---
title: Ascertain the relative abundance of predators and prey in a natural… — Zootopia: real sloths, shrews, predato… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the relative abundance of predators and prey in a natural ecosystem such as the Serengeti. Exam question 4 of lesson 142 «Zootopia: real sloths, shrews, predators and prey» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each o
---

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# Exam question 4 · Zootopia: real sloths, shrews, predators and prey

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the relative abundance of predators and prey in a natural ecosystem such as the Serengeti.

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

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This is exam question 4 of lesson 142 «Zootopia: real sloths, shrews, predators and prey» 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/142-zootopia-real-sloths-shrews-predators-and-prey/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:142-zootopia-real-sloths-shrews-predators-and-prey:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the relative abundance of predators and prey in a natural ecosystem such as the Serengeti.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	relative	relative	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	abundance	abundance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	predators	predator	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nmod	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	prey	prey	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	conj	_	_
9	in	in	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
11	natural	natural	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	ecosystem	ecosystem	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	_
13	such	such	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|ExtPos=ADP	16	case	_	_
14	as	as	ADP	IN	_	13	fixed	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	Serengeti	Serengeti	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	12	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* | the relative abundance of predators and prey in a natural ecosystem such the Serengeti |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent abundance=Topic |

<!-- .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 -->
Predators greatly outnumber prey animals

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:142-zootopia-real-sloths-shrews-predators-and-prey:e4:o1:1
# text = Predators greatly outnumber prey animals
1	Predators	predator	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	greatly	greatly	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	outnumber	outnumber	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	prey	prey	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	animals	animal	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **outnumber** | present | Predators | prey animals |  |  |  | greatly *property* | vn exceed-90 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot animal=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Prey animals are wholly absent

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:142-zootopia-real-sloths-shrews-predators-and-prey:e4:o2:1
# text = Prey animals are wholly absent
1	Prey	prey	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	compound	_	_
2	animals	animal	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	wholly	wholly	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	absent	absent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Prey animals |  |  |  |  | absent, wholly *property* | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Predators and prey occur in equal numbers

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:142-zootopia-real-sloths-shrews-predators-and-prey:e4:o3:1
# text = Predators and prey occur in equal numbers
1	Predators	predator	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
2	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	3	cc	_	_
3	prey	prey	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	conj	_	_
4	occur	occur	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	equal	equal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	numbers	number	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **occur** | present | Predators and prey |  |  | equal numbers |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme in number=Location |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Prey animals greatly outnumber predators

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:142-zootopia-real-sloths-shrews-predators-and-prey:e4:o4:1
# text = Prey animals greatly outnumber predators
1	Prey	prey	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	compound	_	_
2	animals	animal	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	greatly	greatly	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	outnumber	outnumber	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	predators	predator	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **outnumber** | present | Prey animals | predators |  |  |  | greatly *property* | vn exceed-90 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot predator=Theme |

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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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- ← previous: [Zootopia: real sloths, shrews, predato…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/142-zootopia-real-sloths-shrews-predators-and-prey/e3/)
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