---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the… — How animals defend themselves · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the defensive conduct of the porcupine? Exam question 2 of lesson 53 «How animals defend themselves» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choi
---

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# Exam question 2 · How animals defend themselves

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the defensive conduct of the porcupine?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** follow, characteris, conduct · **To what, where:** defensive conduct, porcupine

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 53 «How animals defend themselves» 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/53-how-animals-defend-themselves/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:53-how-animals-defend-themselves:e2:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the defensive conduct of the porcupine?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	nsubj	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	following	follow	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	amod	_	_
5	statements	statement	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	_
6	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	7	advmod	_	_
7	accurately	accurately	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	characterises	characteris	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	defensive	defensive	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	conduct	conduct	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
12	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	porcupine	porcupine	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **follow** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **characteris** | present |  | the defensive conduct of the porcupine |  |  |  | of the following statements; accurately *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **conduct** |  |  | the porcupine |  |  |  |  | nom conduct «act transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- .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 -->
The quills are concealed until the animal is seized

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:53-how-animals-defend-themselves:e2:o1:1
# text = The quills are concealed until the animal is seized
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	quills	quill	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	concealed	conceal	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	until	until	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	animal	animal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj:pass	_	_
8	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux:pass	_	_
9	seized	seize	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **conceal** | present · passive |  | the quills |  |  |  |  | vn concealment-16 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient |
| 2 | **seize** | present · passive |  | the animal |  |  |  |  | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The quills are propelled through the air towards the assailant at speed

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:53-how-animals-defend-themselves:e2:o2:1
# text = The quills are propelled through the air towards the assailant at speed
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	quills	quill	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	propelled	propel	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	through	through	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	air	air	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
8	towards	towards	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	assailant	assailant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
11	at	at	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	speed	speed	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **propel** | present · passive |  | the quills |  | the air |  | towards the assailant at speed | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The quills are discharged together with a noxious spray

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:53-how-animals-defend-themselves:e2:o3:1
# text = The quills are discharged together with a noxious spray
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	quills	quill	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	discharged	discharge	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	together	together	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
6	with	with	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	noxious	noxious	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	spray	spray	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **discharge** | present · passive |  | the quills |  |  |  | with a noxious spray; together *property* | vn banish-10.2 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The quills are raised and rattled and detach readily upon contact

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:53-how-animals-defend-themselves:e2:o4:1
# text = The quills are raised and rattled and detach readily upon contact
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	quills	quill	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	raised	raise	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	rattled	rattle	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	conj	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	detach	detach	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	conj	_	_
9	readily	readily	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
10	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	contact	contact	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **raise** | present · passive |  | the quills |  |  |  |  | vn put\_direction-9.4 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 2 | **rattle** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn animal\_sounds-38 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **detach** | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | upon contact; readily *property* | vn disassemble-23.3 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=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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- ← previous: [How animals defend themselves, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/53-how-animals-defend-themselves/e1/)
- next →: [How animals defend themselves, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/53-how-animals-defend-themselves/e3/)
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