---
title: Ascertain the cause of the decline of Partula snails upon the island… — Back to the wild: animals that zoos re… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the cause of the decline of Partula snails upon the islands of the Pacific. Exam question 4 of lesson 114 «Back to the wild: animals that zoos returned to nature» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mov
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/114-back-to-the-wild/e4/)

<!-- 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/) / [Back to the wild: animals that zoos re…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/114-back-to-the-wild/) / e4

# Exam question 4 · Back to the wild: animals that zoos returned to nature

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the cause of the decline of Partula snails upon the islands of the Pacific.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, Partula snails · **What happens:** ascertain, cause, decline · **To what, where:** cause, decline

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 114 «Back to the wild: animals that zoos returned to nature» 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/114-back-to-the-wild/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:114-back-to-the-wild:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the cause of the decline of Partula snails upon the islands of the Pacific.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	cause	cause	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	decline	decline	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	Partula	Partula	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	snails	snail	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nmod	_	_
10	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	islands	island	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nmod	_	_
13	of	of	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	Pacific	Pacific	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	12	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* | the cause of the decline of Partula snails upon the islands of the Pacific |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent cause=Topic |
| 2 | **cause** |  |  | the decline of Partula snails upon the islands of the Pacific |  |  |  |  | nom cause «event transitive»: of=patient |
| 3 | **decline** |  | Partula snails upon the islands of the Pacific |  |  |  |  |  | nom decline «process intransitive»: of=agent |

<!-- .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 -->
The eruption of volcanoes upon every island

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:114-back-to-the-wild:e4:o1:1
# text = The eruption of volcanoes upon every island
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	eruption	eruption	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	volcanoes	volcano	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
5	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	7	det	_	_
7	island	island	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **erupt** |  | volcanoes |  |  |  |  | upon every island | nom eruption «event intransitive»: of=agent upon=obl |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Competition for food with the water voles released upon the islands by British zoos

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:114-back-to-the-wild:e4:o2:1
# text = Competition for food with the water voles released upon the islands by British zoos
1	Competition	competition	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
2	for	for	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
3	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nmod	_	_
4	with	with	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	voles	vole	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	nmod	_	_
8	released	release	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	acl	_	_
9	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	islands	island	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	_
12	by	by	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	British	British	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	zoos	zoo	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **release** | participle |  | the water voles *not said here* |  |  |  | upon the islands; by British zoos | vn free-10.6.3-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Causer |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The collection of shells by visiting tourists

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:114-back-to-the-wild:e4:o3:1
# text = The collection of shells by visiting tourists
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	collection	collection	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	shells	shell	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
5	by	by	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
6	visiting	visit	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	acl	_	_
7	tourists	tourist	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **visit** | gerund | the collection of shells *not said here* | tourists |  |  |  |  | vn meet-36.3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent tourist=Co-Agent |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Predation by a carnivorous snail introduced to control another pest species

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:114-back-to-the-wild:e4:o4:1
# text = Predation by a carnivorous snail introduced to control another pest species
1	Predation	predation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
2	by	by	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	carnivorous	carnivorous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	snail	snail	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nmod	_	_
6	introduced	introduce	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	acl	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	control	control	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	advcl	_	_
9	another	another	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	11	det	_	_
10	pest	pest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	compound	_	_
11	species	species	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **introduce** | participle |  | a carnivorous snail *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn amalgamate-22.2-3-1 «NP V ADVP-Middle»: agent=Patient |
| 2 | **control** | to-infinitive |  | another pest species |  |  |  |  | vn enforce-63 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent species=Theme |
| 3 | **predate** |  | a carnivorous snail |  |  |  |  |  | nom predation «act transitive»: by=agent |

<!-- 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: [Back to the wild: animals that zoos re…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/114-back-to-the-wild/e3/)
- next →: [Why zoos exist and what critics say, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/115-why-zoos-exist-and-what-critics-say/t1/)
- ↑ back to [Back to the wild: animals that zoos returned to nature](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/114-back-to-the-wild/)