---
title: Ascertain the means by which the pipistrelle locates its insect prey… — The city as a habitat · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the means by which the pipistrelle locates its insect prey in darkness. Exam question 3 of lesson 14 «The city as a habitat» 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 wrong.
---

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# Exam question 3 · The city as a habitat

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the means by which the pipistrelle locates its insect prey in darkness.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, the, pipistrelle · **What happens:** ascertain, mean, locate · **To what, where:** insect prey, darkness

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 14 «The city as a habitat» 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/14-the-city-as-a-habitat/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:14-the-city-as-a-habitat:e3:1
# text = Ascertain the means by which the pipistrelle locates its insect prey in darkness.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	nsubj	_	_
3	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	ccomp	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	obl	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	pipistrelle	pipistrelle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
8	locates	locate	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	parataxis	_	_
9	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
10	insect	insect	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	compound	_	_
11	prey	prey	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
12	in	in	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	darkness	darkness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **mean** | present | the |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **locate** | present | the pipistrelle | pipistrelle's insect prey |  | darkness |  |  | 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 -->
The detection of the body heat of insects through its feet

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:14-the-city-as-a-habitat:e3:o1:1
# text = The detection of the body heat of insects through its feet
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	detection	detection	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	body	body	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	heat	heat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	insects	insect	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nmod	_	_
9	through	through	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
11	feet	foot	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **detect** |  |  | the body heat of insects |  | heat's feet |  |  | nom detection «cognition transitive»: of=patient through=place |
| 2 | **heat** |  | insects |  |  |  |  |  | nom heat «phenomenon intransitive»: of=agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The exclusive use of the light of street lamps

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:14-the-city-as-a-habitat:e3:o2:1
# text = The exclusive use of the light of street lamps
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	exclusive	exclusive	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	use	use	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	light	light	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	street	street	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	lamps	lamp	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **use** |  |  | the light of street lamps |  |  |  |  | nom use «act transitive»: of=patient |
| 2 | **light** |  |  | street lamps |  |  |  |  | nom light «phenomenon transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The emission of calls and the interpretation of their echoes

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:14-the-city-as-a-habitat:e3:o3:1
# text = The emission of calls and the interpretation of their echoes
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	emission	emission	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	calls	call	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	interpretation	interpretation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	conj	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
10	echoes	echo	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **emit** |  |  | calls and the interpretation of calls's echoes |  |  |  |  | nom emission «act transitive»: of=patient |
| 2 | **interpret** |  |  | calls's echoes |  |  |  |  | nom interpretation «cognition transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is blind and encounters its prey by chance

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:14-the-city-as-a-habitat:e3:o4:1
# text = It is blind and encounters its prey by chance
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	blind	blind	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	encounters	encounter	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
6	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	prey	prey	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	by	by	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	chance	chance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | It |  |  |  |  | blind *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **encounter** | present |  | its prey |  |  |  | by chance | vn encounter-30.5 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer prey=Stimulus |

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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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- ← previous: [The city as a habitat, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/14-the-city-as-a-habitat/e2/)
- next →: [The city as a habitat, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/14-the-city-as-a-habitat/e4/)
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