---
title: In a cartoon an ostrich sticks its head in the sand when a lion come… — Defences: tricks and myths: playing de… · tree and pragmatics
description: In a cartoon an ostrich sticks its head in the sand when a lion comes. What would a real ostrich more likely do? Test 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, with the dependenc
---

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
In a cartoon an ostrich sticks its head in the sand when a lion comes. What would a real ostrich more likely do?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** ostrich, lion, real ostrich · **What happens:** stick, come, do · **To what, where:** head, cartoon

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 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. 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/#t1).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* In a cartoon an ostrich sticks its head in the sand when a lion comes.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:249-defences-tricks-and-myths-playing-dead-dropping-tails-ink-and-ostriches:t1:1
# text = In a cartoon an ostrich sticks its head in the sand when a lion comes.
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	cartoon	cartoon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
4	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	ostrich	ostrich	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	sticks	stick	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
8	head	head	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
9	in	in	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	sand	sand	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
12	when	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	15	mark	_	_
13	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	lion	lion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nsubj	_	_
15	comes	come	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stick** | present | a ostrich | ostrich's head |  | a cartoon |  | in the sand | vn spray-9.7-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent head=Theme in cartoon=Destination |
| 2 | **come** | present | a lion |  |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* What would a real ostrich more likely do?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:249-defences-tricks-and-myths-playing-dead-dropping-tails-ink-and-ostriches:t1:2
# text = What would a real ostrich more likely do?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	8	obj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	real	real	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	ostrich	ostrich	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
6	more	more	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	7	advmod	_	_
7	likely	likely	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
8	do	do	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | would | a real ostrich |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent what=Eventuality |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Climb a tree

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:249-defences-tricks-and-myths-playing-dead-dropping-tails-ink-and-ostriches:t1:o1:1
# text = Climb a tree
1	Climb	climb	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	tree	tree	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **climb** | imperative | you *not said here* | a tree |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Initial\_Location tree=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Run away very fast or kick

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:249-defences-tricks-and-myths-playing-dead-dropping-tails-ink-and-ostriches:t1:o2:1
# text = Run away very fast or kick
1	Run	run	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	away	away	ADV	RB	_	1	advmod	_	_
3	very	very	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	fast	fast	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	1	advmod	_	_
5	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	kick	kick	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	1	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **run away** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  | away, fast *property* | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **kick** | infinitive | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn split-23.2 «NP V apart»: agent=Patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Bury its head and wait

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:249-defences-tricks-and-myths-playing-dead-dropping-tails-ink-and-ostriches:t1:o3:1
# text = Bury its head and wait
1	Bury	bury	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	3	nmod:poss	_	_
3	head	head	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	wait	wait	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	1	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **bury** | imperative | you *not said here* | its head |  |  |  |  | vn put-9.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent head=Theme |
| 2 | **wait** | infinitive | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Fly away high

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:249-defences-tricks-and-myths-playing-dead-dropping-tails-ink-and-ostriches:t1:o4:1
# text = Fly away high
1	Fly	fly	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	away	away	ADV	RB	_	1	advmod	_	_
3	high	high	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	1	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fly away** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  | away, high *property* | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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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.

<!-- /div -->

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- ← previous: [Defences: skunks, porcupines, hedgehog…, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/248-defences-skunks-porcupines-hedgehogs-and-armour/e4/)
- next →: [Defences: tricks and myths: playing de…, test 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/249-defences-tricks-and-myths-playing-dead-dropping-tails-ink-and-ostriches/t2/)
- ↑ back to [Defences: tricks and myths: playing dead, dropping tails, ink, and do ostriches bury their heads?](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/249-defences-tricks-and-myths-playing-dead-dropping-tails-ink-and-ostriches/)