---
title: A turtle lays its eggs on a dry beach, but a frog lays its eggs in a… — Fish, frogs and reptiles · tree and pragmatics
description: A turtle lays its eggs on a dry beach, but a frog lays its eggs in a pond. What is the main reason? Test 9 · ★ of lesson 74 «Fish, frogs and reptiles» of the world 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 9 · ★ · Fish, frogs and reptiles

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A turtle lays its eggs on a dry beach, but a frog lays its eggs in a pond. What is the main reason?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** turtle, frog, main reason · **What happens:** lay, be · **To what, where:** eggs, dry beach, pond

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 9 · ★ of lesson 74 «Fish, frogs and reptiles» of the world 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/world/74-fish-frogs-reptiles/#t9).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* A turtle lays its eggs on a dry beach, but a frog lays its eggs in a pond.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:74-fish-frogs-reptiles:t9:1
# text = A turtle lays its eggs on a dry beach, but a frog lays its eggs in a pond.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	turtle	turtle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	lays	lay	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	eggs	egg	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
6	on	on	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	dry	dry	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	beach	beach	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
11	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
12	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	frog	frog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nsubj	_	_
14	lays	lay	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
15	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	16	nmod:poss	_	_
16	eggs	egg	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	obj	_	_
17	in	in	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
18	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
19	pond	pond	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lay** | present | a turtle | turtle's eggs |  | a dry beach |  |  | vn put\_spatial-9.2 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent egg=Theme on beach=Destination |
| 2 | **lay** | present | a frog | turtle's eggs |  | a pond |  |  | vn put\_spatial-9.2 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent egg=Theme in pond=Destination |

<!-- .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 main reason?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:74-fish-frogs-reptiles:t9:2
# text = What is the main reason?
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	main	main	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Pond water is too warm for turtle eggs

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:74-fish-frogs-reptiles:t9:o1:1
# text = Pond water is too warm for turtle eggs
1	Pond	pond	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	compound	_	_
2	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	too	too	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	warm	warm	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
6	for	for	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	turtle	turtle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	eggs	egg	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Pond water |  |  |  |  | for turtle eggs; warm *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The turtle wants its eggs to be cold

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:74-fish-frogs-reptiles:t9:o2:1
# text = The turtle wants its eggs to be cold
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	turtle	turtle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	wants	want	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	eggs	egg	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
7	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	cop	_	_
8	cold	cold	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **want** | present | the turtle | turtle's eggs |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot egg=Theme |
| 2 | **is** | to-infinitive | the turtle *not said here* |  |  |  |  | cold *property* | tree rules |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The turtle's eggs have a tough shell that keeps water in

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:74-fish-frogs-reptiles:t9:o3:1
# text = The turtle's eggs have a tough shell that keeps water in
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	turtle	turtle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	's	's	PART	POS	_	2	case	_	_
4	eggs	egg	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
5	have	have	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	tough	tough	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	shell	shell	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
9	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	10	nsubj	_	_
10	keeps	keep	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	acl:relcl	_	_
11	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	_
12	in	in	ADP	IN	_	10	compound:prt	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | the turtle's eggs | a tough shell |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent shell=Patient |
| 2 | **keep in** | present | a tough shell | water |  |  |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent water=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Frogs cannot walk onto beaches

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:74-fish-frogs-reptiles:t9:o4:1
# text = Frogs cannot walk onto beaches
1	Frogs	frog	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	walk	walk	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	onto	onto	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	beaches	beach	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **walk** | can | Frogs |  |  | beaches |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme onto beach=Trajectory |

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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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