---
title: Identify the principal cause of the decline of the bald eagle during… — Comeback stories: bald eagles, humpbac… · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal cause of the decline of the bald eagle during the twentieth century. Exam question 1 of lesson 282 «Comeback stories: bald eagles, humpback whales, condors and the kakapo» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question a
---

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# Exam question 1 · Comeback stories: bald eagles, humpback whales, condors an…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal cause of the decline of the bald eagle during the twentieth century.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, bald eagle · **What happens:** identify, cause, decline · **To what, where:** principal cause, decline

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 282 «Comeback stories: bald eagles, humpback whales, condors and the kakapo» 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/282-comeback-stories-bald-eagles-humpback-whales-condors-and-the-kakapo/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:282-comeback-stories-bald-eagles-humpback-whales-condors-and-the-kakapo:e1:1
# text = Identify the principal cause of the decline of the bald eagle during the twentieth century.
1	Identify	identify	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	cause	cause	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	decline	decline	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	bald	bald	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	eagle	eagle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
12	during	during	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
14	twentieth	twentieth	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	15	amod	_	_
15	century	century	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **identify** | imperative | you *not said here* | the principal cause of the decline of the bald eagle |  |  | century |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent cause=Theme |
| 2 | **cause** |  |  | the decline of the bald eagle |  |  |  |  | nom cause «event transitive»: of=patient |
| 3 | **decline** |  | the bald eagle |  |  |  |  |  | nom decline «process intransitive»: of=agent |

<!-- .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 removal of eagles to zoological gardens

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:282-comeback-stories-bald-eagles-humpback-whales-condors-and-the-kakapo:e1:o1:1
# text = The removal of eagles to zoological gardens
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	removal	removal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	eagles	eagle	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
5	to	to	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	zoological	zoological	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	gardens	garden	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **remove** |  |  | eagles |  |  |  | to zoological gardens | nom removal «act transitive»: of=patient to=obl |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The pesticide DDT, which caused the shells of its eggs to become thin

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:282-comeback-stories-bald-eagles-humpback-whales-condors-and-the-kakapo:e1:o2:1
# text = The pesticide DDT, which caused the shells of its eggs to become thin
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	pesticide	pesticide	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	DDT	ddt	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
5	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	6	nsubj	_	_
6	caused	cause	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	acl:relcl	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	shells	shell	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obj	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
11	eggs	egg	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nmod	_	_
12	to	to	PART	TO	_	13	mark	_	_
13	become	become	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	advcl	_	_
14	thin	thin	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cause** | past | the pesticide DDT | the shells of DDT's eggs |  |  |  |  | vn engender-27.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Precondition shell=Patient |
| 2 | **become** | to-infinitive | the pesticide DDT *not said here* |  |  |  |  | thin *property* | vn become-109.1-1-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
An epidemic of influenza among nestlings

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:282-comeback-stories-bald-eagles-humpback-whales-condors-and-the-kakapo:e1:o3:1
# text = An epidemic of influenza among nestlings
1	An	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	epidemic	epidemic	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	influenza	influenza	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
5	among	among	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	nestlings	nestling	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A succession of exceptionally cold winters

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:282-comeback-stories-bald-eagles-humpback-whales-condors-and-the-kakapo:e1:o4:1
# text = A succession of exceptionally cold winters
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	succession	succession	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	exceptionally	exceptionally	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	cold	cold	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	winters	winter	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

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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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