---
title: Why do paper aeroplane wings and real plane wings work a bit like a… — Birds: feathers, nests and flight · tree and pragmatics
description: Why do paper aeroplane wings and real plane wings work a bit like a bird's wing? Test 7 · ★ of lesson 73 «Birds: feathers, nests and flight» 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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# Test 7 · ★ · Birds: feathers, nests and flight

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why do paper aeroplane wings and real plane wings work a bit like a bird's wing?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** aeroplane wings · **What happens:** do, work · **To what, where:** bit

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 7 · ★ of lesson 73 «Birds: feathers, nests and flight» 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/73-birds-feathers-nests-flight/#t7).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:73-birds-feathers-nests-flight:t7:1
# text = Why do paper aeroplane wings and real plane wings work a bit like a bird's wing?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	2	advmod	_	_
2	do	do	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	advcl	_	_
3	paper	paper	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
4	aeroplane	aeroplane	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	wings	wing	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nsubj	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
7	real	real	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
8	plane	plane	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	wings	wing	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	conj	_	_
10	work	work	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	bit	bit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	_
13	like	like	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
14	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	bird	bird	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	's	's	PART	POS	_	15	case	_	_
17	wing	wing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	10	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | present | aeroplane wings and real plane wings *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **work** | present | aeroplane wings and real plane wings | a bit |  |  |  | like a bird's wing | vn knead-26.5 «NP V NP.material»: agent=Agent bit=Material |

<!-- .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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Air flowing past the wings pushes them up

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:73-birds-feathers-nests-flight:t7:o1:1
# text = Air flowing past the wings pushes them up
1	Air	air	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
2	flowing	flow	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	1	acl	_	_
3	past	past	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	wings	wing	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
6	pushes	push	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	obj	_	_
8	up	up	ADP	RP	_	6	compound:prt	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **flow** | gerund | Air *not said here* |  |  |  |  | past the wings | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **push up** | present | Air | wings *= wing* |  |  |  |  | vn carry-11.4-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Theme |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They are lighter than air

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:73-birds-feathers-nests-flight:t7:o2:1
# text = They are lighter than air
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	lighter	light	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	_
4	than	than	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	air	air	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | They |  |  |  |  | than air; light *property* | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They flap up and down just like a bird's wings

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:73-birds-feathers-nests-flight:t7:o3:1
# text = They flap up and down just like a bird's wings
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	flap	flap	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	up	up	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	down	down	ADV	RB	_	3	conj	_	_
6	just	just	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
7	like	like	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	bird	bird	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	's	's	PART	POS	_	9	case	_	_
11	wings	wing	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **flap** | present | They |  |  |  |  | like a bird's wings | vn body\_internal\_motion-49.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They are made of feathers

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:73-birds-feathers-nests-flight:t7:o4:1
# text = They are made of feathers
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	made	make	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	feathers	feather	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | present · passive |  | They |  |  |  | of feathers | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: subject=Product |

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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.

<!-- /div -->

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- ← previous: [Birds: feathers, nests and flight, test 6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/73-birds-feathers-nests-flight/t6/)
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