---
title: What would happen if the matriarch of a herd were killed by poachers… — Animal minds: elephants' memory, feeli… · tree and pragmatics
description: What would happen if the matriarch of a herd were killed by poachers before a drought? Test 3 · ★★ of lesson 236 «Animal minds: elephants' memory, feelings and the mouse myth» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; 
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/236-animal-minds-elephants-memory-feelings-and-the-mouse-myth/t3/)

<!-- 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/) / [Animal minds: elephants' memory, feeli…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/236-animal-minds-elephants-memory-feelings-and-the-mouse-myth/) / t3

# Test 3 · ★★ · Animal minds: elephants' memory, feelings and the mouse myth

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What would happen if the matriarch of a herd were killed by poachers before a drought?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** poachers · **What happens:** happen, kill · **To what, where:** matriarch

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 3 · ★★ of lesson 236 «Animal minds: elephants' memory, feelings and the mouse myth» 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/236-animal-minds-elephants-memory-feelings-and-the-mouse-myth/#t3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:236-animal-minds-elephants-memory-feelings-and-the-mouse-myth:t3:1
# text = What would happen if the matriarch of a herd were killed by poachers before a drought?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	happen	happen	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	matriarch	matriarch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj:pass	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	herd	herd	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
10	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	11	aux:pass	_	_
11	killed	kill	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	advcl	_	_
12	by	by	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	poachers	poacher	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	obl	_	_
14	before	before	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	drought	drought	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **happen** | would |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **kill** *a condition, not said to happen* | past · passive | poachers | the matriarch of a herd |  |  | before a drought |  | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=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 calves would lead better

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:236-animal-minds-elephants-memory-feelings-and-the-mouse-myth:t3:o1:1
# text = The calves would lead better
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	calves	calf	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	lead	lead	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	better	well	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	4	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lead** | would | the calves |  |  |  |  | well *property* | vn result-27.2 «NP V PP»: agent=Precondition |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The herd might not know where the old water holes are

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:236-animal-minds-elephants-memory-feelings-and-the-mouse-myth:t3:o2:1
# text = The herd might not know where the old water holes are
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	herd	herd	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
5	know	know	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	5	ccomp	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
8	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
9	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	holes	hole	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
11	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **know** | might | the herd |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 2 | **is** | present | the old water holes |  |  |  |  | where *property* | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The herd would get faster

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:236-animal-minds-elephants-memory-feelings-and-the-mouse-myth:t3:o3:1
# text = The herd would get faster
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	herd	herd	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	get	get	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	faster	fast	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	4	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **get** | would | the herd |  |  |  |  | fast *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nothing, because every elephant in the herd already knows the way

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:236-animal-minds-elephants-memory-feelings-and-the-mouse-myth:t3:o4:1
# text = Nothing, because every elephant in the herd already knows the way
1	Nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	10	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
3	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
4	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	5	det	_	_
5	elephant	elephant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	appos	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	herd	herd	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
9	already	already	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
10	knows	know	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **know** | present | Nothing | the way |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer way=Stimulus |

<!-- 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: [Animal minds: elephants' memory, feeli…, test 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/236-animal-minds-elephants-memory-feelings-and-the-mouse-myth/t2/)
- next →: [Animal minds: elephants' memory, feeli…, test 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/236-animal-minds-elephants-memory-feelings-and-the-mouse-myth/t4/)
- ↑ 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/)