---
title: Why might there be lemurs doing a woodpecker's job, but no woodpecke… — Madagascar: real lemurs, the aye-aye a… · tree and pragmatics
description: Why might there be lemurs doing a woodpecker's job, but no woodpeckers? Test 9 · ★★ of lesson 127 «Madagascar: real lemurs, the aye-aye and the fossa» of the biology 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 · ★★ · Madagascar: real lemurs, the aye-aye and the fossa

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why might there be lemurs doing a woodpecker's job, but no woodpeckers?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** lemurs, woodpecker · **What happens:** be, do, job · **To what, where:** lemurs, job

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 9 · ★★ of lesson 127 «Madagascar: real lemurs, the aye-aye and the fossa» of the biology 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/biology/127-madagascar-real-lemurs/#t9).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:127-madagascar-real-lemurs:t9:1
# text = Why might there be lemurs doing a woodpecker's job, but no woodpeckers?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	3	advmod	_	_
2	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	there	there	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	0	root	_	_
4	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	cop	_	_
5	lemurs	lemur	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
6	doing	do	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	acl	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	woodpecker	woodpecker	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	's	's	PART	POS	_	8	case	_	_
10	job	job	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
12	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
13	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	14	det	_	_
14	woodpeckers	woodpecker	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | infinitive |  | lemurs but no woodpeckers |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **do** | gerund | lemurs but no woodpeckers *not said here* | a woodpecker's job |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent job=Eventuality |
| 3 | **job** |  | a woodpecker |  |  |  |  |  | nom job «act intransitive»: poss=agent |

<!-- .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 -->
Woodpeckers hate islands

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:127-madagascar-real-lemurs:t9:o1:1
# text = Woodpeckers hate islands
1	Woodpeckers	woodpecker	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	hate	hate	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	islands	island	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hate** | present | Woodpeckers | islands |  |  |  |  | vn admire-31.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer island=Stimulus |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Lemurs scared all woodpeckers away

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:127-madagascar-real-lemurs:t9:o2:1
# text = Lemurs scared all woodpeckers away
1	Lemurs	lemur	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
2	scared	scared	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
3	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	4	det	_	_
4	woodpeckers	woodpecker	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
5	away	away	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Woodpeckers were all eaten by hungry lemurs long ago, so none are left

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:127-madagascar-real-lemurs:t9:o3:1
# text = Woodpeckers were all eaten by hungry lemurs long ago, so none are left
1	Woodpeckers	woodpecker	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
3	all	all	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	eaten	eat	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	hungry	hungry	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	lemurs	lemur	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
8	long	long	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	9	advmod	_	_
9	ago	ago	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
11	so	so	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
12	none	none	PRON	NN	PronType=Neg	14	nsubj	_	_
13	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	aux:pass	_	_
14	left	leave	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **eat** | past · passive | hungry lemurs | Woodpeckers |  |  |  | ago, all *property* | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Patient |
| 2 | **leave** | present · passive |  | none |  |  |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No woodpeckers reached the island, so the aye-aye took on that way of life

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:127-madagascar-real-lemurs:t9:o4:1
# text = No woodpeckers reached the island, so the aye-aye took on that way of life
1	No	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	2	det	_	_
2	woodpeckers	woodpecker	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	reached	reach	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	island	island	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
7	so	so	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
9	aye	aye	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	aye	aye	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
12	took	take	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
13	on	on	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	that	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	15	det	_	_
15	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	_
16	of	of	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
17	life	life	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **reach** | past | no woodpeckers | the island |  |  |  |  | vn body\_motion-49.2-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Agent island=Theme |
| 2 | **take** | past | the aye aye |  |  | that way of life |  |  | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent on way=Destination |

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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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