---
title: Ascertain the reason for which the lion kills other animals. — Why living things die, and the circle… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the reason for which the lion kills other animals. Exam question 4 of lesson 53 «Why living things die, and the circle of life in nature» of the religion ethics course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was wr
---

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# Exam question 4 · Why living things die, and the circle of life in nature

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the reason for which the lion kills other animals.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, lion · **What happens:** ascertain, kill · **To what, where:** reason, other animals

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This is exam question 4 of lesson 53 «Why living things die, and the circle of life in nature» of the religion ethics 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/religion-ethics/53-why-living-things-die-and-the-circle-of-life/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:53-why-living-things-die-and-the-circle-of-life:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the reason for which the lion kills other animals.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	for	for	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	obl	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	lion	lion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
8	kills	kill	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	acl	_	_
9	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	animals	animal	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* | the reason |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent reason=Topic |
| 2 | **kill** | present | the lion | other animals |  |  |  | for the reason | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent animal=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 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is commanded to do so by its keepers

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:53-why-living-things-die-and-the-circle-of-life:e4:o1:1
# text = It is commanded to do so by its keepers
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	commanded	command	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	do	do	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
6	so	so	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
7	by	by	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
9	keepers	keeper	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **command** | present · passive |  | It |  |  |  |  | vn order-58.3-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: subject=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 2 | **do** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | by its keepers | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is carnivorous and requires meat for its sustenance and that of its young

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:53-why-living-things-die-and-the-circle-of-life:e4:o2:1
# text = It is carnivorous and requires meat for its sustenance and that of its 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	cop	_	_
3	carnivorous	carnivorous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	requires	require	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
6	meat	meat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
7	for	for	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
9	sustenance	sustenance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
11	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	9	nmod	_	_
12	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	14	nmod:poss	_	_
14	young	young	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | It |  |  |  |  | carnivorous *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **require** | present |  | meat |  |  |  | for meat's sustenance  that | vn require-103-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme meat=Precondition |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is incapable of distinguishing prey from companions

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:53-why-living-things-die-and-the-circle-of-life:e4:o3:1
# text = It is incapable of distinguishing prey from companions
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	cop	_	_
3	incapable	incapable	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	distinguishing	distinguishing	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	prey	prey	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
7	from	from	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	companions	companion	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | It | incapable |  |  |  | of distinguishing prey from companions | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It derives entertainment from the suffering of its prey

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:53-why-living-things-die-and-the-circle-of-life:e4:o4:1
# text = It derives entertainment from the suffering of its prey
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	derives	derive	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	entertainment	entertainment	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
4	from	from	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	suffering	suffering	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
9	prey	prey	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **derive** | present | It | entertainment |  | the suffering of suffering's prey |  |  | vn create-26.4 «NP V NP PP.material»: agent=Agent entertainment=Result from suffering=Material |
| 2 | **suffer** |  | suffering's prey |  |  |  |  |  | nom suffering «state intransitive»: of=agent |

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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: [Why living things die, and the circle…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/religion-ethics/53-why-living-things-die-and-the-circle-of-life/e3/)
- next →: [Life is precious: wonder and gratitude, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/religion-ethics/54-life-is-precious-wonder-and-gratitude/t1/)
- ↑ back to [Why living things die, and the circle of life in nature](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/religion-ethics/53-why-living-things-die-and-the-circle-of-life/)