---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the… — Defences: tricks and myths: playing de… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the conduct popularly described as an ostrich burying its head in the sand? Exam question 1 of lesson 249 «Defences: tricks and myths: playing dead, dropping tails, ink, and do ostriches bury their heads?» of the biology course of Mova'
---

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# Exam question 1 · Defences: tricks and myths: playing dead, dropping tails,…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the conduct popularly described as an ostrich burying its head in the sand?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** ostrich · **What happens:** follow, characteris, describe, bury · **To what, where:** conduct, head, sand

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 249 «Defences: tricks and myths: playing dead, dropping tails, ink, and do ostriches bury their heads?» 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/249-defences-tricks-and-myths-playing-dead-dropping-tails-ink-and-ostriches/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:249-defences-tricks-and-myths-playing-dead-dropping-tails-ink-and-ostriches:e1:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the conduct popularly described as an ostrich burying its head in the sand?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	nsubj	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	following	follow	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	amod	_	_
5	statements	statement	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	_
6	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	7	advmod	_	_
7	accurately	accurately	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	characterises	characteris	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	conduct	conduct	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	popularly	popularly	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
12	described	describe	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	10	acl	_	_
13	as	as	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	ostrich	ostrich	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	_
16	burying	bury	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	15	acl	_	_
17	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	18	nmod:poss	_	_
18	head	head	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	obj	_	_
19	in	in	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
20	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
21	sand	sand	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **follow** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **characteris** | present |  | the conduct |  |  |  | of the following statements; accurately *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **describe** | participle |  | the conduct *not said here* |  |  |  | as a ostrich; popularly *property* | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent as ostrich=Attribute |
| 4 | **bury** | gerund | a ostrich *not said here* | ostrich's head |  | the sand |  |  | vn put-9.1-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent head=Theme in sand=Destination |

<!-- .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 -->
It is practised exclusively by juvenile ostriches

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:249-defences-tricks-and-myths-playing-dead-dropping-tails-ink-and-ostriches:e1:o1:1
# text = It is practised exclusively by juvenile ostriches
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	practised	practise	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	exclusively	exclusively	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	juvenile	juvenile	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	ostriches	ostrich	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **practise** | present · passive | juvenile ostriches | It |  |  |  | exclusively *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is a well-documented response to the approach of predators, observed by many naturalists in Africa

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:249-defences-tricks-and-myths-playing-dead-dropping-tails-ink-and-ostriches:e1:o2:1
# text = It is a well-documented response to the approach of predators, observed by many naturalists in Africa
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
4	well	well	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	6	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	documented	document	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	amod	_	_
7	response	response	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
8	to	to	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	approach	approach	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	predators	predator	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
14	observed	observe	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	acl	_	_
15	by	by	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
16	many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	17	amod	_	_
17	naturalists	naturalist	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	obl	_	_
18	in	in	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
19	Africa	Africa	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **document** | participle |  |  |  |  |  | well *property* | vn transcribe-25.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is a** | present | It | a documented response |  |  |  | to the approach of predators | tree rules |
| 3 | **observe** | participle |  | a documented response *not said here* |  | Africa |  | by many naturalists | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **approach** |  | predators |  |  |  |  |  | nom approach «act intransitive»: of=agent |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is a myth arising from the lowering of the head to tend eggs or to lie concealed

<!-- fold The tree, 18 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:249-defences-tricks-and-myths-playing-dead-dropping-tails-ink-and-ostriches:e1:o3:1
# text = It is a myth arising from the lowering of the head to tend eggs or to lie concealed
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	expl	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	myth	myth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	arising	arise	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	4	acl	_	_
6	from	from	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	lowering	lowering	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	head	head	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	_
12	to	to	PART	TO	_	13	mark	_	_
13	tend	tend	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	acl	_	_
14	eggs	egg	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	obj	_	_
15	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	17	cc	_	_
16	to	to	PART	TO	_	17	mark	_	_
17	lie	lie	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	13	conj	_	_
18	concealed	conceal	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	17	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present |  | a myth |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **arise** | gerund | a myth *not said here* |  |  | the lowering of the head |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **tend** | to-infinitive |  | eggs |  |  |  |  | vn caring-75.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent egg=Theme |
| 4 | **lie** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 5 | **conceal** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn concealment-16 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 6 | **lower** |  |  | the head |  |  |  |  | nom lowering «act transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is a means of obtaining water from beneath the sand

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:249-defences-tricks-and-myths-playing-dead-dropping-tails-ink-and-ostriches:e1:o4:1
# text = It is a means of obtaining water from beneath the sand
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	nsubj	_	_
4	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
6	obtaining	obtain	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	4	advcl	_	_
7	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
8	from	from	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
9	beneath	beneath	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	sand	sand	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | It |  |  |  |  | mean *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **obtain** | gerund |  | water |  | the sand |  |  | vn obtain-13.5.2-1 «NP V NP PP.source»: agent=Agent water=Theme from sand=Source |

<!-- 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 -->

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