---
title: Why would having one ear higher than the other help an owl find a sq… — How animals hunt · tree and pragmatics
description: Why would having one ear higher than the other help an owl find a squeaking mouse? Test 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 right.
---

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# Test 4 · ★ · How animals hunt

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why would having one ear higher than the other help an owl find a squeaking mouse?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** owl · **What happens:** have, find · **To what, where:** squeaking mouse

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 4 · ★ of lesson 52 «How animals hunt» 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/52-how-animals-hunt/#t4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:52-how-animals-hunt:t4:1
# text = Why would having one ear higher than the other help an owl find a squeaking mouse?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	3	advmod	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	having	have	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
4	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	5	nummod	_	_
5	ear	ear	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl:unmarked	_	_
6	higher	high	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	3	advmod	_	_
7	than	than	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	help	help	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
11	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	owl	owl	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	_
13	find	find	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	acl:relcl	_	_
14	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
15	squeaking	squeaking	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	compound	_	_
16	mouse	mouse	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | would |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **find** | infinitive | a owl | a squeaking mouse |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent mouse=Topic |

<!-- .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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It doesn't help, it's just a funny shape

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:52-how-animals-hunt:t4:o1:1
# text = It doesn't help, it's just a funny shape
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	help	help	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
6	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	cop	_	_
8	just	just	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	funny	funny	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	shape	shape	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **help** | present · do-support | It |  |  |  |  |  | vn help-72.1-1-1 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is a** | present | it | a funny shape |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The sound reaches each ear a little differently, so it can tell up from down

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:52-how-animals-hunt:t4:o2:1
# text = The sound reaches each ear a little differently, so it can tell up from down
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	sound	sound	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	reaches	reach	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	5	det	_	_
5	ear	ear	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	obl:unmarked	_	_
8	differently	differently	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
10	so	so	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
11	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
12	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	_
13	tell	tell	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	conj	_	_
14	up	up	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
15	from	from	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	down	down	ADV	RB	_	13	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **reach** | present | the sound | each ear |  |  |  | a little *obl:unmarked* | vn body\_motion-49.2-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Agent ear=Theme |
| 2 | **tell up** *speech: assert* | can | sound |  |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The high ear is for hunting by day and the low one is for hunting by night

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:52-how-animals-hunt:t4:o3:1
# text = The high ear is for hunting by day and the low one is for hunting by night
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	high	high	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	ear	ear	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	hunting	hunting	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
7	by	by	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
11	low	low	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	one	one	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nsubj	_	_
13	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	cop	_	_
14	for	for	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	hunting	hunting	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	conj	_	_
16	by	by	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
17	night	night	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the high ear |  |  |  | day; night | for hunting and hunting | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** | present | the low one |  |  |  |  | for hunting | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It hears two mice at once

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:52-how-animals-hunt:t4:o4:1
# text = It hears two mice at once
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	hears	hear	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	4	nummod	_	_
4	mice	mouse	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	once	once	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hear** | present | It | two mice |  |  |  |  | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Experiencer mouse=Stimulus |

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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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