---
title: Why do the eye spots on a butterfly work best if they appear suddenly? — How animals defend themselves · tree and pragmatics
description: Why do the eye spots on a butterfly work best if they appear suddenly? Test 8 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 choice was right.
---

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# Test 8 · How animals defend themselves

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why do the eye spots on a butterfly work best if they appear suddenly?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** spots · **What happens:** do, appear · **To what, where:** eye spots, butterfly work

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 of lesson 53 «How animals defend themselves» 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/53-how-animals-defend-themselves/#t8).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:53-how-animals-defend-themselves:t8:1
# text = Why do the eye spots on a butterfly work best if they appear suddenly?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	2	advmod	_	_
2	do	do	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	eye	eye	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	spots	spot	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
6	on	on	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	butterfly	butterfly	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	work	work	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
10	best	well	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	5	advmod	_	_
11	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
12	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
13	appear	appear	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	advcl	_	_
14	suddenly	suddenly	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | present |  | the eye spots |  | a butterfly work |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent spot=Eventuality |
| 2 | **appear** *a condition, not said to happen* | present | spots *= spot* |  |  |  |  | suddenly *property* | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The spots fade if left open

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:53-how-animals-defend-themselves:t8:o1:1
# text = The spots fade if left open
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	spots	spot	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	fade	fade	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
5	left	leave	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	advcl	_	_
6	open	open	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fade** | present | the spots |  |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |
| 2 | **leave** *a condition, not said to happen* | participle | the spots *not said here* |  |  |  |  | open *property* | vn escape-51.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A sudden pair of big eyes startles a bird before it can think

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:53-how-animals-defend-themselves:t8:o2:1
# text = A sudden pair of big eyes startles a bird before it can think
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	sudden	sudden	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	pair	pair	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	big	big	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	eyes	eye	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nmod	_	_
7	startles	startle	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	bird	bird	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
10	before	before	SCONJ	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
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	think	think	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **startle** | present | a sudden pair of big eyes | a bird |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus bird=Experiencer |
| 2 | **think** *speech: other* | can | pair |  |  |  |  |  | vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The butterfly runs out of colour

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:53-how-animals-defend-themselves:t8:o3:1
# text = The butterfly runs out of colour
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	butterfly	butterfly	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	runs	run	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	out	out	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	colour	colour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **run** | present | the butterfly |  |  | colour |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme out colour=Trajectory |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Birds can only ever see eyes that are moving or blinking at them

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:53-how-animals-defend-themselves:t8:o4:1
# text = Birds can only ever see eyes that are moving or blinking at them
1	Birds	bird	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
2	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
3	only	only	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
4	ever	ever	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	5	advmod	_	_
5	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	eyes	eye	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
7	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	9	nsubj	_	_
8	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
9	moving	move	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	6	acl:relcl	_	_
10	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
11	blinking	blink	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	9	conj	_	_
12	at	at	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **see** | can | Birds | eyes |  |  | ever |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer eye=Stimulus |
| 2 | **move** | present · progressive | eyes |  |  |  |  |  | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP.theme V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **blink** | gerund | eyes *not said here* |  |  |  |  | at Birds *= bird* | vn light\_emission-43.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme at they=Location |

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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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- ← previous: [How animals defend themselves, test 7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/53-how-animals-defend-themselves/t7/)
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