---
title: What would happen if a farmer let silk moths go free in a forest? — Silkworms and goldfish: two animals Ch… · tree and pragmatics
description: What would happen if a farmer let silk moths go free in a forest? Test 4 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 right.
---

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# Test 4 · Silkworms and goldfish: two animals China changed

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What would happen if a farmer let silk moths go free in a forest?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** farmer, silk moths · **What happens:** happen, let, go

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

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:381-silkworms-and-goldfish-two-animals-china-changed:t4:1
# text = What would happen if a farmer let silk moths go free in a forest?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	happen	happen	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	farmer	farmer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	let	let	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	advcl	_	_
8	silk	silk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	moths	moth	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nsubj	_	_
10	go	go	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	ccomp	_	_
11	free	free	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	xcomp	_	_
12	in	in	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	forest	forest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **happen** | would |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **let** *a condition, not said to happen* | infinitive | a farmer |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **go** | present | silk moths |  |  |  |  | free *property* | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP 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 -->
They would fly back home every evening to the farmer's warm shed to sleep

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:381-silkworms-and-goldfish-two-animals-china-changed:t4:o1:1
# text = They would fly back home every evening to the farmer's warm shed to sleep
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	fly	fly	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	back	back	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
5	home	home	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
6	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	7	det	_	_
7	evening	evening	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl:unmarked	_	_
8	to	to	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	farmer	farmer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	's	's	PART	POS	_	10	case	_	_
12	warm	warm	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	shed	shed	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
14	to	to	PART	TO	_	15	mark	_	_
15	sleep	sleep	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fly back** | would | They |  |  | the farmer's warm shed | evening | home *property* | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme to shed=Destination |
| 2 | **sleep** | to-infinitive | They *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn snooze-40.4-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They would spread and take over the forest

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:381-silkworms-and-goldfish-two-animals-china-changed:t4:o2:1
# text = They would spread and take over the forest
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	spread	spread	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	take	take	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	conj	_	_
6	over	over	ADP	RP	_	5	compound:prt	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	forest	forest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **spread** | would | They |  |  |  |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **take over** | infinitive | They *not said here* | the forest |  |  |  |  | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent forest=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They would turn wild and grow bigger

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:381-silkworms-and-goldfish-two-animals-china-changed:t4:o3:1
# text = They would turn wild and grow bigger
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	turn	turn	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	wild	wild	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	xcomp	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	grow	grow	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
7	bigger	big	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	6	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **turn** | would | They |  |  |  |  | wild *property* | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP.theme V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **grow** | present | They *not said here* |  |  |  |  | big *property* | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They would soon die, as they cannot fly or fend for themselves

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:381-silkworms-and-goldfish-two-animals-china-changed:t4:o4:1
# text = They would soon die, as they cannot fly or fend for themselves
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	soon	soon	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	4	advmod	_	_
4	die	die	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
6	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
7	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
8	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	10	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	10	advmod	_	_
10	fly	fly	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	conj	_	_
11	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
12	fend	fend	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	conj	_	_
13	for	for	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	themselves	themselves	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	12	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **die** | would | They |  |  |  |  | soon *property* | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |
| 2 | **not** **fly** | can | they |  |  |  |  |  | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **fend** | infinitive | They *not said here* |  |  |  |  | for themselves *= they* | tree rules |

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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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