---
title: A zebra herd stands at a waterhole full of horseflies. What does the… — Who eats whom: predators, prey, scaven… · tree and pragmatics
description: A zebra herd stands at a waterhole full of horseflies. What does the best idea about stripes predict? Test 4 · ★★ of lesson 47 «Who eats whom: predators, prey, scavengers and decomposers» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of e
---

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# Test 4 · ★★ · Who eats whom: predators, prey, scavengers and decomposers

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A zebra herd stands at a waterhole full of horseflies. What does the best idea about stripes predict?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** zebra herd, stripes · **What happens:** stand, do, predict · **To what, where:** waterhole, best idea

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This is test 4 · ★★ of lesson 47 «Who eats whom: predators, prey, scavengers and decomposers» 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/47-predators-prey-scavengers-decomposers/#t4).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* A zebra herd stands at a waterhole full of horseflies.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:47-predators-prey-scavengers-decomposers:t4:1
# text = A zebra herd stands at a waterhole full of horseflies.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	zebra	zebra	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	herd	herd	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	stands	stand	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	waterhole	waterhole	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
8	full	full	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	horseflies	horsefly	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stand** | present | a zebra herd |  |  | a waterhole |  |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent at waterhole=Location |

<!-- .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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* What does the best idea about stripes predict?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:47-predators-prey-scavengers-decomposers:t4:2
# text = What does the best idea about stripes predict?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	_
2	does	do	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	acl:relcl	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	best	good	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	5	amod	_	_
5	idea	idea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	_
6	about	about	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
7	stripes	stripe	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
8	predict	predict	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	acl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | present |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **predict** | present | stripes | the best idea *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn indicate-78 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot idea=Topic |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The stripes attract more flies

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:47-predators-prey-scavengers-decomposers:t4:o1:1
# text = The stripes attract more flies
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	stripes	stripe	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	attract	attract	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	more	more	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	5	amod	_	_
5	flies	fly	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **attract** | present | the stripes | more flies |  |  |  |  | vn lure-59.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent fly=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The zebras will turn black

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:47-predators-prey-scavengers-decomposers:t4:o2:1
# text = The zebras will turn black
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	zebras	zebra	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	turn	turn	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	black	black	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **turn** | future | the zebras |  |  |  |  | black *property* | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP.theme V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Fewer horseflies land properly on the zebras

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:47-predators-prey-scavengers-decomposers:t4:o3:1
# text = Fewer horseflies land properly on the zebras
1	Fewer	few	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	2	amod	_	_
2	horseflies	horsefly	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	land	land	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	properly	properly	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
5	on	on	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	zebras	zebra	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **land** | present | Fewer horseflies |  |  |  |  | on the zebras; properly *property* | vn pocket-9.10-1 «NP V PP.destination»: agent=Theme on zebra=Destination |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The flies cannot see the zebras at all, so they bite the lions

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:47-predators-prey-scavengers-decomposers:t4:o4:1
# text = The flies cannot see the zebras at all, so they bite the lions
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	flies	fly	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
3	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
5	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	zebras	zebra	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
8	at	at	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
11	so	so	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
12	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
13	bite	bite	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	advcl	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	lions	lion	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **see** | can | the flies | the zebras |  | all |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer zebra=Stimulus |
| 2 | **bite** | present | flies *= fly* | the lions |  |  |  |  | vn swat-18.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent lion=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.

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