---
title: «that dolphin's staring at my mum, creepy» What might really be goin… — Echolocation in the sea and in people:… · tree and pragmatics
description: «that dolphin's staring at my mum, creepy» What might really be going on? Test 8 · ★★ of lesson 230 «Echolocation in the sea and in people: dolphins, whales, swiftlets and clicking humans» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of 
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/230-echolocation-in-the-sea-and-in-people-dolphins-whales-swiftlets-and-clicking-humans/t8/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [Biology](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/) / [Echolocation in the sea and in people:…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/230-echolocation-in-the-sea-and-in-people-dolphins-whales-swiftlets-and-clicking-humans/) / t8

# Test 8 · ★★ · Echolocation in the sea and in people: dolphins, whales, s…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«that dolphin's staring at my mum, creepy» What might really be going on?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** dolphin · **What happens:** stare, go on

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 · ★★ of lesson 230 «Echolocation in the sea and in people: dolphins, whales, swiftlets and clicking humans» 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/230-echolocation-in-the-sea-and-in-people-dolphins-whales-swiftlets-and-clicking-humans/#t8).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:230-echolocation-in-the-sea-and-in-people-dolphins-whales-swiftlets-and-clicking-humans:t8:1
# text = «that dolphin's staring at my mum, creepy» What might really be going on?
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	that	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	3	det	_	_
3	dolphin	dolphin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
5	staring	stare	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
6	at	at	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
8	mum	mum	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
10	creepy	creepy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	5	punct	_	_
12	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	16	nsubj	_	_
13	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	16	aux	_	_
14	really	really	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	_
15	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	16	aux	_	_
16	going	go	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	5	conj	_	_
17	on	on	ADP	RP	_	16	compound:prt	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stare** *in a quote* | present · progressive | that dolphin |  |  |  |  | at my mum | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent at mum=Theme |
| 2 | **go on** | might · progressive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn function-105.2.1 «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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Dolphins cannot see people

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:230-echolocation-in-the-sea-and-in-people-dolphins-whales-swiftlets-and-clicking-humans:t8:o1:1
# text = Dolphins cannot see people
1	Dolphins	dolphin	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
2	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **see** | can | Dolphins | people |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer people=Stimulus |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Dolphins stare to hypnotise people

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:230-echolocation-in-the-sea-and-in-people-dolphins-whales-swiftlets-and-clicking-humans:t8:o2:1
# text = Dolphins stare to hypnotise people
1	Dolphins	dolphin	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	stare	stare	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	hypnotise	hypnotise	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
5	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stare** | present | Dolphins |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **hypnotise** | to-infinitive | Dolphins *not said here* | people |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It may be clicking at her, and echoes pass a little way into her body

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:230-echolocation-in-the-sea-and-in-people-dolphins-whales-swiftlets-and-clicking-humans:t8:o3:1
# text = It may be clicking at her, and echoes pass a little way into her body
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	aux	_	_
4	clicking	click	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
9	echoes	echo	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nsubj	_	_
10	pass	pass	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
12	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	_
14	into	into	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	16	nmod:poss	_	_
16	body	body	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **click** | may · progressive | It |  |  |  |  | at her *= she* | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme at she=Location |
| 2 | **pass** | present | echoes | a little way |  | her body |  |  | vn throw-17.1-1 «NP V NP PP.destinations»: agent=Agent way=Theme into body=Destination |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It wants to bite her

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:230-echolocation-in-the-sea-and-in-people-dolphins-whales-swiftlets-and-clicking-humans:t8:o4:1
# text = It wants to bite her
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	wants	want	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	bite	bite	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
5	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **want** | present | It |  |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 2 | **bite** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive |  | her *= she* |  |  |  |  | vn swat-18.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent she=Patient |

<!-- div src -->

**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 -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [Echolocation in the sea and in people:…, test 7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/230-echolocation-in-the-sea-and-in-people-dolphins-whales-swiftlets-and-clicking-humans/t7/)
- next →: [Echolocation in the sea and in people:…, test 9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/230-echolocation-in-the-sea-and-in-people-dolphins-whales-swiftlets-and-clicking-humans/t9/)
- ↑ back to [Echolocation in the sea and in people: dolphins, whales, swiftlets and clicking humans](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/230-echolocation-in-the-sea-and-in-people-dolphins-whales-swiftlets-and-clicking-humans/)