---
title: State the ancestry of the polar bear as presently understood by scie… — The polar zone: polar bears · tree and pragmatics
description: State the ancestry of the polar bear as presently understood by scientists. Exam question 4 of lesson 105 «The polar zone: polar bears» 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.
---

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# Exam question 4 · The polar zone: polar bears

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
State the ancestry of the polar bear as presently understood by scientists.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** state, understand · **To what, where:** ancestry

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This is exam question 4 of lesson 105 «The polar zone: polar bears» 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/105-the-polar-zone-polar-bears/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:105-the-polar-zone-polar-bears:e4:1
# text = State the ancestry of the polar bear as presently understood by scientists.
1	State	state	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	ancestry	ancestry	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	polar	polar	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	bear	bear	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
8	as	as	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
9	presently	presently	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
10	understood	understand	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	1	advcl	_	_
11	by	by	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	scientists	scientist	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **state** *speech: other* | imperative | you *not said here* | the ancestry of the polar bear |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent ancestry=Topic |
| 2 | **understand** | participle | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  | by scientists; presently *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |

<!-- .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 -->
It evolved from the giant panda in the recent past

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:105-the-polar-zone-polar-bears:e4:o1:1
# text = It evolved from the giant panda in the recent past
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	evolved	evolve	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	from	from	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	giant	giant	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	panda	panda	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	recent	recent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	past	past	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **evolve** | past | It |  |  | the giant panda |  | in the recent past | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in past=Location |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It descends from the seal upon which it now preys, some millions of years ago

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:105-the-polar-zone-polar-bears:e4:o2:1
# text = It descends from the seal upon which it now preys, some millions of years ago
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	descends	descend	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	from	from	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	seal	seal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
6	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	10	nsubj	_	_
8	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
9	now	now	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	10	advmod	_	_
10	preys	prey	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
12	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	13	det	_	_
13	millions	million	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	conj	_	_
14	of	of	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	nmod	_	_
16	ago	ago	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **descend** | present | It |  |  | the seal |  | ago *property* | vn meander-47.7-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme from seal=Location |
| 2 | **prey** |  |  |  |  |  | now |  | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It has existed unchanged since the age of the dinosaurs

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:105-the-polar-zone-polar-bears:e4:o3:1
# text = It has existed unchanged since the age of the dinosaurs
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	existed	exist	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	unchanged	unchang	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	since	since	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	age	age	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	dinosaurs	dinosaur	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **unchang** | present · perfect · passive |  | It |  |  | since the age of the dinosaurs |  | tree rules |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It evolved from the brown bear, probably a few hundred thousand years ago

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:105-the-polar-zone-polar-bears:e4:o4:1
# text = It evolved from the brown bear, probably a few hundred thousand years ago
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	evolved	evolve	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	from	from	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	brown	brown	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	bear	bear	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
8	probably	probably	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	few	few	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	hundred	hundred	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	12	compound	_	_
12	thousand	thousand	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	13	nummod	_	_
13	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl:unmarked	_	_
14	ago	ago	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **evolve** | past | It |  |  |  | year | from the brown bear | vn grow-26.2.1 «NP.product V PP.patient»: agent=Product from bear=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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