---
title: What would happen if you took a homing pigeon 300 kilometres away an… — Pigeons: head bobbing, homing and city… · tree and pragmatics
description: What would happen if you took a homing pigeon 300 kilometres away and let it go? Test 4 of lesson 221 «Pigeons: head bobbing, homing and city cliffs» 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 wrong.
---

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# Test 4 · Pigeons: head bobbing, homing and city cliffs

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What would happen if you took a homing pigeon 300 kilometres away and let it go?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, pigeon · **What happens:** happen, take, let, go · **To what, where:** homing pigeon, pigeon

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 4 of lesson 221 «Pigeons: head bobbing, homing and city cliffs» 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/221-pigeons-head-bobbing-homing-and-city-cliffs/#t4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:221-pigeons-head-bobbing-homing-and-city-cliffs:t4:1
# text = What would happen if you took a homing pigeon 300 kilometres away and let it go?
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	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
6	took	take	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	homing	homing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	pigeon	pigeon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
10	300	300	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	11	nummod	_	_
11	kilometres	kilometre	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	obl:unmarked	_	_
12	away	away	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
13	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
14	let	let	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	conj	_	_
15	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	obj	_	_
16	go	go	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	14	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	?	?	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 | **take** *a condition, not said to happen* | past | you | a homing pigeon |  |  |  | away *property* | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent pigeon=Theme |
| 3 | **let** | infinitive |  | pigeon |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **go** | infinitive | pigeon *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It would most likely fly back to its own loft

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:221-pigeons-head-bobbing-homing-and-city-cliffs:t4:o1:1
# text = It would most likely fly back to its own loft
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
3	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	4	advmod	_	_
4	likely	likely	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	fly	fly	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	back	back	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
7	to	to	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
9	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	loft	loft	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fly back** | would | It |  |  | its own loft |  | likely *property* | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme to loft=Destination |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It would stay where it was let go

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:221-pigeons-head-bobbing-homing-and-city-cliffs:t4:o2:1
# text = It would stay where it was let go
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	stay	stay	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	7	advmod	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj:pass	_	_
6	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux:pass	_	_
7	let	let	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	advcl	_	_
8	go	go	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stay** | would | It |  |  |  |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **let** | past · passive |  | it |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **go** | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It would follow the first car it saw

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:221-pigeons-head-bobbing-homing-and-city-cliffs:t4:o3:1
# text = It would follow the first car it saw
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	follow	follow	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	first	first	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	6	amod	_	_
6	car	car	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
7	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
8	saw	see	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	acl:relcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **follow** | would | It | the first car |  |  |  |  | vn chase-51.6 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent car=Theme |
| 2 | **see** | past | car | the first car *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer car=Stimulus |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It would fly to the nearest big city

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:221-pigeons-head-bobbing-homing-and-city-cliffs:t4:o4:1
# text = It would fly to the nearest big city
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	fly	fly	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
6	nearest	near	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	8	amod	_	_
7	big	big	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	city	city	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fly** | would | It |  |  |  |  | to the nearest big city *result* | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V PP.result»: agent=Theme to city=Result |

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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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