---
title: Why do people keep telling the myth that a bird will reject a touche… — Animal myths put right: elephants and… · tree and pragmatics
description: Why do people keep telling the myth that a bird will reject a touched chick? Test 7 · ★★ of lesson 295 «Animal myths put right: elephants and mice, lemmings, ostriches and goldfish» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each op
---

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# Test 7 · ★★ · Animal myths put right: elephants and mice, lemmings, ostr…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why do people keep telling the myth that a bird will reject a touched chick?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** people, bird · **What happens:** keep, tell, reject, touch · **To what, where:** myth, touched chick · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 7 · ★★ of lesson 295 «Animal myths put right: elephants and mice, lemmings, ostriches and goldfish» 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/295-animal-myths-put-right-elephants-and-mice-lemmings-ostriches-and-goldfish/#t7).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:295-animal-myths-put-right-elephants-and-mice-lemmings-ostriches-and-goldfish:t7:1
# text = Why do people keep telling the myth that a bird will reject a touched chick?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	keep	keep	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	telling	tell	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	4	xcomp	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	myth	myth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	bird	bird	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
11	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	12	aux	_	_
12	reject	reject	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	acl	_	_
13	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
14	touched	touch	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	15	amod	_	_
15	chick	chick	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **keep** | present · do-support | people |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **tell** *speech: assert* | gerund | people *not said here* | the myth |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent myth=Recipient |
| 3 | **reject** | future | a bird | a touched chick |  |  |  |  | vn reject-77.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent chick=Theme |
| 4 | **touch** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn contiguous\_location-47.8-1 «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.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Because birds can smell far better than dogs, and every bird checks its chicks

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:295-animal-myths-put-right-elephants-and-mice-lemmings-ostriches-and-goldfish:t7:o1:1
# text = Because birds can smell far better than dogs, and every bird checks its chicks
1	Because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	4	mark	_	_
2	birds	bird	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	smell	smell	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	far	far	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	6	advmod	_	_
6	better	good	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	4	advmod	_	_
7	than	than	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	dogs	dog	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
11	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	12	det	_	_
12	bird	bird	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	_
13	checks	check	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
14	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	15	nmod:poss	_	_
15	chicks	chick	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **smell** | can | birds |  |  |  |  |  | vn smell\_emission-43.3 «NP.location V»: agent=Location |
| 2 | **check** | present | every bird | its chicks |  |  |  |  | vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent chick=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Because scientists proved it long ago

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:295-animal-myths-put-right-elephants-and-mice-lemmings-ostriches-and-goldfish:t7:o2:1
# text = Because scientists proved it long ago
1	Because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	3	mark	_	_
2	scientists	scientist	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	proved	prove	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	obj	_	_
5	long	long	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	6	advmod	_	_
6	ago	ago	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **prove** | past | scientists | it |  |  |  | ago *property* | vn deduce-97.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It keeps children from picking up wild babies, which is a good thing

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:295-animal-myths-put-right-elephants-and-mice-lemmings-ostriches-and-goldfish:t7:o3:1
# text = It keeps children from picking up wild babies, which is a good thing
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	keeps	keep	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
4	from	from	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
5	picking	pick	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	advcl	_	_
6	up	up	ADP	RP	_	5	compound:prt	_	_
7	wild	wild	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	babies	baby	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
10	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	14	nsubj	_	_
11	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	cop	_	_
12	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
13	good	good	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	thing	thing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **keep** | present | It | children |  |  |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent child=Theme |
| 2 | **pick up** | gerund |  | wild babies and a good thing |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent baby=Topic |
| 3 | **is a** | present | wild babies and a good thing | a good thing |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Because it is true for every bird

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:295-animal-myths-put-right-elephants-and-mice-lemmings-ostriches-and-goldfish:t7:o4:1
# text = Because it is true for every bird
1	Because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	4	mark	_	_
2	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	true	true	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	7	det	_	_
7	bird	bird	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | it |  |  |  |  | for every bird; true *property* | 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.

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- ↑ back to [Animal myths put right: elephants and mice, lemmings, ostriches and goldfish](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/295-animal-myths-put-right-elephants-and-mice-lemmings-ostriches-and-goldfish/)