---
title: Ascertain the material of which the nests harvested for bird's nest… — Animal builders: termite mounds, weave… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the material of which the nests harvested for bird's nest soup are predominantly composed. Exam question 4 of lesson 243 «Animal builders: termite mounds, weaver birds and other nest makers» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the ques
---

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# Exam question 4 · Animal builders: termite mounds, weaver birds and other ne…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the material of which the nests harvested for bird's nest soup are predominantly composed.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, nests · **What happens:** ascertain, harvest, compose · **To what, where:** material

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 243 «Animal builders: termite mounds, weaver birds and other nest makers» 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/243-animal-builders-termite-mounds-weaver-birds-and-other-nest-makers/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:243-animal-builders-termite-mounds-weaver-birds-and-other-nest-makers:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the material of which the nests harvested for bird's nest soup are predominantly composed.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	material	material	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	obl	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	nests	nest	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
8	harvested	harvest	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	acl:relcl	_	_
9	for	for	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
10	bird	bird	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	's	's	PART	POS	_	10	case	_	_
12	nest	nest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	compound	_	_
13	soup	soup	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
14	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	16	aux:pass	_	_
15	predominantly	predominantly	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	_
16	composed	compose	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* | the material |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent material=Topic |
| 2 | **harvest** | past | the nests |  |  |  |  | of the material; for bird's nest soup | tree rules |
| 3 | **compose** | present · passive | the nests *not said here* |  |  |  |  | predominantly *property* | vn create-26.4-1 «NP V» |

<!-- .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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The hardened saliva of the swiftlet

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:243-animal-builders-termite-mounds-weaver-birds-and-other-nest-makers:e4:o1:1
# text = The hardened saliva of the swiftlet
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	hardened	harden	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	amod	_	_
3	saliva	saliva	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	swiftlet	swiftlet	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **harden** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Seaweed gathered from the shore at low tide

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:243-animal-builders-termite-mounds-weaver-birds-and-other-nest-makers:e4:o2:1
# text = Seaweed gathered from the shore at low tide
1	Seaweed	seaweed	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	gathered	gather	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	from	from	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	shore	shore	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
6	at	at	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	low	low	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	tide	tide	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **gather** | past | Seaweed |  |  | the shore |  | at low tide | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP PP.source NP.asset»: agent=Agent from shore=Source at tide=Asset |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Woven grasses bound with mud

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:243-animal-builders-termite-mounds-weaver-birds-and-other-nest-makers:e4:o3:1
# text = Woven grasses bound with mud
1	Woven	woven	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	grasses	grass	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	bound	bound	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	with	with	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	mud	mud	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **bound** | present | Woven grasses |  |  |  |  | with mud | vn run-51.3.2 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Feathers shed by the parent birds

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:243-animal-builders-termite-mounds-weaver-birds-and-other-nest-makers:e4:o4:1
# text = Feathers shed by the parent birds
1	Feathers	feather	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
2	shed	shed	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	1	acl	_	_
3	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	parent	parent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	birds	bird	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **shed** | participle |  | Feathers *not said here* |  |  |  | by the parent birds | vn substance\_emission-43.4-1 «NP V»: agent=Source |

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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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