---
title: Why can't a bat just jump off the ground and fly away like a pigeon? — Echolocation: how bats see with sound · tree and pragmatics
description: Why can't a bat just jump off the ground and fly away like a pigeon? Test 7 · ★★ 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 7 · ★★ · Echolocation: how bats see with sound

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why can't a bat just jump off the ground and fly away like a pigeon?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** jump off, fly away · **To what, where:** bat

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 7 · ★★ 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/#t7).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:229-echolocation-how-bats-see-with-sound:t7:1
# text = Why can't a bat just jump off the ground and fly away like a pigeon?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	5	advmod	_	_
2	ca	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	bat	bat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
6	just	just	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	jump	jump	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	off	off	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	ground	ground	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
12	fly	fly	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	conj	_	_
13	away	away	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
14	like	like	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	pigeon	pigeon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **jump off** | present |  | a bat |  |  |  | off the ground | tree rules |
| 2 | **fly away** | present |  |  |  |  |  | like a pigeon; away *property* | 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 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Bats never touch the ground in their lives

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:229-echolocation-how-bats-see-with-sound:t7:o1:1
# text = Bats never touch the ground in their lives
1	Bats	bat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	3	advmod	_	_
3	touch	touch	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	ground	ground	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
8	lives	life	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **touch** | present | Bats | the ground |  | Bats's lives |  |  | vn contiguous\_location-47.8-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme ground=Co-Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Bats are too heavy to fly

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:229-echolocation-how-bats-see-with-sound:t7:o2:1
# text = Bats are too heavy to fly
1	Bats	bat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	too	too	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	heavy	heavy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	fly	fly	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Bats |  |  |  |  | heavy *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **fly** | to-infinitive | Bats *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Its wings are not strong enough for an easy take-off, so it drops from a perch

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:229-echolocation-how-bats-see-with-sound:t7:o3:1
# text = Its wings are not strong enough for an easy take-off, so it drops from a perch
1	Its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	wings	wing	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
5	strong	strong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
6	enough	enough	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
7	for	for	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
8	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
9	easy	easy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
10	take	take	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	off	off	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
14	so	so	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	_
15	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	16	nsubj	_	_
16	drops	drop	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
17	from	from	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
18	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
19	perch	perch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **is** | present | Its wings |  |  |  |  | for a easy take off; enough, strong *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **drop** | present | off |  |  | a perch |  |  | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V PP.trajectory»: agent=Theme from perch=Trajectory |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Bats can fly only at night, and the ground is always too cold to take off from

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:229-echolocation-how-bats-see-with-sound:t7:o4:1
# text = Bats can fly only at night, and the ground is always too cold to take off from
1	Bats	bat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	fly	fly	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	only	only	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	night	night	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	ground	ground	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nsubj	_	_
11	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	cop	_	_
12	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	14	advmod	_	_
13	too	too	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
14	cold	cold	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	conj	_	_
15	to	to	PART	TO	_	16	mark	_	_
16	take	take	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	14	csubj	_	_
17	off	off	ADP	RP	_	16	compound:prt	_	_
18	from	from	ADP	IN	_	16	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fly** | can | Bats |  |  |  | night |  | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **is** | present | the ground |  |  |  |  | always, cold *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **take off** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: agent=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.

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