---
title: Identify the feature by which a sea lion may most readily be disting… — Sea lions, seals and otters · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the feature by which a sea lion may most readily be distinguished from a true seal. Exam question 1 of lesson 100 «Sea lions, seals and otters» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was right
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/100-sea-lions-seals-and-otters/e1/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [Biology](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/) / [Sea lions, seals and otters](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/100-sea-lions-seals-and-otters/) / e1

# Exam question 1 · Sea lions, seals and otters

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the feature by which a sea lion may most readily be distinguished from a true seal.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, feature · **What happens:** identify, distinguish · **To what, where:** feature, sea lion

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 100 «Sea lions, seals and otters» 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/100-sea-lions-seals-and-otters/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:100-sea-lions-seals-and-otters:e1:1
# text = Identify the feature by which a sea lion may most readily be distinguished from a true seal.
1	Identify	identify	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	feature	feature	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	13	obl	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	sea	sea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	lion	lion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj:pass	_	_
9	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	_
10	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	11	advmod	_	_
11	readily	readily	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
12	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	13	aux:pass	_	_
13	distinguished	distinguish	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl:relcl	_	_
14	from	from	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
15	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
16	true	true	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	17	amod	_	_
17	seal	seal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **identify** | imperative | you *not said here* | the feature |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent feature=Theme |
| 2 | **distinguish** | may · passive | the feature | a sea lion |  |  |  | from a true seal; readily *property* | vn distinguish-23.5-1 «NP V NP.theme PP.co-theme»: agent=Agent subject=Theme from seal=Co-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 -->
The presence of small external ear flaps and the capacity to walk upon four flippers

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:100-sea-lions-seals-and-otters:e1:o1:1
# text = The presence of small external ear flaps and the capacity to walk upon four flippers
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	presence	presence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
4	small	small	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
5	external	external	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
6	ear	ear	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	flaps	flap	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	capacity	capacity	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	conj	_	_
11	to	to	PART	TO	_	12	mark	_	_
12	walk	walk	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	acl	_	_
13	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	four	four	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	15	nummod	_	_
15	flippers	flipper	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **walk** | to-infinitive |  |  |  | four flippers |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme upon flipper=Trajectory |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The possession of a striped coat

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:100-sea-lions-seals-and-otters:e1:o2:1
# text = The possession of a striped coat
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	possession	possession	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	striped	striped	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	coat	coat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **possess** |  |  | a striped coat |  |  |  |  | nom possession «act transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The possession of two long tusks and a thick coat of fur

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:100-sea-lions-seals-and-otters:e1:o3:1
# text = The possession of two long tusks and a thick coat of fur
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	possession	possession	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	6	nummod	_	_
5	long	long	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	tusks	tusk	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	thick	thick	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	coat	coat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	conj	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	fur	fur	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **possess** |  |  | two long tusks and a thick coat of fur |  |  |  |  | nom possession «act transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The absence of whiskers

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:100-sea-lions-seals-and-otters:e1:o4:1
# text = The absence of whiskers
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	absence	absence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	whiskers	whisker	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **absent** |  |  | whiskers |  |  |  |  | nom absence «state transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- div src -->

**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 -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [Sea lions, seals and otters, test 12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/100-sea-lions-seals-and-otters/t12/)
- next →: [Sea lions, seals and otters, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/100-sea-lions-seals-and-otters/e2/)
- ↑ back to [Sea lions, seals and otters](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/100-sea-lions-seals-and-otters/)