---
title: Identify the mechanism by which a murmuration of starlings is coordi… — City birds: sparrows, starlings, swift… · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the mechanism by which a murmuration of starlings is coordinated. Exam question 1 of lesson 369 «City birds: sparrows, starlings, swifts, crows and peregrines on tall buildings» 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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# Exam question 1 · City birds: sparrows, starlings, swifts, crows and peregri…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the mechanism by which a murmuration of starlings is coordinated.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, mechanism · **What happens:** identify, coordinate, murmur · **To what, where:** mechanism, murmuration, starlings

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 369 «City birds: sparrows, starlings, swifts, crows and peregrines on tall buildings» 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/369-city-birds-sparrows-starlings-swifts-crows-and-peregrines-on-tall-buildings/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:369-city-birds-sparrows-starlings-swifts-crows-and-peregrines-on-tall-buildings:e1:1
# text = Identify the mechanism by which a murmuration of starlings is coordinated.
1	Identify	identify	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	mechanism	mechanism	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	11	obl	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	murmuration	murmuration	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj:pass	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	starlings	starling	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nmod	_	_
10	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	aux:pass	_	_
11	coordinated	coordinate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	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 mechanism |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent mechanism=Theme |
| 2 | **coordinate** | present · passive | the mechanism | a murmuration of starlings |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **murmur** |  |  | starlings |  |  |  |  | nom murmuration «event transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- .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 -->
Each bird responds to approximately seven of its nearest neighbours

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:369-city-birds-sparrows-starlings-swifts-crows-and-peregrines-on-tall-buildings:e1:o1:1
# text = Each bird responds to approximately seven of its nearest neighbours
1	Each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	2	det	_	_
2	bird	bird	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	responds	respond	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
5	approximately	approximately	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	seven	seven	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	3	ccomp	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
9	nearest	near	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	10	amod	_	_
10	neighbours	neighbour	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **respond** *speech: other* | present | each bird |  |  |  |  |  | vn respond-113 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A single leader directs the movements of the flock

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:369-city-birds-sparrows-starlings-swifts-crows-and-peregrines-on-tall-buildings:e1:o2:1
# text = A single leader directs the movements of the flock
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	single	single	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	leader	leader	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	directs	direct	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	movements	movement	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	flock	flock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **direct** | present | a single leader | the movements of the flock |  |  |  |  | vn supervision-95.2.2-1 «NP V NP.predicate»: agent=Agent movement=Eventuality |
| 2 | **move** |  |  | the flock |  |  |  |  | nom movement «act transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The birds are guided solely by the wind

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:369-city-birds-sparrows-starlings-swifts-crows-and-peregrines-on-tall-buildings:e1:o3:1
# text = The birds are guided solely by the wind
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	birds	bird	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	guided	guide	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	solely	solely	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
6	by	by	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	wind	wind	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **guide** | present · passive | the wind | the birds |  |  |  | solely *property* | vn accompany-51.7 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The flock follows a route which was determined in advance at the roost

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:369-city-birds-sparrows-starlings-swifts-crows-and-peregrines-on-tall-buildings:e1:o4:1
# text = The flock follows a route which was determined in advance at the roost
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	flock	flock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	follows	follow	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	route	route	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	nsubj:pass	_	_
7	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux:pass	_	_
8	determined	determine	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	acl:relcl	_	_
9	in	in	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	advance	advance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
11	at	at	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	roost	roost	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **follow** | present | the flock | a route |  |  |  |  | vn chase-51.6 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent route=Theme |
| 2 | **determine** | past · passive |  | a route |  | advance |  | at the roost | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: subject=Topic |

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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.

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- next →: [City birds: sparrows, starlings, swift…, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/369-city-birds-sparrows-starlings-swifts-crows-and-peregrines-on-tall-buildings/e2/)
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