---
title: What would happen to an owl's brain if the arteries in its neck were… — How owls work: silent wings, turning h… · tree and pragmatics
description: What would happen to an owl's brain if the arteries in its neck were pinched when it turned? Test 11 · ★ 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 ea
---

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# Test 11 · ★ · How owls work: silent wings, turning heads, pellets and ow…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What would happen to an owl's brain if the arteries in its neck were pinched when it turned?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** neck · **What happens:** happen, pinch, turn · **To what, where:** arteries

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 11 · ★ of lesson 302 «How owls work: silent wings, turning heads, pellets and owl myths» 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/302-how-owls-work-silent-wings-turning-heads-pellets-and-owl-myths/#t11).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:302-how-owls-work-silent-wings-turning-heads-pellets-and-owl-myths:t11:1
# text = What would happen to an owl's brain if the arteries in its neck were pinched when it turned?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	happen	happen	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
5	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	owl	owl	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	's	's	PART	POS	_	6	case	_	_
8	brain	brain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
9	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	16	mark	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	arteries	artery	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	16	nsubj:pass	_	_
12	in	in	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	14	nmod:poss	_	_
14	neck	neck	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod	_	_
15	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	16	aux:pass	_	_
16	pinched	pinch	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	advcl	_	_
17	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	19	advmod	_	_
18	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	19	nsubj	_	_
19	turned	turn	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	16	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **happen** | would |  |  |  |  |  | to a owl's brain | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **pinch** *a condition, not said to happen* | past · passive |  | the arteries in brain's neck |  |  |  |  | vn steal-10.5 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 3 | **turn** | past | neck |  |  |  |  |  | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP.theme 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 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nothing, because brains need no blood

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:302-how-owls-work-silent-wings-turning-heads-pellets-and-owl-myths:t11:o1:1
# text = Nothing, because brains need no blood
1	Nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
3	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
4	brains	brain	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
5	need	need	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	parataxis	_	_
6	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	7	det	_	_
7	blood	blood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **need** | present | brains | no blood |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot blood=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It would grow a new brain

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:302-how-owls-work-silent-wings-turning-heads-pellets-and-owl-myths:t11:o2:1
# text = It would grow a new brain
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	grow	grow	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	new	new	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	brain	brain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **grow** | would | It | a new brain |  |  |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location brain=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It could lose blood, which is why owls have wide holes for the arteries

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:302-how-owls-work-silent-wings-turning-heads-pellets-and-owl-myths:t11:o3:1
# text = It could lose blood, which is why owls have wide holes for the arteries
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	lose	lose	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	blood	blood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
6	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	nsubj	_	_
7	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
8	why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	acl:relcl	_	_
9	owls	owl	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nsubj	_	_
10	have	have	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	advcl:relcl	_	_
11	wide	wide	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	holes	hole	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obj	_	_
13	for	for	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	arteries	artery	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lose** | could | It | blood |  |  |  |  | vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent blood=Eventuality |
| 2 | **is** | present | blood |  |  |  |  | why *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **have** | present | owls | wide holes |  |  |  | for the arteries | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent hole=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It would turn its head faster

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:302-how-owls-work-silent-wings-turning-heads-pellets-and-owl-myths:t11:o4:1
# text = It would turn its head faster
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	turn	turn	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	head	head	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	faster	fast	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	3	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **turn** | would | It | its head |  |  |  | fast *property* | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V ADJ.result»: agent=Theme head=Result |

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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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