---
title: What might happen to fish if there were far fewer whales? — Poo, wee and smells: rabbits that eat… · tree and pragmatics
description: What might happen to fish if there were far fewer whales? Test 6 · ★ of lesson 398 «Poo, wee and smells: rabbits that eat their droppings, dung beetles and the smelliest animals» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each optio
---

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# Test 6 · ★ · Poo, wee and smells: rabbits that eat their droppings, dun…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What might happen to fish if there were far fewer whales?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** fewer whales · **What happens:** happen, be

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 6 · ★ of lesson 398 «Poo, wee and smells: rabbits that eat their droppings, dung beetles and the smelliest animals» 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/398-poo-wee-and-smells-rabbits-that-eat-their-droppings-dung-beetles-and-the-smelliest-animals/#t6).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:398-poo-wee-and-smells-rabbits-that-eat-their-droppings-dung-beetles-and-the-smelliest-animals:t6:1
# text = What might happen to fish if there were far fewer whales?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	_
2	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	happen	happen	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	fish	fish	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
6	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
7	there	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	8	expl	_	_
8	were	be	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
9	far	far	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	10	advmod	_	_
10	fewer	few	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	11	amod	_	_
11	whales	whale	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **happen** | might |  |  |  |  |  | to fish | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **be** *a condition, not said to happen* | past | fewer whales |  |  | there |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «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 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Fish would have to eat whale poo themselves

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:398-poo-wee-and-smells-rabbits-that-eat-their-droppings-dung-beetles-and-the-smelliest-animals:t6:o1:1
# text = Fish would have to eat whale poo themselves
1	Fish	fish	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	have	have	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	eat	eat	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
6	whale	whale	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	poo	poo	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	themselves	themselves	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Emp|Reflex=Yes	7	nmod:unmarked	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | would | Fish |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **eat** | to-infinitive | Fish *not said here* | whale poo  Fish |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent poo=Patient |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
There might be fewer fish, because whale poo feeds the tiny plants at the bottom of the food chain

<!-- fold The tree, 19 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:398-poo-wee-and-smells-rabbits-that-eat-their-droppings-dung-beetles-and-the-smelliest-animals:t6:o2:1
# text = There might be fewer fish, because whale poo feeds the tiny plants at the bottom of the food chain
1	There	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	3	expl	_	_
2	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	cop	_	_
4	fewer	few	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	5	amod	_	_
5	fish	fish	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
7	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
8	whale	whale	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	poo	poo	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
10	feeds	feed	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
12	tiny	tiny	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	plants	plant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obj	_	_
14	at	at	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	bottom	bottom	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	_
17	of	of	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
18	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
19	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	compound	_	_
20	chain	chain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | infinitive | whale poo |  |  | the bottom of the food chain |  | feed *property* | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
There would be many more fish, because whales eat almost all of the fish in the sea every year

<!-- fold The tree, 19 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:398-poo-wee-and-smells-rabbits-that-eat-their-droppings-dung-beetles-and-the-smelliest-animals:t6:o3:1
# text = There would be many more fish, because whales eat almost all of the fish in the sea every year
1	There	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	3	expl	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	be	be	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
5	more	more	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	6	amod	_	_
6	fish	fish	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
8	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
9	whales	whale	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nsubj	_	_
10	eat	eat	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	parataxis	_	_
11	almost	almost	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
12	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	10	obj	_	_
13	of	of	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	fish	fish	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nmod	_	_
16	in	in	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	sea	sea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nmod	_	_
19	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	20	det	_	_
20	year	year	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl:unmarked	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **be** | would | many more fish |  |  | there |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **eat** | present | whales | all |  |  | year |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent all=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nothing, whales have no effect

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:398-poo-wee-and-smells-rabbits-that-eat-their-droppings-dung-beetles-and-the-smelliest-animals:t6:o4:1
# text = Nothing, whales have no effect
1	Nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	3	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	whales	whale	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	have	have	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	6	det	_	_
6	effect	effect	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | Nothing whales | no effect |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent effect=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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