---
title: An island has grass, rabbits and foxes. A disease kills most of the… — Balance in a food web · tree and pragmatics
description: An island has grass, rabbits and foxes. A disease kills most of the rabbits. What happens to the grass and the foxes? Test 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 cho
---

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# Test 1 · ★★★ · Balance in a food web

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
An island has grass, rabbits and foxes. A disease kills most of the rabbits. What happens to the grass and the foxes?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** island, disease · **What happens:** have, kill, happen · **To what, where:** grass, most

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 1 · ★★★ of lesson 30 «Balance in a food web» of the world 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/world/30-balance-in-food-webs/#t1).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* An island has grass, rabbits and foxes.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:30-balance-in-food-webs:t1:1
# text = An island has grass, rabbits and foxes.
1	An	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	island	island	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	grass	grass	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
6	rabbits	rabbit	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	conj	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	foxes	fox	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | a island | grass and rabbits and foxes |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent grass=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:* A disease kills most of the rabbits.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:30-balance-in-food-webs:t1:2
# text = A disease kills most of the rabbits.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	disease	disease	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	kills	kill	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	most	most	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	3	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	rabbits	rabbit	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **kill** | present | a disease | most of the rabbits |  |  |  |  | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent most=Theme |

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 3:* What happens to the grass and the foxes?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:30-balance-in-food-webs:t1:3
# text = What happens to the grass and the foxes?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	2	nsubj	_	_
2	happens	happen	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	grass	grass	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	foxes	fox	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **happen** | present |  |  |  |  |  | to the grass and the foxes | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Both the grass and the foxes grow more

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:30-balance-in-food-webs:t1:o1:1
# text = Both the grass and the foxes grow more
1	Both	both	CCONJ	CC	_	3	cc:preconj	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	grass	grass	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	foxes	fox	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	conj	_	_
7	grow	grow	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	more	more	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	7	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **grow** | present | the grass and the foxes |  |  |  |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The grass dies and the foxes grow fat

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:30-balance-in-food-webs:t1:o2:1
# text = The grass dies and the foxes grow fat
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	grass	grass	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	dies	die	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	foxes	fox	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
7	grow	grow	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
8	fat	fat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **die** | present | the grass |  |  |  |  |  | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |
| 2 | **grow** | present | the foxes | fat |  |  |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location fat=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nothing happens to either of them

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:30-balance-in-food-webs:t1:o3:1
# text = Nothing happens to either of them
1	Nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	2	nsubj	_	_
2	happens	happen	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	either	either	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	2	obl	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **happen** | present | Nothing |  |  |  |  | to either | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The grass grows more and the foxes go hungry

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:30-balance-in-food-webs:t1:o4:1
# text = The grass grows more and the foxes go hungry
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	grass	grass	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	grows	grow	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	more	more	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	3	advmod	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	foxes	fox	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
8	go	go	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
9	hungry	hungry	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **grow** | present | the grass |  |  |  |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **go** | present | the foxes |  |  |  |  | hungry *property* | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «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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