---
title: Why are dumped goldfish often dull-coloured again after a few genera… — Silkworms and goldfish: two animals Ch… · tree and pragmatics
description: Why are dumped goldfish often dull-coloured again after a few generations in a lake? Test 10 of lesson 381 «Silkworms and goldfish: two animals China changed» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was
---

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# Test 10 · Silkworms and goldfish: two animals China changed

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why are dumped goldfish often dull-coloured again after a few generations in a lake?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** dump, colour · **To what, where:** dumped goldfish

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 10 of lesson 381 «Silkworms and goldfish: two animals China changed» 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/381-silkworms-and-goldfish-two-animals-china-changed/#t10).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:381-silkworms-and-goldfish-two-animals-china-changed:t10:1
# text = Why are dumped goldfish often dull-coloured again after a few generations in a lake?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	3	advmod	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	dumped	dump	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	amod	_	_
4	goldfish	goldfish	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj:pass	_	_
5	often	often	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
6	dull	dull	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	coloured	colour	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
9	again	again	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
10	after	after	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
12	few	few	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	generations	generation	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	_
14	in	in	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	lake	lake	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **dump** | present · passive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn funnel-9.3-1-1 «NP V PP.destination» |
| 2 | **colour** | participle · passive |  | dumped goldfish |  |  | after a few generations in a lake; again | often *property* | tree rules |

<!-- .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 lake water slowly washes the bright colour off their scales

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:381-silkworms-and-goldfish-two-animals-china-changed:t10:o1:1
# text = The lake water slowly washes the bright colour off their scales
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	lake	lake	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
4	slowly	slowly	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	washes	wash	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	bright	bright	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	colour	colour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
9	off	off	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
11	scales	scale	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **wash** | present | the lake water | the bright colour |  | their scales |  | slowly *property* | vn wipe\_manner-10.4.1-1 «NP V NP PP.source»: agent=Agent colour=Theme off scale=Source |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Fish lose colour when they are happy

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:381-silkworms-and-goldfish-two-animals-china-changed:t10:o2:1
# text = Fish lose colour when they are happy
1	Fish	fish	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	lose	lose	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	colour	colour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
4	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	7	advmod	_	_
5	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
6	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
7	happy	happy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lose** | present | Fish | colour |  |  |  |  | vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent colour=Eventuality |
| 2 | **is** | present | Fish |  |  |  |  | happy *property* | tree rules |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Bright fish are easier for birds to catch, so dull ones survive

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:381-silkworms-and-goldfish-two-animals-china-changed:t10:o3:1
# text = Bright fish are easier for birds to catch, so dull ones survive
1	Bright	bright	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	fish	fish	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	easier	easy	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	birds	bird	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	catch	catch	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
10	so	so	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
11	dull	dull	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	ones	one	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	nsubj	_	_
13	survive	survive	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Bright fish |  |  |  |  | for birds; easy *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **catch** | to-infinitive | Bright fish *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **survive** | present | dull ones |  |  |  |  |  | vn exist-47.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They eat too many plants

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:381-silkworms-and-goldfish-two-animals-china-changed:t10:o4:1
# text = They eat too many plants
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	eat	eat	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	too	too	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	plants	plant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **eat** | present | They | many plants |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent plant=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.

<!-- /div -->

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