7	stand	stand	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	acl:relcl	_	_
8	still	still	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
10	so	so	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
11	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
12	disappear	disappear	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	parataxis	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **see** | can | Dogs | things |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer thing=Stimulus |
| 2 | **stand** | present | things |  |  |  | still |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **disappear** | present | you |  |  |  |  |  | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It makes the owner come faster

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:30-thinking-like-an-animal:t3:o3:1
# text = It makes the owner come faster
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	makes	make	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	owner	owner	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	come	come	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	xcomp	_	_
6	faster	fast	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	5	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | present | It | the owner |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **come** | present | the owner *not said here* |  |  |  |  | fast *property* | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A still person gives the dog nothing to chase

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:30-thinking-like-an-animal:t3:o4:1
# text = A still person gives the dog nothing to chase
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	still	still	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	gives	give	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	dog	dog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	4	obj	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	chase	chase	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	acl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give** | present | a person | nothing |  |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent nothing=Theme |
| 2 | **chase** | to-infinitive | a person *not said here* | nothing *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn chase-51.6 «NP V PP.theme»: 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.

<!-- /div -->

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- ← previous: [Thinking like an animal, test 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/30-thinking-like-an-animal/t2/)
- next →: [Thinking like an animal, test 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/30-thinking-like-an-animal/t4/)
- ↑ back to [Thinking like an animal](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/30-thinking-like-an-animal/)