---
title: Identify the principal function of the red-orange secretion upon the… — The African savanna area: hippos, meer… · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal function of the red-orange secretion upon the skin of the hippopotamus. Exam question 2 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 pragmatics of the qu
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/102-the-african-savanna-area-hippos-meerkats-ostriches/e2/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [Biology](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/) / [The African savanna area: hippos, meer…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/102-the-african-savanna-area-hippos-meerkats-ostriches/) / e2

# Exam question 2 · The African savanna area: hippos, meerkats, ostriches, wil…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal function of the red-orange secretion upon the skin of the hippopotamus.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** identify · **To what, where:** principal function

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 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/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:102-the-african-savanna-area-hippos-meerkats-ostriches:e2:1
# text = Identify the principal function of the red-orange secretion upon the skin of the hippopotamus.
1	Identify	identify	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	function	function	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
7	red	red	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	orange	orange	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	secretion	secretion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
11	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	skin	skin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	_
14	of	of	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	hippopotamus	hippopotamus	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **identify** | imperative | you *not said here* | the principal function of the orange secretion upon the skin of the hippopotamus |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent function=Theme |

<!-- .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 is blood lost through numerous small wounds

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:102-the-african-savanna-area-hippos-meerkats-ostriches:e2:o1:1
# text = It is blood lost through numerous small wounds
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	blood	blood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	lost	lose	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl	_	_
5	through	through	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	numerous	numerous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
7	small	small	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	wounds	wound	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | It | blood |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **lose** | participle |  | blood *not said here* |  | numerous small wounds |  |  | vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is sweat coloured by the mud of the river

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:102-the-african-savanna-area-hippos-meerkats-ostriches:e2:o2:1
# text = It is sweat coloured by the mud of the river
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
3	sweat	sweat	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	coloured	colour	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	mud	mud	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	river	river	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **colour** | present · passive | the mud of the river | It |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It serves to attract a mate from a great distance across the river

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:102-the-african-savanna-area-hippos-meerkats-ostriches:e2:o3:1
# text = It serves to attract a mate from a great distance across the river
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	serves	serve	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	attract	attract	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	mate	mate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	from	from	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	great	great	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	distance	distance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
11	across	across	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	river	river	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **serve** | present | It |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **attract** | to-infinitive |  | a mate |  | the river |  | from a great distance | vn lure-59.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent mate=Patient |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It serves as a protection against the sun and possibly against infection

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:102-the-african-savanna-area-hippos-meerkats-ostriches:e2:o4:1
# text = It serves as a protection against the sun and possibly against infection
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	serves	serve	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	as	as	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	protection	protection	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
6	against	against	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	sun	sun	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
10	possibly	possibly	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
11	against	against	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	infection	infection	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **serve** | present | It |  |  |  |  | as a protection; against the sun and infection | vn masquerade-29.6-2 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Agent as protection=Attribute |

<!-- 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 -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [The African savanna area: hippos, meer…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/102-the-african-savanna-area-hippos-meerkats-ostriches/e1/)
- next →: [The African savanna area: hippos, meer…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/102-the-african-savanna-area-hippos-meerkats-ostriches/e3/)
- ↑ back to [The African savanna area: hippos, meerkats, ostriches, wild dogs and hyenas](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/102-the-african-savanna-area-hippos-meerkats-ostriches/)