---
title: Identify the principal reason for which elephant herds led by elder… — Animal minds: elephants' memory, feeli… · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal reason for which elephant herds led by elder matriarchs exhibited superior survival during a drought in Tanzania. Exam question 2 of lesson 236 «Animal minds: elephants' memory, feelings and the mouse myth» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tr
---

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# Exam question 2 · Animal minds: elephants' memory, feelings and the mouse myth

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal reason for which elephant herds led by elder matriarchs exhibited superior survival during a drought in Tanzania.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, elephant herds · **What happens:** identify, lead, exhibit · **To what, where:** principal reason, elephant herds, superior survival

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This is exam question 2 of lesson 236 «Animal minds: elephants' memory, feelings and the 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/236-animal-minds-elephants-memory-feelings-and-the-mouse-myth/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:236-animal-minds-elephants-memory-feelings-and-the-mouse-myth:e2:1
# text = Identify the principal reason for which elephant herds led by elder matriarchs exhibited superior survival during a drought in Tanzania.
1	Identify	identify	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	13	obl	_	_
7	elephant	elephant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	herds	herd	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	nsubj	_	_
9	led	lead	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	acl	_	_
10	by	by	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	elder	eld	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	12	amod	_	_
12	matriarchs	matriarch	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obl	_	_
13	exhibited	exhibit	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	acl:relcl	_	_
14	superior	superior	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	15	amod	_	_
15	survival	survival	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obj	_	_
16	during	during	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	drought	drought	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	_
19	in	in	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
20	Tanzania	Tanzania	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	18	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **identify** | imperative | you *not said here* | the principal reason |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent reason=Theme |
| 2 | **lead** | participle |  | elephant herds *not said here* |  |  |  | by elder matriarchs | vn accompany-51.7 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent by matriarch=Destination |
| 3 | **exhibit** | past | elephant herds | superior survival |  |  | during a drought in Tanzania | for the principal reason | vn reflexive\_appearance-48.1.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent survival=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 -->
The elder matriarchs required less water

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:236-animal-minds-elephants-memory-feelings-and-the-mouse-myth:e2:o1:1
# text = The elder matriarchs required less water
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	elder	elder	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	matriarchs	matriarch	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
4	required	require	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl	_	_
5	less	less	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	6	amod	_	_
6	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **require** | participle | the elder matriarchs *not said here* | less water |  |  |  |  | vn require-103-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme water=Precondition |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The herds were provisioned with water and food by human beings throughout the drought

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:236-animal-minds-elephants-memory-feelings-and-the-mouse-myth:e2:o2:1
# text = The herds were provisioned with water and food by human beings throughout the drought
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	herds	herd	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	provisioned	provision	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	with	with	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	conj	_	_
9	by	by	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	human	human	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	beings	being	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
12	throughout	throughout	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	drought	drought	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **provision** | past · passive | human beings | the herds |  |  | throughout the drought | with water and food | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The herds were of greater size

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:236-animal-minds-elephants-memory-feelings-and-the-mouse-myth:e2:o3:1
# text = The herds were of greater size
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	herds	herd	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
3	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	greater	great	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	6	amod	_	_
6	size	size	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | the herds |  |  |  |  | of greater size | tree rules |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The matriarchs retained a memory of an earlier drought and of sources of water

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:236-animal-minds-elephants-memory-feelings-and-the-mouse-myth:e2:o4:1
# text = The matriarchs retained a memory of an earlier drought and of sources of water
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	matriarchs	matriarch	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	retained	retain	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	memory	memory	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	earlier	early	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	9	amod	_	_
9	drought	drought	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	sources	source	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	conj	_	_
13	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **retain** | past | the matriarchs | a memory of a earlier drought and sources of water |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

<!-- 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.

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- ↑ back to [Animal minds: elephants' memory, feelings and the mouse myth](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/236-animal-minds-elephants-memory-feelings-and-the-mouse-myth/)