---
title: Dumbo flies by flapping his huge ears. What do real elephant ears do? — The elephant house: herds, feet, food… · tree and pragmatics
description: Dumbo flies by flapping his huge ears. What do real elephant ears do? Test 4 of lesson 83 «The elephant house: herds, feet, food and the mouse myth» 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 · The elephant house: herds, feet, food and the mouse myth

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Dumbo flies by flapping his huge ears. What do real elephant ears do?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** Dumbo, real elephant ears · **What happens:** fly, flap, be, do · **To what, where:** huge ears

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 4 of lesson 83 «The elephant house: herds, feet, food and the mouse myth» 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/83-elephant-house-herds-feet-food-mouse-myth/#t4).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Dumbo flies by flapping his huge ears.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:83-elephant-house-herds-feet-food-mouse-myth:t4:1
# text = Dumbo flies by flapping his huge ears.
1	Dumbo	Dumbo	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	flies	fly	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	by	by	SCONJ	IN	_	4	mark	_	_
4	flapping	flap	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	advcl	_	_
5	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
6	huge	huge	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	ears	ear	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fly** | present | Dumbo |  |  |  |  |  | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **flap** | gerund | Dumbo *not said here* | Dumbo's huge ears |  |  |  |  | vn crane-40.3.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent ear=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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* What do real elephant ears do?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:83-elephant-house-herds-feet-food-mouse-myth:t4:2
# text = What do real elephant ears do?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	_
2	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	cop	_	_
3	real	real	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
4	elephant	elephant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	ears	ear	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
6	do	do	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **do** | present | real elephant ears |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Let African elephants glide short distances from hill to hill

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:83-elephant-house-herds-feet-food-mouse-myth:t4:o1:1
# text = Let African elephants glide short distances from hill to hill
1	Let	let	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	compound	_	_
2	African	African	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	elephants	elephant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	glide	glide	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	short	short	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	distances	distance	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
7	from	from	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	hill	hill	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
9	to	to	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	hill	hill	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **let** | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V PP.recipient»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **glide** | present | Let African elephants | short distances |  | hill |  | to hill | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V NP PP.source PP.destination PP.trajectory»: agent=Agent distance=Theme from hill=Initial\_Location to hill=Destination |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nothing, the ears are just for show

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:83-elephant-house-herds-feet-food-mouse-myth:t4:o2:1
# text = Nothing, the ears are just for show
1	Nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	8	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	ears	ear	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	conj	_	_
5	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
6	just	just	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
7	for	for	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	show	show	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Nothing |  |  |  |  | for show | tree rules |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Help them hear and lose heat, but cannot lift them

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:83-elephant-house-herds-feet-food-mouse-myth:t4:o3:1
# text = Help them hear and lose heat, but cannot lift them
1	Help	help	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	1	obj	_	_
3	hear	hear	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	1	xcomp	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	lose	lose	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	conj	_	_
6	heat	heat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
8	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
9	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	11	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	11	advmod	_	_
11	lift	lift	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	1	conj	_	_
12	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **help** | imperative | you *not said here* | them *= they* |  |  |  |  | vn help-72.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent they=Beneficiary clause=Theme |
| 2 | **hear** | infinitive | them *= they* *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V PP.stimulus»: agent=Experiencer |
| 3 | **lose** | infinitive | them *= they* *not said here* | heat |  |  |  |  | vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent heat=Eventuality |
| 4 | **not** **lift** | can | you *not said here* | them *= they* |  |  |  |  | vn put\_direction-9.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Only help them swim

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:83-elephant-house-herds-feet-food-mouse-myth:t4:o4:1
# text = Only help them swim
1	Only	only	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
2	help	help	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obj	_	_
4	swim	swim	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **help** | imperative | you *not said here* | them *= they* |  |  |  |  | vn help-72.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent they=Beneficiary clause=Theme |
| 2 | **swim** | infinitive | them *= they* *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-1 «NP V»: agent=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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