---
title: Identify the principal function of the star-shaped organ upon the sn… — Odd-looking animals: shoebills, star-n… · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal function of the star-shaped organ upon the snout of the star-nosed mole. Exam question 2 of lesson 366 «Odd-looking animals: shoebills, star-nosed moles, saigas, pangolins and hagfish» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of t
---

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# Exam question 2 · Odd-looking animals: shoebills, star-nosed moles, saigas,…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal function of the star-shaped organ upon the snout of the star-nosed mole.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** identify, shape, nose · **To what, where:** principal function

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 366 «Odd-looking animals: shoebills, star-nosed moles, saigas, pangolins and hagfish» 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/366-odd-looking-animals-shoebills-star-nosed-moles-saigas-pangolins-and-hagfish/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:366-odd-looking-animals-shoebills-star-nosed-moles-saigas-pangolins-and-hagfish:e2:1
# text = Identify the principal function of the star-shaped organ upon the snout of the star-nosed mole.
1	Identify	identify	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	function	function	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
7	star	star	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	shaped	shape	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	10	amod	_	_
10	organ	organ	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
11	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	snout	snout	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	_
14	of	of	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
16	star	star	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	16	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	nosed	nose	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	19	amod	_	_
19	mole	mole	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	.	.	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 principal function of the shaped organ upon the snout of the nosed mole |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent function=Theme |
| 2 | **shape** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset |
| 3 | **nose** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | 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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The excavation of soil in the manner of a spade

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:366-odd-looking-animals-shoebills-star-nosed-moles-saigas-pangolins-and-hagfish:e2:o1:1
# text = The excavation of soil in the manner of a spade
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	excavation	excavation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	soil	soil	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	manner	manner	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	spade	spade	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **excavate** |  | soil |  |  | the manner of a spade |  |  | nom excavation «act intransitive»: of=agent in=place |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The detection of prey by touch in darkness

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:366-odd-looking-animals-shoebills-star-nosed-moles-saigas-pangolins-and-hagfish:e2:o2:1
# text = The detection of prey by touch in darkness
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	detection	detection	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	prey	prey	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	touch	touch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	darkness	darkness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **detect** |  | touch | prey |  | darkness |  |  | nom detection «cognition transitive»: of=patient by=agent in=place |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The perception of colour beneath the ground

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:366-odd-looking-animals-shoebills-star-nosed-moles-saigas-pangolins-and-hagfish:e2:o3:1
# text = The perception of colour beneath the ground
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	perception	perception	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	colour	colour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
5	beneath	beneath	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	ground	ground	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **perceive** |  |  | colour |  |  |  | beneath the ground | nom perception «cognition transitive»: of=patient beneath=obl |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The production of sound to repel predators

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:366-odd-looking-animals-shoebills-star-nosed-moles-saigas-pangolins-and-hagfish:e2:o4:1
# text = The production of sound to repel predators
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	production	production	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	sound	sound	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	repel	repel	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	acl	_	_
7	predators	predator	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **repel** | to-infinitive |  | predators |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus predator=Experiencer |
| 2 | **produce** |  |  | sound |  |  |  |  | nom production «act transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- 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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- ↑ back to [Odd-looking animals: shoebills, star-nosed moles, saigas, pangolins and hagfish](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/366-odd-looking-animals-shoebills-star-nosed-moles-saigas-pangolins-and-hagfish/)