---
title: Why can a few animals brought to a new place become a huge problem,… — City birds: sparrows, starlings, swift… · tree and pragmatics
description: Why can a few animals brought to a new place become a huge problem, like starlings in America? Test 11 · ★ 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 qu
---

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# Test 11 · ★ · City birds: sparrows, starlings, swifts, crows and peregri…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why can a few animals brought to a new place become a huge problem, like starlings in America?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** few animals · **What happens:** bring, become · **To what, where:** few animals, new place, huge problem

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 11 · ★ of lesson 369 «City birds: sparrows, starlings, swifts, crows and peregrines on tall buildings» 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/369-city-birds-sparrows-starlings-swifts-crows-and-peregrines-on-tall-buildings/#t11).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:369-city-birds-sparrows-starlings-swifts-crows-and-peregrines-on-tall-buildings:t11:1
# text = Why can a few animals brought to a new place become a huge problem, like starlings in America?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	11	advmod	_	_
2	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	11	aux	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	few	few	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	animals	animal	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	nsubj	_	_
6	brought	bring	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	acl	_	_
7	to	to	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	new	new	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	place	place	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
11	become	become	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
12	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
13	huge	huge	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	problem	problem	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
16	like	like	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
17	starlings	starling	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	nmod	_	_
18	in	in	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
19	America	America	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	17	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	11	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **bring** | participle |  | a few animals *not said here* |  | a new place |  |  | vn bring-11.3-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent to place=Destination |
| 2 | **become** | can | a few animals | a huge problem like starlings in America |  |  |  |  | vn become-109.1-1-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They stop having babies because they miss their old home far away across the sea

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:369-city-birds-sparrows-starlings-swifts-crows-and-peregrines-on-tall-buildings:t11:o1:1
# text = They stop having babies because they miss their old home far away across the sea
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	stop	stop	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	having	have	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	xcomp	_	_
4	babies	baby	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
5	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
6	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
7	miss	miss	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	advcl	_	_
8	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
9	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	home	home	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
11	far	far	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	12	advmod	_	_
12	away	away	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
13	across	across	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	sea	sea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stop** | present | They |  |  |  |  |  | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Affector clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **have** | gerund | They *not said here* | babies |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent baby=Patient |
| 3 | **miss** | present | babies *= baby* | babies's old home |  |  |  | away *property* | vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer home=Stimulus |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They always die out quickly

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:369-city-birds-sparrows-starlings-swifts-crows-and-peregrines-on-tall-buildings:t11:o2:1
# text = They always die out quickly
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	3	advmod	_	_
3	die	die	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	out	out	ADP	RP	_	3	compound:prt	_	_
5	quickly	quickly	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **die out** | present | They |  |  |  |  | always, quickly *property* | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
With lots of food and no natural limits they multiply and push out natives

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:369-city-birds-sparrows-starlings-swifts-crows-and-peregrines-on-tall-buildings:t11:o3:1
# text = With lots of food and no natural limits they multiply and push out natives
1	With	with	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	lots	lot	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
6	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	8	det	_	_
7	natural	natural	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	limits	limit	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	conj	_	_
9	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
10	multiply	multiply	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	acl:relcl	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
12	push	push	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	conj	_	_
13	out	out	ADP	RP	_	12	compound:prt	_	_
14	natives	native	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **multiply** | present | limits *= limit* | no natural limits *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn multiply-108-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent limit=Theme |
| 2 | **push out** | present | limits *= limit* *not said here* | natives |  |  |  |  | vn carry-11.4-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent native=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They become tame pets

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:369-city-birds-sparrows-starlings-swifts-crows-and-peregrines-on-tall-buildings:t11:o4:1
# text = They become tame pets
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	become	become	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	tame	tame	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	pets	pet	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **become** | present | They | tame pets |  |  |  |  | vn become-109.1-1-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=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.

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