---
title: Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning… — Horses, zebras and donkeys · tree and pragmatics
description: Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning the function of the zebra's stripes. Exam question 3 of lesson 25 «Horses, zebras and donkeys» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choic
---

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# Exam question 3 · Horses, zebras and donkeys

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning the function of the zebra's stripes.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, established facts · **What happens:** select, establish, concern · **To what, where:** response, function

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 25 «Horses, zebras and donkeys» 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/25-horses-zebras-and-donkeys/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:25-horses-zebras-and-donkeys:e3:1
# text = Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning the function of the zebra's stripes.
1	Select	select	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	response	response	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	consistent	consistent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	1	xcomp	_	_
5	with	with	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	established	establish	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	amod	_	_
8	facts	fact	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
9	concerning	concern	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	8	acl	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	function	function	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
12	of	of	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	zebra	zebra	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	's	's	PART	POS	_	14	case	_	_
16	stripes	stripe	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **select** | imperative | you *not said here* | the response |  |  |  | consistent *property* | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent response=Theme |
| 2 | **establish** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn indicate-78-1-1 «NP V NP to be NP»: agent=Pivot |
| 3 | **concern** | gerund | the established facts *not said here* | the function of the zebra's stripes |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus function=Experiencer |

<!-- .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 -->
They serve principally to retain heat during the cold of the night

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:25-horses-zebras-and-donkeys:e3:o1:1
# text = They serve principally to retain heat during the cold of the night
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	serve	serve	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	principally	principally	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	retain	retain	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	advcl	_	_
6	heat	heat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
7	during	during	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	cold	cold	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
10	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	night	night	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **serve** | present | They |  |  |  |  | principally *property* | vn masquerade-29.6-2 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **retain** | to-infinitive | They *not said here* | heat |  |  | during the cold of the night |  | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They indicate the age of each individual

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:25-horses-zebras-and-donkeys:e3:o2:1
# text = They indicate the age of each individual
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	indicate	indicate	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	age	age	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	7	det	_	_
7	individual	individual	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **indicate** | present | They | the age of each individual |  |  |  |  | vn indicate-78-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot age=Topic |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They serve principally to frighten lions

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:25-horses-zebras-and-donkeys:e3:o3:1
# text = They serve principally to frighten lions
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	serve	serve	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	principally	principally	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	frighten	frighten	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	advcl	_	_
6	lions	lion	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **serve** | present | They |  |  |  |  | principally *property* | vn masquerade-29.6-2 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **frighten** | to-infinitive | They *not said here* | lions |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus lion=Experiencer |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They appear chiefly to deter biting flies from alighting

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:25-horses-zebras-and-donkeys:e3:o4:1
# text = They appear chiefly to deter biting flies from alighting
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	appear	appear	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	chiefly	chiefly	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	deter	deter	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
6	biting	bite	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	7	amod	_	_
7	flies	fly	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
8	from	from	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
9	alighting	alight	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	5	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **appear** | present | They |  |  |  |  | chiefly *property* | vn seem-109-1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Theme clause=Attribute |
| 2 | **deter** | to-infinitive | They *not said here* | biting flies |  |  |  |  | vn discourage-64.5-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Causer fly=Eventuality |
| 3 | **bite** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn swat-18.2 «NP V PP»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **alight** | gerund | They *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

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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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