---
title: Identify the source of the food upon which a colony of leafcutter an… — The rainforest from below: understorey… · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the source of the food upon which a colony of leafcutter ants subsists. Exam question 2 of lesson 3 «The rainforest from below: understorey and forest floor» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's ch
---

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# Exam question 2 · The rainforest from below: understorey and forest floor

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the source of the food upon which a colony of leafcutter ants subsists.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, colony · **What happens:** identify, subsist · **To what, where:** source

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 3 «The rainforest from below: understorey and forest floor» 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/3-the-rainforest-from-below/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:3-the-rainforest-from-below:e2:1
# text = Identify the source of the food upon which a colony of leafcutter ants subsists.
1	Identify	identify	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	source	source	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
7	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	14	obl	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	colony	colony	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nsubj	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	leafcutter	leafcutter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	compound	_	_
13	ants	ant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nmod	_	_
14	subsists	subsist	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	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 source of the food |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent source=Theme |
| 2 | **subsist** | present | a colony of leafcutter ants |  |  |  |  | upon the food | vn gorge-39.6 «NP V PP.patient»: agent=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 sap of the trees from which the leaves are cut

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:3-the-rainforest-from-below:e2:o1:1
# text = The sap of the trees from which the leaves are cut
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	sap	SAP	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	trees	tree	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
6	from	from	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	which	which	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	9	det	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	leaves	leaf	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nmod	_	_
10	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	aux:pass	_	_
11	cut	cut	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cut** | present · passive |  | the sap of the trees  which leaves |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: subject=Product |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The leaves themselves, consumed immediately upon collection by the workers

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:3-the-rainforest-from-below:e2:o2:1
# text = The leaves themselves, consumed immediately upon collection by the workers
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	leaves	leaf	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
3	themselves	themselves	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Emp|Reflex=Yes	2	nmod:unmarked	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
5	consumed	consume	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
6	immediately	immediately	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
7	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	collection	collection	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
9	by	by	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	workers	worker	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **consume** | participle |  | the leaves  leaves *not said here* |  |  |  | upon collection; by the workers; immediately *property* | vn consume-66 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A fungus cultivated upon chewed leaf material within the nest

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:3-the-rainforest-from-below:e2:o3:1
# text = A fungus cultivated upon chewed leaf material within the nest
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	fungus	fungus	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	cultivated	cultivate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
4	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	chewed	chew	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	amod	_	_
6	leaf	leaf	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	material	material	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
8	within	within	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	nest	nest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cultivate** | participle |  | a fungus *not said here* |  |  |  | upon chewed leaf material; within the nest | vn preparing-26.3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **chew** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn chew-39.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Other insects captured upon the forest floor

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:3-the-rainforest-from-below:e2:o4:1
# text = Other insects captured upon the forest floor
1	Other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	insects	insect	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
3	captured	capture	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
4	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	forest	forest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	floor	floor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **capture** | participle |  | Other insects *not said here* |  |  |  | upon the forest floor | vn steal-10.5-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

<!-- 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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