---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the… — The South American area: sloths, antea… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the slowness of the sloth? Exam question 1 of lesson 108 «The South American area: sloths, anteaters, piranhas and giant otters» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and
---

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# Exam question 1 · The South American area: sloths, anteaters, piranhas and g…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the slowness of the sloth?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** follow, characteris · **To what, where:** slowness

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This is exam question 1 of lesson 108 «The South American area: sloths, anteaters, piranhas and giant 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/108-the-south-american-area-sloths-anteaters-piranhas-giant-otters/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:108-the-south-american-area-sloths-anteaters-piranhas-giant-otters:e1:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the slowness of the sloth?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	nsubj	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	following	follow	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	amod	_	_
5	statements	statement	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	_
6	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	7	advmod	_	_
7	accurately	accurately	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	characterises	characteris	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	slowness	slowness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	sloth	sloth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **follow** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **characteris** | present |  | the slowness of the sloth |  |  |  | of the following statements; accurately *property* | tree rules |

<!-- .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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It results from chronic illness caused by the algae in its fur

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:108-the-south-american-area-sloths-anteaters-piranhas-giant-otters:e1:o1:1
# text = It results from chronic illness caused by the algae in its fur
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	results	result	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
3	from	from	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	chronic	chronic	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	illness	illness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	caused	cause	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
7	by	by	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	algae	alga	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obl	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	12	nmod:poss	_	_
12	fur	fur	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cause** | participle |  | results from chronic illness *not said here* |  |  |  | by the algae; in illness's fur | vn result-27.2 «NP V PP»: agent=Precondition in fur=Patient |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It conserves the scant energy furnished by a diet of leaves

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:108-the-south-american-area-sloths-anteaters-piranhas-giant-otters:e1:o2:1
# text = It conserves the scant energy furnished by a diet of leaves
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	conserves	conserve	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	scant	scant	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	energy	energy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	furnished	furnish	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	acl	_	_
7	by	by	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	diet	diet	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
10	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	leaves	leaf	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **conserve** | present | It | the scant energy |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **furnish** | participle |  | the scant energy *not said here* |  |  |  | by a diet of leaves | vn fulfilling-13.4.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is a habit of idleness without biological purpose

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:108-the-south-american-area-sloths-anteaters-piranhas-giant-otters:e1:o3:1
# text = It is a habit of idleness without biological purpose
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	habit	habit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	idleness	idleness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
7	without	without	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	biological	biological	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	purpose	purpose	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | It | a habit |  |  |  | of idleness; without biological purpose | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is acquired only in captivity

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:108-the-south-american-area-sloths-anteaters-piranhas-giant-otters:e1:o4:1
# text = It is acquired only in captivity
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	acquired	acquire	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	only	only	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	captivity	captivity	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **acquire** | present · passive |  | It |  | captivity |  |  | vn obtain-13.5.2-1 «NP.asset V NP»: subject=Theme |

<!-- 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 -->

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