---
title: Why might a swan attack children who throw sticks at its nest? — Kindness to animals · tree and pragmatics
description: Why might a swan attack children who throw sticks at its nest? Test 14 · ★ of lesson 207 «Kindness to animals» of the everyday 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 14 · ★ · Kindness to animals

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why might a swan attack children who throw sticks at its nest?

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**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** attack children · **What happens:** throw · **To what, where:** sticks, nest

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This is test 14 · ★ of lesson 207 «Kindness to animals» of the everyday 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/everyday/207-kindness-to-animals/#t14).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:207-kindness-to-animals:t14:1
# text = Why might a swan attack children who throw sticks at its nest?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	0	root	_	_
2	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	1	aux	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
4	swan	swan	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	attack	attack	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
7	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	8	nsubj	_	_
8	throw	throw	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	acl:relcl	_	_
9	sticks	stick	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obj	_	_
10	at	at	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	12	nmod:poss	_	_
12	nest	nest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **throw** | present | a attack children | sticks |  | its nest |  |  | vn throw-17.1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.destinations»: agent=Agent stick=Theme at nest=Destination |

<!-- .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 wants the sticks for itself

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:207-kindness-to-animals:t14:o1:1
# text = It wants the sticks for itself
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	wants	want	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	sticks	stick	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	itself	itself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **want** | present | It | the sticks |  |  |  | for itself *= it* | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot stick=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is protecting its eggs and young

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:207-kindness-to-animals:t14:o2:1
# text = It is protecting its eggs and young
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	protecting	protect	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
4	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	eggs	egg	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	young	young	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **protect** | present · progressive | It | its eggs |  |  |  |  | vn defend-72.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent egg=Beneficiary |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Swans like to play rough

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:207-kindness-to-animals:t14:o3:1
# text = Swans like to play rough
1	Swans	swan	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	like	like	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	play	play	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
5	rough	rough	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **like** | present | Swans |  |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 2 | **play** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | Swans *not said here* |  |  |  |  | rough *property* | vn performance-26.7-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Swans attack everyone they see, every time

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:207-kindness-to-animals:t14:o4:1
# text = Swans attack everyone they see, every time
1	Swans	swan	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	attack	attack	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	everyone	everyone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Tot	2	obj	_	_
4	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
5	see	see	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
7	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	8	det	_	_
8	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **attack** | present | Swans | everyone |  |  |  |  | vn attack-60.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent everyone=Patient |
| 2 | **see** | present | Swans *= swan* |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |

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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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