---
title: «as blind as a bat, so it can't see me if i wave» What is right? — Myth check: are bats blind? · tree and pragmatics
description: «as blind as a bat, so it can't see me if i wave» What is right? Test 1 · ★★ of lesson 153 «Myth check: are bats blind?» 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 1 · ★★ · Myth check: are bats blind?

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«as blind as a bat, so it can't see me if i wave» What is right?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** bat, i · **What happens:** not see, wave, be · **To what, where:** me

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 1 · ★★ of lesson 153 «Myth check: are bats blind?» 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/153-are-bats-blind/#t1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:153-are-bats-blind:t1:1
# text = «as blind as a bat, so it can't see me if i wave» What is right?
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	as	as	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	blind	blind	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	as	as	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	bat	bat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
8	so	so	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
9	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
10	ca	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	12	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	12	advmod	_	_
12	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	parataxis	_	_
13	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	12	obj	_	_
14	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	16	mark	_	_
15	i	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	16	nsubj	_	_
16	wave	wave	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	16	punct	_	_
18	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	20	nsubj	_	_
19	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	20	cop	_	_
20	right	right	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **see** *in a quote* | can | bat | me |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer i=Stimulus |
| 2 | **wave** *a condition, not said to happen, in a quote* | present | i |  |  |  |  |  | vn wink-40.3.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | right *property* | 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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Bats can only see the colour red, so the rest of the world looks black to them

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:153-are-bats-blind:t1:o1:1
# text = Bats can only see the colour red, so the rest of the world looks black to them
1	Bats	bat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
2	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	only	only	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	colour	colour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	red	red	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
9	so	so	ADV	RB	_	15	advmod	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	rest	rest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nsubj	_	_
12	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	world	world	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod	_	_
15	looks	look	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	parataxis	_	_
16	black	black	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	15	xcomp	_	_
17	to	to	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
18	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **see** | can | Bats | the colour red |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer red=Stimulus |
| 2 | **look** | present | the rest of the world |  | Bats *= bat* |  |  | black *property* | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V ADJ PP.experiencer»: agent=Stimulus to they=Experiencer |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Right, but they can smell you

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:153-are-bats-blind:t1:o2:1
# text = Right, but they can smell you
1	Right	right	INTJ	UH	_	6	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
3	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
4	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
5	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
6	smell	smell	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
7	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs	6	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **smell** | can | they | you |  |  |  |  | vn see-30.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer you=Stimulus |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Right, bats see nothing at all

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:153-are-bats-blind:t1:o3:1
# text = Right, bats see nothing at all
1	Right	right	INTJ	UH	_	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
3	bats	bat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	see	see	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	4	obj	_	_
6	at	at	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **see** | present | bats | nothing |  | all |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer nothing=Stimulus |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Bats can see, and many also find things by echoes

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:153-are-bats-blind:t1:o4:1
# text = Bats can see, and many also find things by echoes
1	Bats	bat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
6	many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	nsubj	_	_
7	also	also	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	find	find	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
9	things	thing	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obj	_	_
10	by	by	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	echoes	echo	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **see** | can | Bats |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 2 | **find** | present | many | things |  |  |  | by echoes | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent thing=Topic |

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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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