---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the… — Birds of prey and owls · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the owl pellet? Exam question 2 of lesson 34 «Birds of prey and owls» 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 was wrong.
---

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# Exam question 2 · Birds of prey and owls

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

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** follow, characteris · **To what, where:** owl pellet

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 34 «Birds of prey and owls» 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/34-birds-of-prey-and-owls/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:34-birds-of-prey-and-owls:e2:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the 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	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|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 |  | the 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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is an unfertilised egg

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:34-birds-of-prey-and-owls:e2:o1:1
# text = It is an unfertilised egg
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	unfertilised	unfertilised	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	egg	egg	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | It | a unfertilised egg |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is the owl's ordinary dropping

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:34-birds-of-prey-and-owls:e2:o2:1
# text = It is the owl's ordinary dropping
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	owl	owl	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	's	's	PART	POS	_	4	case	_	_
6	ordinary	ordinary	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	dropping	dropping	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | It | the owl's ordinary dropping |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is a structure of twigs and moss built by the owl for nesting in the spring

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:34-birds-of-prey-and-owls:e2:o3:1
# text = It is a structure of twigs and moss built by the owl for nesting in the spring
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	structure	structure	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	twigs	twig	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nmod	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	moss	moss	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	conj	_	_
9	built	build	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	acl	_	_
10	by	by	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	owl	owl	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
13	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	14	mark	_	_
14	nesting	nest	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	9	advcl	_	_
15	in	in	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	spring	spring	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | It | a structure and moss |  |  |  | of twigs | tree rules |
| 2 | **build** | participle |  | a structure and moss *not said here* |  |  |  | by the owl | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |
| 3 | **nest** | gerund |  |  |  |  | spring |  | vn berry-13.7 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It comprises the indigestible fur and bones regurgitated by the owl

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:34-birds-of-prey-and-owls:e2:o4:1
# text = It comprises the indigestible fur and bones regurgitated by the owl
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	comprises	comprise	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	indigestible	indigestible	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	fur	fur	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	bones	bone	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	conj	_	_
8	regurgitated	regurgitate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	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 | **comprise** | present | It | the indigestible fur and bones |  |  |  |  | vn comprise-107.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme fur=Pivot |
| 2 | **regurgitate** | participle |  | the indigestible fur and bones *not said here* |  |  |  | by the owl | vn exhale-40.1.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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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: [Birds of prey and owls, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/34-birds-of-prey-and-owls/e1/)
- next →: [Birds of prey and owls, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/34-birds-of-prey-and-owls/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Birds of prey and owls](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/34-birds-of-prey-and-owls/)