---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the… — Rats and mice in the city, and the ele… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the popular belief that elephants fear mice? Exam question 2 of lesson 222 «Rats and mice in the city, and the elephant and mouse myth» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the quest
---

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# Exam question 2 · Rats and mice in the city, and the elephant and mouse myth

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the popular belief that elephants fear mice?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** elephants · **What happens:** follow, characteris, fear · **To what, where:** popular belief, mice

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 222 «Rats and mice in the city, and the elephant and mouse myth» 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/222-rats-and-mice-in-the-city-and-the-elephant-and-mouse-myth/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:222-rats-and-mice-in-the-city-and-the-elephant-and-mouse-myth:e2:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the popular belief that elephants fear mice?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	nsubj	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	following	follow	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	amod	_	_
5	statements	statement	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	_
6	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	7	advmod	_	_
7	accurately	accurately	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	characterises	characteris	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	popular	popular	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	belief	belief	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
12	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	14	mark	_	_
13	elephants	elephant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	nsubj	_	_
14	fear	fear	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	acl	_	_
15	mice	mouse	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **follow** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **characteris** | present |  | the popular belief |  |  |  | of the following statements; accurately *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **fear** | present | elephants | mice |  |  |  |  | vn admire-31.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer mouse=Stimulus |

<!-- .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 -->
It arises because mice habitually enter the trunk of the elephant

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:222-rats-and-mice-in-the-city-and-the-elephant-and-mouse-myth:e2:o1:1
# text = It arises because mice habitually enter the trunk of the elephant
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	arises	arise	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
4	mice	mouse	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
5	habitually	habitually	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	enter	enter	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	ccomp	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	trunk	trunk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	elephant	elephant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **arise** | present | It |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **enter** | present | mice | the trunk of the elephant |  |  |  | habitually *property* | vn escape-51.1-1-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme trunk=Destination |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It has been demonstrated in all elephants under all conditions

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:222-rats-and-mice-in-the-city-and-the-elephant-and-mouse-myth:e2:o2:1
# text = It has been demonstrated in all elephants under all conditions
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	demonstrated	demonstrate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	7	det	_	_
7	elephants	elephant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
8	under	under	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	10	det	_	_
10	conditions	condition	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **demonstrate** | present · perfect · passive |  | It |  | all conditions |  | in all elephants | vn indicate-78-1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Topic |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No good evidence supports a particular fear of mice in elephants

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:222-rats-and-mice-in-the-city-and-the-elephant-and-mouse-myth:e2:o3:1
# text = No good evidence supports a particular fear of mice in elephants
1	No	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	3	det	_	_
2	good	good	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	evidence	evidence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	supports	support	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	particular	particular	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	fear	fear	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	mice	mouse	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nmod	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	elephants	elephant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **support** | present | no good evidence | a particular fear of mice |  |  |  | in elephants | vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer fear=Stimulus |
| 2 | **fear** |  |  | mice |  |  |  |  | nom fear «feeling transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It arises because mice compete with elephants for food

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:222-rats-and-mice-in-the-city-and-the-elephant-and-mouse-myth:e2:o4:1
# text = It arises because mice compete with elephants for food
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	arises	arise	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
4	mice	mouse	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
5	compete	compete	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	ccomp	_	_
6	with	with	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	elephants	elephant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
8	for	for	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **arise** | present | It |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **compete** | present | mice |  |  |  |  | with elephants; for food | vn battle-36.4 «NP V PP.co-agent»: agent=Agent with elephant=Co-Agent |

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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: [Rats and mice in the city, and the ele…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/222-rats-and-mice-in-the-city-and-the-elephant-and-mouse-myth/e1/)
- next →: [Rats and mice in the city, and the ele…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/222-rats-and-mice-in-the-city-and-the-elephant-and-mouse-myth/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Rats and mice in the city, and the elephant and mouse myth](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/222-rats-and-mice-in-the-city-and-the-elephant-and-mouse-myth/)