---
title: Why would a poison on fields harm a falcon that never ate a plant? — City birds: sparrows, starlings, swift… · tree and pragmatics
description: Why would a poison on fields harm a falcon that never ate a plant? Test 6 · ★ 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 each option; Mo
---

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# Test 6 · ★ · City birds: sparrows, starlings, swifts, crows and peregri…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why would a poison on fields harm a falcon that never ate a plant?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** poison, falcon · **What happens:** harm, not eat · **To what, where:** falcon, plant

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 6 · ★ 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/#t6).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:369-city-birds-sparrows-starlings-swifts-crows-and-peregrines-on-tall-buildings:t6:1
# text = Why would a poison on fields harm a falcon that never ate a plant?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	7	advmod	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	poison	poison	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
5	on	on	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	fields	field	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nmod	_	_
7	harm	harm	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	falcon	falcon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
10	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	12	nsubj	_	_
11	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	12	advmod	_	_
12	ate	eat	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	acl:relcl	_	_
13	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	plant	plant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **harm** | would | a poison on fields | a falcon |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus falcon=Experiencer |
| 2 | **not** **eat** | past | a falcon | a plant |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent plant=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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Falcons eat grass and seeds in secret when nobody is watching them

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:369-city-birds-sparrows-starlings-swifts-crows-and-peregrines-on-tall-buildings:t6:o1:1
# text = Falcons eat grass and seeds in secret when nobody is watching them
1	Falcons	falcon	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	eat	eat	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	grass	grass	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	seeds	seed	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	conj	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	secret	secret	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
8	when	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	11	mark	_	_
9	nobody	nobody	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	11	nsubj	_	_
10	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	aux	_	_
11	watching	watch	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	advcl	_	_
12	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **eat** | present | Falcons | grass and seeds |  | secret |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent grass=Patient |
| 2 | **watch** | present · progressive | nobody | grass |  |  |  |  | vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Falcons drink from farm ponds only

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:369-city-birds-sparrows-starlings-swifts-crows-and-peregrines-on-tall-buildings:t6:o2:1
# text = Falcons drink from farm ponds only
1	Falcons	falcon	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	drink	drink	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	from	from	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	farm	farm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	ponds	pond	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
6	only	only	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **drink** | present | Falcons |  |  | farm ponds |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V PP.source»: agent=Agent from pond=Source |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It ate birds that ate the poisoned seeds, so the poison built up in it

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:369-city-birds-sparrows-starlings-swifts-crows-and-peregrines-on-tall-buildings:t6:o3:1
# text = It ate birds that ate the poisoned seeds, so the poison built up in it
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	ate	eat	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	birds	bird	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
4	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	5	nsubj	_	_
5	ate	eat	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	acl:relcl	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	poisoned	poison	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	amod	_	_
8	seeds	seed	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
10	so	so	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	poison	poison	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	_
13	built	build	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	conj	_	_
14	up	up	ADP	RP	_	13	compound:prt	_	_
15	in	in	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **eat** | past | It | birds |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent bird=Patient |
| 2 | **eat** | past | birds | the poisoned seeds |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent seed=Patient |
| 3 | **poison** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn poison-42.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **build up** | participle | the poison |  |  | it |  |  | vn caused\_calibratable\_cos-45.6.2-1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The poison blew into its nest as dust only

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:369-city-birds-sparrows-starlings-swifts-crows-and-peregrines-on-tall-buildings:t6:o4:1
# text = The poison blew into its nest as dust only
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	poison	poison	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	blew	blow	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	into	into	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	nest	nest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
7	as	as	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	dust	dust	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
9	only	only	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **blow** | past | the poison |  |  | poison's nest |  | as dust | vn build-26.1 «NP V NP.material PP.product»: agent=Agent into nest=Product |

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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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