---
title: «why'd it take 150 years to figure out the bat thing» What is the be… — Echolocation: how bats see with sound · tree and pragmatics
description: «why'd it take 150 years to figure out the bat thing» What is the best answer? Test 6 · ★★ of lesson 229 «Echolocation: how bats see with sound» 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 6 · ★★ · Echolocation: how bats see with sound

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«why'd it take 150 years to figure out the bat thing» What is the best answer?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** best answer · **What happens:** take, figure out, be · **To what, where:** it, bat thing · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 6 · ★★ of lesson 229 «Echolocation: how bats see with sound» 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/229-echolocation-how-bats-see-with-sound/#t6).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:229-echolocation-how-bats-see-with-sound:t6:1
# text = «why'd it take 150 years to figure out the bat thing» What is the best answer?
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	5	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	'd	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	expl	_	_
5	take	take	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	15	parataxis	_	_
6	150	150	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	7	nummod	_	_
7	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	figure	figure	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	advcl	_	_
10	out	out	ADP	RP	_	9	compound:prt	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
12	bat	bat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	compound	_	_
13	thing	thing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	5	punct	_	_
15	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	_
16	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	cop	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
18	best	good	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	19	amod	_	_
19	answer	answer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	15	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **take** *in a quote* | would |  | it |  |  | year |  | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **figure out** *in a quote* | to-infinitive |  | the bat thing |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent thing=Topic |
| 3 | **is a** | present | the best answer |  |  |  |  |  | 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 -->
Scientists did not care about bats

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:229-echolocation-how-bats-see-with-sound:t6:o1:1
# text = Scientists did not care about bats
1	Scientists	scientist	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
2	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	care	care	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	about	about	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	bats	bat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **care** | past · do-support | Scientists |  |  |  |  | about bats | vn care-88.1-1 «NP V PP.stimulus what S»: agent=Experiencer about bat=Stimulus |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nobody could hear the sound until special microphones came in 1938

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:229-echolocation-how-bats-see-with-sound:t6:o2:1
# text = Nobody could hear the sound until special microphones came in 1938
1	Nobody	nobody	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	3	nsubj	_	_
2	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	hear	hear	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	sound	sound	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	until	until	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
7	special	special	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	microphones	microphone	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nsubj	_	_
9	came	come	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	1938	1938	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	9	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hear** | could | Nobody | the sound |  |  |  |  | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Experiencer sound=Stimulus |
| 2 | **come** | past | special microphones |  |  | 1938 |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in 1938=Location |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Bats hid from scientists

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:229-echolocation-how-bats-see-with-sound:t6:o3:1
# text = Bats hid from scientists
1	Bats	bat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	hid	hide	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	from	from	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	scientists	scientist	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hide** | past | Bats |  |  | scientists |  |  | vn concealment-16-1 «NP V PP.beneficiary»: agent=Agent from scientist=Beneficiary |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Bats only started using their echoes in 1938, so before that there was nothing to hear

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:229-echolocation-how-bats-see-with-sound:t6:o4:1
# text = Bats only started using their echoes in 1938, so before that there was nothing to hear
1	Bats	bat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	only	only	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	started	start	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	using	use	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	3	xcomp	_	_
5	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	echoes	echo	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	1938	1938	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
10	so	so	ADV	RB	_	15	advmod	_	_
11	before	before	SCONJ	IN	_	14	mark	_	_
12	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	14	mark	_	_
13	there	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	14	expl	_	_
14	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	15	cop	_	_
15	nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	3	parataxis	_	_
16	to	to	PART	TO	_	17	mark	_	_
17	hear	hear	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	15	acl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **start** | past | Bats |  |  |  |  |  | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **use** | gerund | Bats *not said here* | Bats's echoes |  | 1938 |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent echo=Patient |
| 3 | **is a** | past |  | nothing |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **hear** | to-infinitive | Bats *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V PP.stimulus»: agent=Experiencer |

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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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