---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the… — The African savanna area: hippos, meer… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the locomotion of the hippopotamus in water? Exam question 1 of lesson 102 «The African savanna area: hippos, meerkats, ostriches, wild dogs and hyenas» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragma
---

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# Exam question 1 · The African savanna area: hippos, meerkats, ostriches, wil…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the locomotion of the hippopotamus in water?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** follow, characteris · **To what, where:** locomotion

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 102 «The African savanna area: hippos, meerkats, ostriches, wild dogs and hyenas» of the biology 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/biology/102-the-african-savanna-area-hippos-meerkats-ostriches/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:102-the-african-savanna-area-hippos-meerkats-ostriches:e1:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the locomotion of the hippopotamus in water?
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	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	locomotion	locomotion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	hippopotamus	hippopotamus	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	_
14	in	in	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	?	?	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 |  | the locomotion of the hippopotamus in water |  |  |  | of the following statements; accurately *property* | tree rules |

<!-- .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 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It avoids water entirely and inhabits dry plains

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:102-the-african-savanna-area-hippos-meerkats-ostriches:e1:o1:1
# text = It avoids water entirely and inhabits dry plains
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	avoids	avoid	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
4	entirely	entirely	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	inhabits	inhabit	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
7	dry	dry	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	plains	plain	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **avoid** | present | It | water |  |  |  | entirely *property* | vn avoid-52 «NP V NP.location»: agent=Agent water=Location |
| 2 | **inhabit** | present |  | dry plains |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It walks or bounds along the bottom, being too dense to swim in the ordinary sense

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:102-the-african-savanna-area-hippos-meerkats-ostriches:e1:o2:1
# text = It walks or bounds along the bottom, being too dense to swim in the ordinary sense
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	walks	walk	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	4	cc	_	_
4	bounds	bound	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
5	along	along	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	bottom	bottom	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
9	being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	11	cop	_	_
10	too	too	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
11	dense	dense	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	conj	_	_
12	to	to	PART	TO	_	13	mark	_	_
13	swim	swim	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	11	xcomp	_	_
14	in	in	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
16	ordinary	ordinary	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	17	amod	_	_
17	sense	sense	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **walk** | present | It |  |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **bound** | present |  |  |  | the bottom |  |  | vn run-51.3.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme along bottom=Trajectory |
| 3 | **is** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | dense *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **swim** | to-infinitive |  |  |  | the ordinary sense |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in sense=Trajectory |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It floats upon the surface and does not submerge

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:102-the-african-savanna-area-hippos-meerkats-ostriches:e1:o3:1
# text = It floats upon the surface and does not submerge
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	floats	float	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	surface	surface	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
7	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
8	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	9	advmod	_	_
9	submerge	submerge	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **float** | present | It |  |  | the surface |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme upon surface=Trajectory |
| 2 | **not** **submerge** | present · do-support |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It swims with great speed by means of its tail

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:102-the-african-savanna-area-hippos-meerkats-ostriches:e1:o4:1
# text = It swims with great speed by means of its tail
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	swims	swim	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	with	with	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	great	great	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	speed	speed	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
6	by	by	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
10	tail	tail	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **swim** | present | It |  |  |  |  | with great speed | vn swarm-47.5.1-1 «PP.location V PP.theme»: agent=Location with speed=Theme |
| 2 | **mean** | present |  |  |  |  |  | of speed's tail | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: 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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