---
title: Ascertain the means whereby ants direct their fellows to a source of… — How animals talk · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the means whereby ants direct their fellows to a source of food. Exam question 4 of lesson 50 «How animals talk» 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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# Exam question 4 · How animals talk

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the means whereby ants direct their fellows to a source of food.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** ants · **What happens:** ascertain, mean, direct · **To what, where:** fellows · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 50 «How animals talk» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, asked in stiff, formal language. 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/50-how-animals-talk/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:50-how-animals-talk:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the means whereby ants direct their fellows to a source of food.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	3	nsubj	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	nsubj	_	_
3	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	whereby	whereby	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	6	advmod	_	_
5	ants	ant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
6	direct	direct	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	ccomp	_	_
7	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
8	fellows	fellow	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obj	_	_
9	to	to	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	source	source	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
12	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **mean** | present |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **direct** | present | ants | ants's fellows |  |  |  | to a source of food; whereby *property* | vn supervision-95.2.2-1 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent fellow=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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By depositing a trail of chemical scent, termed pheromones

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:50-how-animals-talk:e4:o1:1
# text = By depositing a trail of chemical scent, termed pheromones
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	depositing	deposit	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	9	advcl	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	trail	trail	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	chemical	chemical	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	scent	scent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
9	termed	term	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	10	amod	_	_
10	pheromones	pheromone	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **deposit** | gerund |  | a trail of chemical scent |  |  |  |  | vn put-9.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent trail=Theme |
| 2 | **term** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn dub-29.3.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By means of loud calls audible at great distance

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:50-how-animals-talk:e4:o2:1
# text = By means of loud calls audible at great distance
1	By	by	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	loud	loud	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	calls	call	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
6	audible	audible	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	xcomp	_	_
7	at	at	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	great	great	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	distance	distance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present |  |  |  |  |  | of loud calls; audible *property* | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By flashes of light emitted from the abdomen in a fixed sequence

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:50-how-animals-talk:e4:o3:1
# text = By flashes of light emitted from the abdomen in a fixed sequence
1	By	by	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	flashes	flash	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	light	light	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
5	emitted	emit	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
6	from	from	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	abdomen	abdomen	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
9	in	in	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
11	fixed	fix	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	12	amod	_	_
12	sequence	sequence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **emit** | participle |  | flashes of light *not said here* |  | the abdomen |  | in a fixed sequence | vn substance\_emission-43.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Source |
| 2 | **fix** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn shake-22.3-2 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Patient |
| 3 | **flash** |  | light |  |  |  |  |  | nom flash «event intransitive»: of=agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By a dance performed upon the comb

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:50-how-animals-talk:e4:o4:1
# text = By a dance performed upon the comb
1	By	by	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	dance	dance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	performed	perform	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl	_	_
5	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	comb	comb	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **perform** | participle |  | a dance *not said here* |  |  |  | upon the comb | vn performance-26.7 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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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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