---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises an o… — How owls work: silent wings, turning h… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises an owl pellet? Exam question 3 of lesson 302 «How owls work: silent wings, turning heads, pellets and owl myths» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option;
---

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# Exam question 3 · How owls work: silent wings, turning heads, pellets and ow…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises an owl pellet?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **What happens:** follow, characteris · **To what, where:** owl pellet

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 302 «How owls work: silent wings, turning heads, pellets and owl myths» 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/302-how-owls-work-silent-wings-turning-heads-pellets-and-owl-myths/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:302-how-owls-work-silent-wings-turning-heads-pellets-and-owl-myths:e3:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises an owl pellet?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	nsubj	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	following	follow	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	amod	_	_
5	statements	statement	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	_
6	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	7	advmod	_	_
7	accurately	accurately	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	characterises	characteris	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	owl	owl	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	compound	_	_
11	pellet	pellet	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **follow** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **characteris** | present |  | a owl pellet |  |  |  | of the following statements; accurately *property* | tree rules |

<!-- .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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A mass of indigestible fur and bone regurgitated by the owl

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:302-how-owls-work-silent-wings-turning-heads-pellets-and-owl-myths:e3:o1:1
# text = A mass of indigestible fur and bone regurgitated by the owl
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	mass	mass	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	indigestible	indigestible	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	fur	fur	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	bone	bone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	conj	_	_
8	regurgitated	regurgitate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
9	by	by	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	owl	owl	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **regurgitate** | participle |  | a mass of indigestible fur and bone *not said here* |  |  |  | by the owl | vn exhale-40.1.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A store of food concealed by the owl beneath leaves for the winter

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:302-how-owls-work-silent-wings-turning-heads-pellets-and-owl-myths:e3:o2:1
# text = A store of food concealed by the owl beneath leaves for the winter
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	store	store	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
5	concealed	conceal	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
6	by	by	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	owl	owl	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
9	beneath	beneath	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	leaves	leaf	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nmod	_	_
11	for	for	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	winter	winter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **conceal** | participle |  | a store of food *not said here* |  |  | winter | by the owl beneath leaves | vn concealment-16 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent by owl=Location |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
An unfertilised egg discarded from the nest

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:302-how-owls-work-silent-wings-turning-heads-pellets-and-owl-myths:e3:o3:1
# text = An unfertilised egg discarded from the nest
1	An	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	unfertilised	unfertilised	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	egg	egg	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	discarded	discard	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl	_	_
5	from	from	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	nest	nest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **discard** | participle |  | a unfertilised egg *not said here* |  | the nest |  |  | vn throw-17.1 «NP V NP PP.initial\_location»: agent=Agent from nest=Initial\_Location |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The faeces of the owl after complete digestion

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:302-how-owls-work-silent-wings-turning-heads-pellets-and-owl-myths:e3:o4:1
# text = The faeces of the owl after complete digestion
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	faeces	faece	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	owl	owl	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	after	after	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	complete	complete	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	digestion	digestion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	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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- ← previous: [How owls work: silent wings, turning h…, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/302-how-owls-work-silent-wings-turning-heads-pellets-and-owl-myths/e2/)
- next →: [How owls work: silent wings, turning h…, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/302-how-owls-work-silent-wings-turning-heads-pellets-and-owl-myths/e4/)
- ↑ back to [How owls work: silent wings, turning heads, pellets and owl myths](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/302-how-owls-work-silent-wings-turning-heads-pellets-and-owl-myths/)