---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the… — Wild animals and tall tales · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the conduct of the ostrich when threatened? Exam question 1 of lesson 8 «Wild animals and tall tales» of the myths course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choic
---

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# Exam question 1 · Wild animals and tall tales

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the conduct of the ostrich when threatened?

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

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 8 «Wild animals and tall tales» of the myths 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/myths/8-wild-animals-and-tall-tales/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:8-wild-animals-and-tall-tales:e1:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the conduct of the ostrich when threatened?
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	10	det	_	_
10	conduct	conduct	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	ostrich	ostrich	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	_
14	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	15	advmod	_	_
15	threatened	threaten	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	?	?	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 conduct of the ostrich |  |  |  | of the following statements; accurately *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **threaten** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer |
| 4 | **conduct** |  |  | the ostrich |  |  |  |  | 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 -->
It feigns death by burying its whole body

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:8-wild-animals-and-tall-tales:e1:o1:1
# text = It feigns death by burying its whole body
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	feigns	feign	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	death	death	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
4	by	by	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
5	burying	bury	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	advcl	_	_
6	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
7	whole	whole	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	body	body	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **feign** | present | It | death |  |  |  |  | vn establish-55.5-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent death=Patient |
| 2 | **bury** | gerund |  | death's whole body |  |  |  |  | vn put-9.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent body=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It retreats into a burrow beneath its nest

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:8-wild-animals-and-tall-tales:e1:o2:1
# text = It retreats into a burrow beneath its nest
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	retreats	retreat	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	into	into	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	burrow	burrow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
6	beneath	beneath	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
8	nest	nest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **retreat** | present | It |  |  | a burrow |  | beneath burrow's nest | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme into burrow=Initial\_Location |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It conceals its head beneath the sand

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:8-wild-animals-and-tall-tales:e1:o3:1
# text = It conceals its head beneath the sand
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	conceals	conceal	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	4	nmod:poss	_	_
4	head	head	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	beneath	beneath	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	sand	sand	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **conceal** | present | It | its head |  | the sand |  |  | vn concealment-16 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent head=Patient beneath sand=Location |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It lies flat upon the ground or flees at considerable speed

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:8-wild-animals-and-tall-tales:e1:o4:1
# text = It lies flat upon the ground or flees at considerable speed
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	lies	lie	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	flat	flat	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	xcomp	_	_
4	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	ground	ground	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
7	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	flees	flee	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
9	at	at	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	considerable	considerable	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	speed	speed	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lie** | present | It |  |  | the ground |  | flat *property* | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent upon ground=Location |
| 2 | **flee** | present |  |  |  | considerable speed |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1-1 «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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