---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises a ca… — The cat that only likes Dad, and other… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises a cat that scratches a child who has pulled its tail? Exam question 3 of lesson 457 «The cat that only likes Dad, and other choosy pets» of the everyday course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the que
---

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# Exam question 3 · The cat that only likes Dad, and other choosy pets

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises a cat that scratches a child who has pulled its tail?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** cat · **What happens:** follow, characteris, scratch, pull · **To what, where:** cat, child

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 457 «The cat that only likes Dad, and other choosy pets» 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/457-the-cat-that-only-likes-dad-and-other-choosy-pets/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:457-the-cat-that-only-likes-dad-and-other-choosy-pets:e3:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises a cat that scratches a child who has pulled its tail?
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	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	cat	cat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	12	nsubj	_	_
12	scratches	scratch	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	acl:relcl	_	_
13	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	child	child	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obj	_	_
15	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	17	nsubj:pass	_	_
16	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	17	aux	_	_
17	pulled	pull	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	14	acl:relcl	_	_
18	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	19	nmod:poss	_	_
19	tail	tail	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	?	?	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 |  | a cat |  |  |  | of the following statements; accurately *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **scratch** | present | a cat | a child |  |  |  |  | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent child=Theme |
| 4 | **pull** | present · perfect · passive |  | a child |  |  |  |  | vn push-12-1 «NP V NP ADJP-Result»: subject=Theme tail=Result |

<!-- .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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The cat has responded to pain and fear

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:457-the-cat-that-only-likes-dad-and-other-choosy-pets:e3:o1:1
# text = The cat has responded to pain and fear
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	cat	cat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	responded	respond	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	pain	pain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	xcomp	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	fear	fear	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **respond** *speech: other* | present · perfect | the cat | pain and fear |  |  |  |  | vn respond-113 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The cat seeks to dominate the household

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:457-the-cat-that-only-likes-dad-and-other-choosy-pets:e3:o2:1
# text = The cat seeks to dominate the household
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	cat	cat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	seeks	seek	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	dominate	dominate	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	household	household	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **seek** | present | the cat |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **dominate** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | the cat *not said here* | the household |  |  |  |  | vn contiguous\_location-47.8-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme household=Co-Theme |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The cat is of a malicious disposition

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:457-the-cat-that-only-likes-dad-and-other-choosy-pets:e3:o3:1
# text = The cat is of a malicious disposition
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	cat	cat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	malicious	malicious	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	disposition	disposition	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the cat |  |  |  |  | of a malicious disposition | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The cat has acted entirely without any cause

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:457-the-cat-that-only-likes-dad-and-other-choosy-pets:e3:o4:1
# text = The cat has acted entirely without any cause
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	cat	cat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	acted	act	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
5	entirely	entirely	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
6	without	without	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	8	det	_	_
8	cause	cause	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **act** | present · perfect | the cat |  |  |  |  | without any cause; entirely *property* | vn act-114-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

<!-- div src -->

**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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- ↑ back to [The cat that only likes Dad, and other choosy pets](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/457-the-cat-that-only-likes-dad-and-other-choosy-pets/)