---
title: Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning… — Myth check: do ostriches bury their he… · tree and pragmatics
description: Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning the alleged practice of ostriches burying their heads in sand. Exam question 1 of lesson 151 «Myth check: do ostriches bury their heads in the sand?» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and prag
---

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# Exam question 1 · Myth check: do ostriches bury their heads in the sand?

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning the alleged practice of ostriches burying their heads in sand.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, established facts, ostriches · **What happens:** select, establish, concern, bury, practice · **To what, where:** response, alleged practice, heads, sand, ostriches

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This is exam question 1 of lesson 151 «Myth check: do ostriches bury their heads in the sand?» 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/151-ostriches-and-heads-in-the-sand/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:151-ostriches-and-heads-in-the-sand:e1:1
# text = Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning the alleged practice of ostriches burying their heads in sand.
1	Select	select	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	response	response	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	consistent	consistent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	1	xcomp	_	_
5	with	with	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	established	establish	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	amod	_	_
8	facts	fact	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
9	concerning	concern	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	8	acl	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
11	alleged	alleged	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	practice	practice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
13	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	ostriches	ostrich	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	nmod	_	_
15	burying	bury	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	14	acl	_	_
16	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	17	nmod:poss	_	_
17	heads	head	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	15	obj	_	_
18	in	in	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
19	sand	sand	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **select** | imperative | you *not said here* | the response |  |  |  | consistent *property* | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent response=Theme |
| 2 | **establish** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn indicate-78-1-1 «NP V NP to be NP»: agent=Pivot |
| 3 | **concern** | gerund | the established facts *not said here* | the alleged practice of ostriches |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus practice=Experiencer |
| 4 | **bury** | gerund | ostriches *not said here* | ostriches's heads |  | sand |  |  | vn put-9.1-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent head=Theme in sand=Destination |
| 5 | **practice** |  |  | ostriches |  |  |  |  | nom practice «act transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- .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 -->
The practice occurs exclusively among juvenile birds

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:151-ostriches-and-heads-in-the-sand:e1:o1:1
# text = The practice occurs exclusively among juvenile birds
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	practice	practice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	occurs	occur	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	exclusively	exclusively	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
5	among	among	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	juvenile	juvenile	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	birds	bird	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **occur** | present | the practice |  |  |  |  | among juvenile birds; exclusively *property* | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme among bird=Location |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The practice is confined to periods of sleep

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:151-ostriches-and-heads-in-the-sand:e1:o2:1
# text = The practice is confined to periods of sleep
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	practice	practice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	confined	confine	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	periods	period	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	sleep	sleep	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **confine** | present · passive |  | the practice |  | periods of sleep |  |  | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: subject=Theme to period=Destination |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The practice does not occur; the belief arose from observation of the bird lowering its head to the nest

<!-- fold The tree, 19 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:151-ostriches-and-heads-in-the-sand:e1:o3:1
# text = The practice does not occur; the belief arose from observation of the bird lowering its head to the nest
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	practice	practice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
5	occur	occur	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	9	punct	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	belief	belief	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
9	arose	arise	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
10	from	from	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	observation	observation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
12	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	bird	bird	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod	_	_
15	lowering	lower	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	14	acl	_	_
16	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	17	nmod:poss	_	_
17	head	head	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obj	_	_
18	to	to	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
19	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
20	nest	nest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **occur** | present · do-support | the practice |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **arise** | past | the belief |  |  | observation of the bird |  | to the nest | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **lower** | gerund | the bird *not said here* | belief's head |  |  |  |  | vn put\_direction-9.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent head=Theme |
| 4 | **observe** |  |  | the bird |  |  |  |  | nom observation «act transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The practice occurs habitually when a predator approaches, the bird believing itself thereby concealed from view

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:151-ostriches-and-heads-in-the-sand:e1:o4:1
# text = The practice occurs habitually when a predator approaches, the bird believing itself thereby concealed from view
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	practice	practice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	occurs	occur	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	habitually	habitually	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
5	when	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	8	mark	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	predator	predator	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
8	approaches	approach	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	bird	bird	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nsubj	_	_
12	believing	believe	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	11	acl	_	_
13	itself	itself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	12	obj	_	_
14	thereby	thereby	ADV	RB	_	15	advmod	_	_
15	concealed	conceal	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	conj	_	_
16	from	from	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
17	view	view	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **occur** | present | the practice |  |  |  |  | habitually *property* | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **approach** | present | a predator |  |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **believe** | gerund | the bird *not said here* | bird |  |  |  |  | vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer itself=Stimulus |
| 4 | **conceal** | past | the bird |  |  | view |  | thereby *property* | vn concealment-16 «NP V NP PP.beneficiary»: agent=Agent from view=Beneficiary |

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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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- next →: [Myth check: do ostriches bury their he…, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/151-ostriches-and-heads-in-the-sand/e2/)
- ↑ back to [Myth check: do ostriches bury their heads in the sand?](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/151-ostriches-and-heads-in-the-sand/)