---
title: Identify the principal reason for which grey squirrels endanger the… — Foxes and squirrels · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal reason for which grey squirrels endanger the red squirrel in Britain. Exam question 2 of lesson 215 «Foxes and squirrels» 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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# Exam question 2 · Foxes and squirrels

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal reason for which grey squirrels endanger the red squirrel in Britain.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, grey squirrels · **What happens:** identify, endanger · **To what, where:** principal reason, red squirrel, Britain

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 215 «Foxes and squirrels» 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/215-foxes-and-squirrels/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:215-foxes-and-squirrels:e2:1
# text = Identify the principal reason for which grey squirrels endanger the red squirrel in Britain.
1	Identify	identify	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	9	obl	_	_
7	grey	grey	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	squirrels	squirrel	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nsubj	_	_
9	endanger	endanger	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	acl:relcl	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
11	red	red	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	squirrel	squirrel	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
13	in	in	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	Britain	Britain	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **identify** | imperative | you *not said here* | the principal reason |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent reason=Theme |
| 2 | **endanger** | present | grey squirrels | the red squirrel |  | Britain |  | for the principal reason | 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 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Greys transmit a virus fatal to reds and compete for their food

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:215-foxes-and-squirrels:e2:o1:1
# text = Greys transmit a virus fatal to reds and compete for their food
1	Greys	grey	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	transmit	transmit	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	virus	virus	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	fatal	fatal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	xcomp	_	_
6	to	to	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	reds	red	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	compete	compete	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	conj	_	_
10	for	for	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	12	nmod:poss	_	_
12	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **transmit** | present | Greys | a virus |  |  |  | fatal *property* | vn send-11.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent virus=Theme |
| 2 | **compete** | infinitive | Greys *not said here* |  |  |  |  | for Greys's food | vn battle-36.4 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Greys occupy only the Scottish islands

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:215-foxes-and-squirrels:e2:o2:1
# text = Greys occupy only the Scottish islands
1	Greys	grey	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	occupy	occupy	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	only	only	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	Scottish	Scottish	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	islands	island	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **occupy** | present | Greys | the Scottish islands |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP-PRO-ARB»: agent=Stimulus |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Greys prey upon red squirrels

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:215-foxes-and-squirrels:e2:o3:1
# text = Greys prey upon red squirrels
1	Greys	grey	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	compound	_	_
2	prey	prey	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	red	red	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	squirrels	squirrel	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Greys interbreed with reds and render them grey

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:215-foxes-and-squirrels:e2:o4:1
# text = Greys interbreed with reds and render them grey
1	Greys	grey	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	interbreed	interbreed	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	with	with	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	reds	red	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	render	render	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
7	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	obj	_	_
8	grey	grey	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **interbreed** | present | Greys |  |  |  |  | with reds | tree rules |
| 2 | **render** | present | Greys *not said here* | Greys *= grey* |  |  |  | grey *property* | vn give-13.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=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.

<!-- /div -->

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- ← previous: [Foxes and squirrels, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/215-foxes-and-squirrels/e1/)
- next →: [Foxes and squirrels, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/215-foxes-and-squirrels/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Foxes and squirrels](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/215-foxes-and-squirrels/)