---
title: Why could a bat still catch moths in a completely dark cave? — Senses of animals: how they see, hear… · tree and pragmatics
description: Why could a bat still catch moths in a completely dark cave? Test 3 · ★★ of lesson 79 «Senses of animals: how they see, hear and smell» 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 3 · ★★ · Senses of animals: how they see, hear and smell

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why could a bat still catch moths in a completely dark cave?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **What happens:** catch · **To what, where:** moths, dark cave

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This is test 3 · ★★ of lesson 79 «Senses of animals: how they see, hear and smell» 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/79-senses-of-animals/#t3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:79-senses-of-animals:t3:1
# text = Why could a bat still catch moths in a completely dark cave?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	6	advmod	_	_
2	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	bat	bat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
5	still	still	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	catch	catch	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	moths	moth	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obj	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
10	completely	completely	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
11	dark	dark	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	cave	cave	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **catch** | could |  | moths |  | a dark cave | still |  | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent moth=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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Moths glow in the dark, so it can spot them easily

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:79-senses-of-animals:t3:o1:1
# text = Moths glow in the dark, so it can spot them easily
1	Moths	moth	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	glow	glow	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	dark	dark	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
7	so	so	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
8	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
9	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	10	aux	_	_
10	spot	spot	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	advcl	_	_
11	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	obj	_	_
12	easily	easily	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **glow** | present | Moths |  |  | the dark |  |  | vn light\_emission-43.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in dark=Location |
| 2 | **spot** | can | dark | Moths *= moth* |  |  |  | easily *property* | vn fill-9.8-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme they=Destination |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It smells the dust on the moths' wings from far off

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:79-senses-of-animals:t3:o2:1
# text = It smells the dust on the moths' wings from far off
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	smells	smell	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	dust	dust	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	on	on	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	moths	moth	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	'	's	PART	POS	_	7	case	_	_
9	wings	wing	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
10	from	from	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	far	far	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	12	advmod	_	_
12	off	off	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **smell** | present | It | the dust |  | the moths's wings |  | off *property* | vn stalk-35.3 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent dust=Theme on wing=Location |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It sees perfectly well even in total darkness

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:79-senses-of-animals:t3:o3:1
# text = It sees perfectly well even in total darkness
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	sees	see	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	perfectly	perfectly	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
4	well	well	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	2	advmod	_	_
5	even	even	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	total	total	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	darkness	darkness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **see** | present | It |  |  | total darkness |  | perfectly, well *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It listens for the echoes of its own sounds

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:79-senses-of-animals:t3:o4:1
# text = It listens for the echoes of its own sounds
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	listens	listen	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	for	for	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	echoes	echo	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
8	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	sounds	sound	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **listen** | present | It |  |  |  |  | for the echoes of its own sounds | vn rummage-35.5 «NP V PP.location PP.theme»: agent=Agent for echo=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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