---
title: Why would one alarm call meaning just «danger» be worse for vervets… — How animals talk · tree and pragmatics
description: Why would one alarm call meaning just «danger» be worse for vervets than three different calls? Test 12 · ★★★ 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 wrong.
---

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# Test 12 · ★★★ · How animals talk

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why would one alarm call meaning just «danger» be worse for vervets than three different calls?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** one alarm call · **What happens:** mean, be · **To what, where:** danger

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 12 · ★★★ of lesson 50 «How animals talk» 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/50-how-animals-talk/#t12).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:50-how-animals-talk:t12:1
# text = Why would one alarm call meaning just «danger» be worse for vervets than three different calls?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	12	advmod	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	12	aux	_	_
3	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	5	nummod	_	_
4	alarm	alarm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	call	call	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
6	meaning	mean	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	acl	_	_
7	just	just	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
8	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	danger	danger	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	9	punct	_	_
11	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	cop	_	_
12	worse	bad	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	_
13	for	for	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	vervets	vervet	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	obl	_	_
15	than	than	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
16	three	three	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	18	nummod	_	_
17	different	different	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	amod	_	_
18	calls	call	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	12	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | gerund | one alarm call *not said here* | danger |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is** | would | one alarm call |  |  |  |  | for vervets than three different calls; bad *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 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It would be better, because a simple call is quicker to give and the monkeys could all just run

<!-- fold The tree, 19 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:50-how-animals-talk:t12:o1:1
# text = It would be better, because a simple call is quicker to give and the monkeys could all just run
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	cop	_	_
4	better	good	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
6	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	simple	simple	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	call	call	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
10	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	cop	_	_
11	quicker	quick	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	4	conj	_	_
12	to	to	PART	TO	_	13	mark	_	_
13	give	give	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	11	xcomp	_	_
14	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	20	cc	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	monkeys	monkey	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	20	nsubj	_	_
17	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	20	aux	_	_
18	all	all	ADV	RB	_	20	advmod	_	_
19	just	just	ADV	RB	_	20	advmod	_	_
20	run	run	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | would | It |  |  |  |  | good *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** | present | a simple call |  |  |  |  | quick *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **give** | to-infinitive | a simple call *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn break\_down-45.8 «NP V»: agent=Patient |
| 4 | **run** | could | the monkeys |  |  |  |  | all *property* | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Three calls confuse the monkeys more

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:50-how-animals-talk:t12:o2:1
# text = Three calls confuse the monkeys more
1	Three	three	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	2	nummod	_	_
2	calls	call	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	confuse	confuse	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	monkeys	monkey	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
6	more	more	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	3	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **confuse** | present | Three calls | the monkeys |  |  |  |  | vn amalgamate-22.2-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent monkey=Patient |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They would not know whether to climb, hide in bushes or watch the ground

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:50-how-animals-talk:t12:o3:1
# text = They would not know whether to climb, hide in bushes or watch the ground
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	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	know	know	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	whether	whether	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	climb	climb	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
9	hide	hide	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	conj	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	bushes	bush	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obl	_	_
12	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
13	watch	watch	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	conj	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	ground	ground	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **know** | would | They |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V how S\_INF»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 2 | **climb** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **hide** | infinitive | They *not said here* |  |  | bushes |  |  | vn concealment-16-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent in bush=Location |
| 4 | **watch** | infinitive | They *not said here* | the ground |  |  |  |  | vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent ground=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
One call would be louder and scare the predator

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:50-how-animals-talk:t12:o4:1
# text = One call would be louder and scare the predator
1	One	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	2	nummod	_	_
2	call	call	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	cop	_	_
5	louder	loud	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	scare	scare	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	conj	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	predator	predator	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | would | One call |  |  |  |  | loud *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **scare** | infinitive | One call *not said here* | the predator |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus predator=Experiencer |

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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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