---
title: Why might a great horned owl eat a skunk when foxes leave it alone? — Bambi: real deer, rabbits, skunks and… · tree and pragmatics
description: Why might a great horned owl eat a skunk when foxes leave it alone? Test 8 of lesson 143 «Bambi: real deer, rabbits, skunks and owls» 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 8 · Bambi: real deer, rabbits, skunks and owls

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why might a great horned owl eat a skunk when foxes leave it alone?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** great horned owl, foxes · **What happens:** eat, leave · **To what, where:** skunk

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 of lesson 143 «Bambi: real deer, rabbits, skunks and owls» 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/143-bambi-real-deer-rabbits-skunks-and-owls/#t8).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:143-bambi-real-deer-rabbits-skunks-and-owls:t8:1
# text = Why might a great horned owl eat a skunk when foxes leave it alone?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	7	advmod	_	_
2	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
4	great	great	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
5	horned	horned	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	owl	owl	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	eat	eat	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	skunk	skunk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
10	when	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	12	mark	_	_
11	foxes	fox	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	nsubj	_	_
12	leave	leave	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	advcl	_	_
13	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	obj	_	_
14	alone	alone	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **eat** | might | a great horned owl | a skunk |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent skunk=Patient |
| 2 | **leave** | present | foxes | skunk |  |  |  | alone *property* | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Skunks cannot lift their tails high enough to spray upwards at a bird in the air

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:143-bambi-real-deer-rabbits-skunks-and-owls:t8:o1:1
# text = Skunks cannot lift their tails high enough to spray upwards at a bird in the air
1	Skunks	skunk	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
2	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	lift	lift	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	tails	tail	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
7	high	high	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
8	enough	enough	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
9	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
10	spray	spray	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	advcl	_	_
11	upwards	upwards	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
12	at	at	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	bird	bird	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	_
15	in	in	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	air	air	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **lift** | can | Skunks | Skunks's tails |  |  |  |  | vn put\_direction-9.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent tail=Theme |
| 2 | **spray** | to-infinitive | Skunks *not said here* |  |  | the air |  | at a bird; upwards *property* | vn spray-9.7-1 «NP V PP.destination»: agent=Theme at bird=Destination |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Owls eat only animals that smell bad

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:143-bambi-real-deer-rabbits-skunks-and-owls:t8:o2:1
# text = Owls eat only animals that smell bad
1	Owls	owl	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	eat	eat	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	only	only	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	animals	animal	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	6	nsubj	_	_
6	smell	smell	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	acl:relcl	_	_
7	bad	bad	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **eat** | present | Owls | animals |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent animal=Patient |
| 2 | **smell** | present | animals |  |  |  |  | bad *property* | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V ADJ»: agent=Stimulus |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Owls cannot see black and white

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:143-bambi-real-deer-rabbits-skunks-and-owls:t8:o3:1
# text = Owls cannot see black and white
1	Owls	owl	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
2	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	black	black	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	xcomp	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	white	white	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **see** | can | Owls |  |  |  |  | black *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The owl has a poor sense of smell, so the spray bothers it less

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:143-bambi-real-deer-rabbits-skunks-and-owls:t8:o4:1
# text = The owl has a poor sense of smell, so the spray bothers it less
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	owl	owl	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	poor	poor	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	sense	sense	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	smell	smell	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
10	so	so	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	spray	spray	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	_
13	bothers	bother	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
14	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	obj	_	_
15	less	less	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	13	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | the owl | a poor sense of smell |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent sense=Patient |
| 2 | **bother** | present | the spray | sense |  |  |  | less *property* | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus it=Experiencer |
| 3 | **sense** |  |  | smell |  |  |  |  | nom sense «cognition transitive»: of=patient |

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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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