---
title: Ascertain the means by which certain dolphins confine a shoal of fish. — How animals hunt · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the means by which certain dolphins confine a shoal of fish. Exam question 4 of lesson 52 «How animals hunt» 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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# Exam question 4 · How animals hunt

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the means by which certain dolphins confine a shoal of fish.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, the, certain dolphins · **What happens:** ascertain, mean, confine · **To what, where:** shoal

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This is exam question 4 of lesson 52 «How animals hunt» 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/52-how-animals-hunt/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:52-how-animals-hunt:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the means by which certain dolphins confine a shoal of fish.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
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	1	ccomp	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	obl	_	_
6	certain	certain	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	dolphins	dolphin	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
8	confine	confine	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	parataxis	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	shoal	shoal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	fish	fish	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **mean** | present | the |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **confine** | present | certain dolphins | a shoal of fish |  |  |  |  | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent shoal=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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By encircling the shoal with a ring of bubbles

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:52-how-animals-hunt:e4:o1:1
# text = By encircling the shoal with a ring of bubbles
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	encircling	encircle	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	shoal	shoal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	with	with	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	ring	ring	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	bubbles	bubble	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **encircle** | gerund |  | the shoal |  |  |  | with a ring of bubbles | vn fill-9.8 «NP V NP PP.theme»: agent=Agent shoal=Destination with ring=Theme |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By singing to the fish until they sleep

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:52-how-animals-hunt:e4:o2:1
# text = By singing to the fish until they sleep
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	singing	sing	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	fish	fish	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
6	until	until	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
7	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
8	sleep	sleep	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sing** *speech: express* | gerund |  |  | the fish |  |  |  | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V PP.recipient»: agent=Agent to fish=Recipient |
| 2 | **sleep** | present | they |  |  |  |  |  | vn snooze-40.4-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By stirring mud from the seabed into a solid wall

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:52-how-animals-hunt:e4:o3:1
# text = By stirring mud from the seabed into a solid wall
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	stirring	stir	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	mud	mud	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
4	from	from	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	seabed	seabed	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
7	into	into	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	solid	solid	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	wall	wall	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stir** | gerund |  | mud |  | the seabed |  | into a solid wall | vn shake-22.3-1-1 «NP V NP PP.co-patient»: agent=Agent mud=Patient into wall=Co-Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By lowering the temperature of the water

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:52-how-animals-hunt:e4:o4:1
# text = By lowering the temperature of the water
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	lowering	lower	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	temperature	temperature	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lower** | gerund |  | the temperature of the water |  |  |  |  | vn put\_direction-9.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent temperature=Theme |

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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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