---
title: Ascertain the means by which the penguin is enabled to consume sea w… — The penguins of Madagascar: real pengu… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the means by which the penguin is enabled to consume sea water. Exam question 3 of lesson 129 «The penguins of Madagascar: real penguins and chimps» 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
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/129-madagascar-real-penguins-and-chimps/e3/)

<!-- 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/) / [The penguins of Madagascar: real pengu…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/129-madagascar-real-penguins-and-chimps/) / e3

# Exam question 3 · The penguins of Madagascar: real penguins and chimps

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the means by which the penguin is enabled to consume sea water.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, the, penguin · **What happens:** ascertain, mean, enable, consume · **To what, where:** penguin, sea water · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 129 «The penguins of Madagascar: real penguins and chimps» 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/129-madagascar-real-penguins-and-chimps/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:129-madagascar-real-penguins-and-chimps:e3:1
# text = Ascertain the means by which the penguin is enabled to consume sea water.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	nsubj	_	_
3	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	ccomp	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	9	obl	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	penguin	penguin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj:pass	_	_
8	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux:pass	_	_
9	enabled	enable	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	ccomp	_	_
10	to	to	PART	TO	_	11	mark	_	_
11	consume	consume	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	xcomp	_	_
12	sea	sea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	compound	_	_
13	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	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 clause=Topic |
| 2 | **mean** | present | the |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **enable** | present · passive |  | the penguin |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **consume** | to-infinitive | the penguin *not said here* | sea water |  |  |  |  | vn consume-66 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent water=Asset |

<!-- .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 -->
Salt is harmless to all animals in any quantity

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:129-madagascar-real-penguins-and-chimps:e3:o1:1
# text = Salt is harmless to all animals in any quantity
1	Salt	salt	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	harmless	harmless	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	6	det	_	_
6	animals	animal	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	9	det	_	_
9	quantity	quantity	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Salt |  |  |  |  | to all animals in any quantity; harmless *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The penguin consumes only melted snow

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:129-madagascar-real-penguins-and-chimps:e3:o2:1
# text = The penguin consumes only melted snow
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	penguin	penguin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	consumes	consume	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	only	only	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	melted	melt	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	amod	_	_
6	snow	snow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **consume** | present | the penguin | melted snow |  |  |  |  | vn consume-66 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent snow=Asset |
| 2 | **melt** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4-1 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A gland situated above the eyes removes the excess of salt

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:129-madagascar-real-penguins-and-chimps:e3:o3:1
# text = A gland situated above the eyes removes the excess of salt
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	gland	gland	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
3	situated	situate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
4	above	above	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	eyes	eye	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
7	removes	remove	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	excess	excess	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
10	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	salt	salt	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **situate** | participle |  | a gland *not said here* |  | the eyes |  |  | vn put-9.1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent above eye=Destination |
| 2 | **remove** | present | a gland | the excess of salt |  |  |  |  | vn fire-10.10 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent excess=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The penguin expels the salt by means of its tongue

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:129-madagascar-real-penguins-and-chimps:e3:o4:1
# text = The penguin expels the salt by means of its tongue
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	penguin	penguin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	expels	expel	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	salt	salt	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	by	by	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	parataxis	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
10	tongue	tongue	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **expel** | present | the penguin | the salt |  |  |  |  | vn banish-10.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent salt=Theme |
| 2 | **mean** | present |  |  |  |  |  | of penguin's tongue | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=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: [The penguins of Madagascar: real pengu…, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/129-madagascar-real-penguins-and-chimps/e2/)
- next →: [The penguins of Madagascar: real pengu…, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/129-madagascar-real-penguins-and-chimps/e4/)
- ↑ back to [The penguins of Madagascar: real penguins and chimps](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/129-madagascar-real-penguins-and-chimps/)