---
title: If each starling copies only about 7 neighbours, how does the whole… — City birds: sparrows, starlings, swift… · tree and pragmatics
description: If each starling copies only about 7 neighbours, how does the whole cloud turn together? Test 4 · ★ 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 
---

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# Test 4 · ★ · City birds: sparrows, starlings, swifts, crows and peregri…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
If each starling copies only about 7 neighbours, how does the whole cloud turn together?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** starling, whole cloud · **What happens:** copy, turn together · **To what, where:** 7 neighbours

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 4 · ★ 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/#t4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:369-city-birds-sparrows-starlings-swifts-crows-and-peregrines-on-tall-buildings:t4:1
# text = If each starling copies only about 7 neighbours, how does the whole cloud turn together?
1	If	if	SCONJ	IN	_	4	mark	_	_
2	each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	3	det	_	_
3	starling	starling	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	copies	copy	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	advcl	_	_
5	only	only	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
6	about	about	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	7	7	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	8	nummod	_	_
8	neighbours	neighbour	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
10	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	15	advmod	_	_
11	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	aux	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
13	whole	whole	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	cloud	cloud	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nsubj	_	_
15	turn	turn	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
16	together	together	ADV	RB	_	15	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	15	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **copy** *a condition, not said to happen* | present | each starling | 7 neighbours |  |  |  |  | vn scribble-25.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent neighbour=Theme |
| 2 | **turn together** | present · do-support | the whole cloud |  |  |  |  | together *property* | 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 -->
A leader bird shouts orders

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:369-city-birds-sparrows-starlings-swifts-crows-and-peregrines-on-tall-buildings:t4:o1:1
# text = A leader bird shouts orders
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	leader	leader	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	bird	bird	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	shouts	shout	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	orders	order	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **shout** *speech: express* | present | a leader bird | orders |  |  |  |  | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent order=Topic |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They all follow the wind

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:369-city-birds-sparrows-starlings-swifts-crows-and-peregrines-on-tall-buildings:t4:o2:1
# text = They all follow the wind
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	3	advmod	_	_
3	follow	follow	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	wind	wind	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **follow** | present | They | the wind |  |  |  |  | vn chase-51.6 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent wind=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They agree on a plan before take-off, and each bird remembers its own part

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:369-city-birds-sparrows-starlings-swifts-crows-and-peregrines-on-tall-buildings:t4:o3:1
# text = They agree on a plan before take-off, and each bird remembers its own part
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	agree	agree	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	on	on	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	plan	plan	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
6	before	before	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	take	take	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	off	off	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
12	each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	13	det	_	_
13	bird	bird	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nsubj	_	_
14	remembers	remember	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	parataxis	_	_
15	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	17	nmod:poss	_	_
16	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	17	amod	_	_
17	part	part	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **agree** *speech: agree* | present | They |  |  |  |  | on a plan before take off | vn correspond-36.1-1 «NP V PP.theme S»: agent=Agent on plan=Topic |
| 2 | **remember** | present | each bird | bird's own part |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent part=Theme |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A turn passes from neighbour to neighbour so fast the flock moves as one

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:369-city-birds-sparrows-starlings-swifts-crows-and-peregrines-on-tall-buildings:t4:o4:1
# text = A turn passes from neighbour to neighbour so fast the flock moves as one
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	turn	turn	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	passes	pass	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	from	from	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	neighbour	neighbour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
6	to	to	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	neighbour	neighbour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
8	so	so	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
9	fast	fast	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	12	advmod	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	flock	flock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
12	moves	move	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
13	as	as	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	12	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pass** | present | a turn |  |  | neighbour |  | to neighbour | vn escape-51.1-1-3 «NP V PP.initial\_location PP.destination»: agent=Theme from neighbour=Initial\_Location to neighbour=Destination |
| 2 | **move** | present | the flock |  |  |  |  | as one; fast *property* | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP.theme V»: agent=Theme |

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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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