---
title: What would happen if rats reached an island where a bird nests on th… — Strange islands: Komodo dragons, the d… · tree and pragmatics
description: What would happen if rats reached an island where a bird nests on the ground and cannot fly? Test 4 of lesson 181 «Strange islands: Komodo dragons, the dodo, red crabs, kakapos, giants and dwarfs» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question
---

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# Test 4 · Strange islands: Komodo dragons, the dodo, red crabs, kaka…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What would happen if rats reached an island where a bird nests on the ground and cannot fly?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** rats, bird · **What happens:** happen, reach, nest, not fly · **To what, where:** island, ground

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 4 of lesson 181 «Strange islands: Komodo dragons, the dodo, red crabs, kakapos, giants and dwarfs» 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/181-strange-islands-komodo-dragons-the-dodo-red-crabs-kakapos-giants-and-dwarfs/#t4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:181-strange-islands-komodo-dragons-the-dodo-red-crabs-kakapos-giants-and-dwarfs:t4:1
# text = What would happen if rats reached an island where a bird nests on the ground and cannot fly?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	happen	happen	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
5	rats	rat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
6	reached	reach	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
7	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	island	island	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
9	where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	12	advmod	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	bird	bird	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
12	nests	nest	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	acl:relcl	_	_
13	on	on	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	ground	ground	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	_
16	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	19	cc	_	_
17	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	19	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	19	advmod	_	_
19	fly	fly	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **happen** | would |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **reach** *a condition, not said to happen* | past | rats | a island |  |  |  |  | vn body\_motion-49.2-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Agent island=Theme |
| 3 | **nest** | present | a bird |  |  | the ground |  |  | vn berry-13.7 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **not** **fly** | can | a bird *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6-1 «NP V»: agent=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 -->
Nothing, because rats cannot eat eggs

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:181-strange-islands-komodo-dragons-the-dodo-red-crabs-kakapos-giants-and-dwarfs:t4:o1:1
# text = Nothing, because rats cannot eat eggs
1	Nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
3	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
4	rats	rat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
5	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	7	advmod	_	_
7	eat	eat	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	1	conj	_	_
8	eggs	egg	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **eat** | can | rats | eggs |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent egg=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The rats would make friends with the bird and help it find food

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:181-strange-islands-komodo-dragons-the-dodo-red-crabs-kakapos-giants-and-dwarfs:t4:o2:1
# text = The rats would make friends with the bird and help it find food
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	rats	rat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	make	make	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	friends	friend	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
6	with	with	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	bird	bird	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
10	help	help	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	conj	_	_
11	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	obj	_	_
12	find	find	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	xcomp	_	_
13	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | would | the rats | friends |  |  |  | with the bird | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset friend=Product |
| 2 | **help** | infinitive | the rats *not said here* | bird |  |  |  |  | vn help-72.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent it=Beneficiary clause=Theme |
| 3 | **find** | infinitive | bird *not said here* | food |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent food=Topic |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The bird would quickly learn to fly

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:181-strange-islands-komodo-dragons-the-dodo-red-crabs-kakapos-giants-and-dwarfs:t4:o3:1
# text = The bird would quickly learn to fly
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	bird	bird	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	quickly	quickly	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	learn	learn	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	fly	fly	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **learn** | would | the bird |  |  |  |  | quickly *property* | vn learn-14-2-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **fly** | to-infinitive | the bird *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The rats would eat its eggs and chicks, and the bird could die out

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:181-strange-islands-komodo-dragons-the-dodo-red-crabs-kakapos-giants-and-dwarfs:t4:o4:1
# text = The rats would eat its eggs and chicks, and the bird could die out
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	rats	rat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	eat	eat	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	eggs	egg	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	chicks	chick	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	bird	bird	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nsubj	_	_
13	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	14	aux	_	_
14	die	die	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	conj	_	_
15	out	out	ADP	RP	_	14	compound:prt	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **eat** | would | the rats | its eggs and chicks |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent egg=Patient |
| 2 | **die out** | could | the bird |  |  |  |  |  | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |

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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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