---
title: Why is a tiger much rarer than a deer in the same forest? — Balance in a food web · tree and pragmatics
description: Why is a tiger much rarer than a deer in the same forest? Test 8 · ★★★ 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 right.
---

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# Test 8 · ★★★ · Balance in a food web

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why is a tiger much rarer than a deer in the same forest?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** tiger · **What happens:** be

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 · ★★★ 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/#t8).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:30-balance-in-food-webs:t8:1
# text = Why is a tiger much rarer than a deer in the same forest?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	6	advmod	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	tiger	tiger	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
5	much	much	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	rarer	rare	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	_
7	than	than	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	deer	deer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
12	same	same	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	forest	forest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | a tiger |  |  |  |  | than a deer in the same forest; rare *property* | tree rules |

<!-- .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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Each step up the food chain has much less energy

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:30-balance-in-food-webs:t8:o1:1
# text = Each step up the food chain has much less energy
1	Each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	2	advmod	_	_
2	step	step	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
3	up	up	ADP	RP	_	2	compound:prt	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	chain	chain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	ccomp	_	_
8	much	much	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
9	less	less	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	10	amod	_	_
10	energy	energy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **step up** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **have** | present | the food chain | less energy |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent energy=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Tigers need much more water than deer

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:30-balance-in-food-webs:t8:o2:1
# text = Tigers need much more water than deer
1	Tigers	tiger	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	need	need	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	much	much	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	more	more	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	5	amod	_	_
5	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	than	than	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	deer	deer	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **need** | present | Tigers | more water |  |  |  | than deer | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot water=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Deer have more stripes for hiding

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:30-balance-in-food-webs:t8:o3:1
# text = Deer have more stripes for hiding
1	Deer	deer	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	have	have	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	more	more	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	4	amod	_	_
4	stripes	stripe	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	hiding	hiding	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | Deer | more stripes |  |  |  | for hiding | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent stripe=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Tigers have far more enemies than deer

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:30-balance-in-food-webs:t8:o4:1
# text = Tigers have far more enemies than deer
1	Tigers	tiger	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	have	have	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	far	far	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	4	advmod	_	_
4	more	more	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	5	amod	_	_
5	enemies	enemy	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
6	than	than	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	deer	deer	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | Tigers | more enemies |  |  |  | than deer | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent enemy=Patient |

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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 7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/30-balance-in-food-webs/t7/)
- next →: [Balance in a food web, test 9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/30-balance-in-food-webs/t9/)
- ↑ back to [Balance in a food web](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/30-balance-in-food-webs/)