---
title: Ascertain the danger presented to a kitten by string, thread or ribb… — A kitten at home: litter trays, scratc… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the danger presented to a kitten by string, thread or ribbon. Exam question 4 of lesson 327 «A kitten at home: litter trays, scratching posts and play» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice 
---

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# Exam question 4 · A kitten at home: litter trays, scratching posts and play

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the danger presented to a kitten by string, thread or ribbon.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** ascertain, present · **To what, where:** danger, kitten

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 327 «A kitten at home: litter trays, scratching posts and play» 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/327-a-kitten-at-home-litter-trays-scratching-posts-and-play/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:327-a-kitten-at-home-litter-trays-scratching-posts-and-play:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the danger presented to a kitten by string, thread or ribbon.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	danger	danger	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	presented	present	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl	_	_
5	to	to	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	kitten	kitten	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
8	by	by	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	string	string	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
11	thread	thread	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	conj	_	_
12	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
13	ribbon	ribbon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* | the danger |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent danger=Topic |
| 2 | **present** | participle |  | the danger *not said here* | a kitten |  |  | by string and thread or ribbon | vn fulfilling-13.4.1 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent to kitten=Recipient |

<!-- .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 -->
Such items alter the colour of the eyes

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:327-a-kitten-at-home-litter-trays-scratching-posts-and-play:e4:o1:1
# text = Such items alter the colour of the eyes
1	Such	such	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	items	item	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	alter	alter	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	colour	colour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	eyes	eye	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **alter** | present | Such items | the colour of the eyes |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent colour=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Such items cause the claws to fall out

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:327-a-kitten-at-home-litter-trays-scratching-posts-and-play:e4:o2:1
# text = Such items cause the claws to fall out
1	Such	such	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	items	item	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	cause	cause	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	claws	claw	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	fall	fall	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	advcl	_	_
8	out	out	ADP	RP	_	7	compound:prt	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cause** | present | Such items | the claws |  |  |  |  | vn engender-27.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Precondition claw=Patient |
| 2 | **fall out** | to-infinitive | Such items *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Such items may be swallowed and cause serious internal injury

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:327-a-kitten-at-home-litter-trays-scratching-posts-and-play:e4:o3:1
# text = Such items may be swallowed and cause serious internal injury
1	Such	such	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	items	item	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	aux:pass	_	_
5	swallowed	swallow	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	cause	cause	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	conj	_	_
8	serious	serious	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
9	internal	internal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	injury	injury	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **swallow** | may · passive |  | Such items |  |  |  |  | vn gobble-39.3 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient |
| 2 | **cause** | infinitive |  | serious internal injury |  |  |  |  | vn engender-27.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Precondition injury=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Such items induce sneezing

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:327-a-kitten-at-home-litter-trays-scratching-posts-and-play:e4:o4:1
# text = Such items induce sneezing
1	Such	such	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	items	item	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	induce	induce	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	sneezing	sneezing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **induce** | present | Such items | sneezing |  |  |  |  | vn compel-59.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent sneezing=Patient |

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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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