---
title: State the approximate proportion of energy transferred from one step… — Balance in a food web · tree and pragmatics
description: State the approximate proportion of energy transferred from one step of a food chain to the next. Exam question 1 of lesson 30 «Balance in a food web» of the world course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was wrong.
---

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# Exam question 1 · Balance in a food web

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
State the approximate proportion of energy transferred from one step of a food chain to the next.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** transfer, step · **To what, where:** State approximate proportion, food chain

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This is exam question 1 of lesson 30 «Balance in a food web» of the world 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/world/30-balance-in-food-webs/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:30-balance-in-food-webs:e1:1
# text = State the approximate proportion of energy transferred from one step of a food chain to the next.
1	State	state	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	approximate	approximate	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	proportion	proportion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	energy	energy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
7	transferred	transfer	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	acl	_	_
8	from	from	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	10	nummod	_	_
10	step	step	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
12	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
13	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	compound	_	_
14	chain	chain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	_
15	to	to	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	next	next	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **transfer** | participle |  | the State approximate proportion of energy *not said here* |  |  |  | from one step of a food chain to the next | vn send-11.1 «NP V NP PP.initial\_location»: agent=Agent from step=Initial\_Location |
| 2 | **step** |  |  | a food chain to the next |  |  |  |  | nom step «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 -->
Nine tenths

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:30-balance-in-food-webs:e1:o1:1
# text = Nine tenths
1	Nine	nine	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	2	nummod	_	_
2	tenths	tenth	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
One tenth

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:30-balance-in-food-webs:e1:o2:1
# text = One tenth
1	One	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	2	nummod	_	_
2	tenth	tenth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
One half

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:30-balance-in-food-webs:e1:o3:1
# text = One half
1	One	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	2	nummod	_	_
2	half	half	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing|NumForm=Word|NumType=Frac	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The whole

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:30-balance-in-food-webs:e1:o4:1
# text = The whole
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	whole	whole	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

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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: [Balance in a food web, test 14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/30-balance-in-food-webs/t14/)
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