---
title: Ascertain the consequence which would ensue were a cactus and a wate… — What a habitat is: home, food, shelter… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the consequence which would ensue were a cactus and a water lily to exchange their respective habitats. Exam question 4 of lesson 1 «What a habitat is: home, food, shelter and fitting in» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the questio
---

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# Exam question 4 · What a habitat is: home, food, shelter and fitting in

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the consequence which would ensue were a cactus and a water lily to exchange their respective habitats.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, consequence · **What happens:** ascertain, ensue, be, exchange · **To what, where:** cactus, respective habitats

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 1 «What a habitat is: home, food, shelter and fitting in» of the biology 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/biology/1-what-a-habitat-is/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:1-what-a-habitat-is:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the consequence which would ensue were a cactus and a water lily to exchange their respective habitats.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	consequence	consequence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
4	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	6	nsubj	_	_
5	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
6	ensue	ensue	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	acl:relcl	_	_
7	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	cactus	cactus	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	ccomp	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
12	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	compound	_	_
13	lily	lily	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	conj	_	_
14	to	to	PART	TO	_	15	mark	_	_
15	exchange	exchange	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	13	acl	_	_
16	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	18	nmod:poss	_	_
17	respective	respective	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	amod	_	_
18	habitats	habitat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	15	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **ensue** | would | the consequence |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **is a** | past | the consequence | a cactus and a water lily |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **exchange** | to-infinitive | the consequence *not said here* | cactus's respective habitats |  |  |  |  | vn exchange-13.6.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent habitat=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 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Both plants would perish, the former through rotting and the latter through desiccation

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:1-what-a-habitat-is:e4:o1:1
# text = Both plants would perish, the former through rotting and the latter through desiccation
1	Both	both	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	2	det	_	_
2	plants	plant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	perish	perish	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	former	former	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	conj	_	_
8	through	through	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	rotting	rot	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	7	obl	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	latter	latter	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	conj	_	_
13	through	through	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	desiccation	desiccation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **perish** | would | both plants |  |  |  |  |  | vn break\_down-45.8 «NP V»: agent=Patient |
| 2 | **rot** | gerund |  |  |  | desiccation |  |  | vn entity\_specific\_cos-45.5 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Both plants would flourish in consequence of the change and the greater variety of conditions

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:1-what-a-habitat-is:e4:o2:1
# text = Both plants would flourish in consequence of the change and the greater variety of conditions
1	Both	both	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	2	det	_	_
2	plants	plant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	flourish	flourish	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	consequence	consequence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	change	change	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
12	greater	great	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	13	amod	_	_
13	variety	variety	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	conj	_	_
14	of	of	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	conditions	condition	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **flourish** | would | both plants |  |  | consequence of the change and the greater variety of conditions |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in consequence=Location |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Each plant would in time be transformed into the other

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:1-what-a-habitat-is:e4:o3:1
# text = Each plant would in time be transformed into the other
1	Each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	2	det	_	_
2	plant	plant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
6	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	aux:pass	_	_
7	transformed	transform	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
8	into	into	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **transform** | would · passive |  | each plant |  |  | time | into the other *result* | vn turn-26.6.1 «NP V NP.patient PP.result»: subject=Patient into other=Result |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The cactus alone would perish

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:1-what-a-habitat-is:e4:o4:1
# text = The cactus alone would perish
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	cactus	cactus	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	alone	alone	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
4	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
5	perish	perish	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **perish** | would | the cactus |  |  |  |  |  | vn break\_down-45.8 «NP V»: agent=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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