---
title: Ascertain the agency by which the bodies of mammoths have been prese… — Ice Age: real woolly mammoths · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the agency by which the bodies of mammoths have been preserved nearly intact in Siberia. Exam question 3 of lesson 130 «Ice Age: real woolly mammoths» 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 w
---

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# Exam question 3 · Ice Age: real woolly mammoths

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the agency by which the bodies of mammoths have been preserved nearly intact in Siberia.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, agency · **What happens:** ascertain, preserve · **To what, where:** agency, bodies, Siberia

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 130 «Ice Age: real woolly mammoths» 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/130-ice-age-real-woolly-mammoths/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:130-ice-age-real-woolly-mammoths:e3:1
# text = Ascertain the agency by which the bodies of mammoths have been preserved nearly intact in Siberia.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	agency	agency	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	12	obl	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	bodies	body	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	nsubj:pass	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	mammoths	mammoth	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nmod	_	_
10	have	have	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	aux	_	_
11	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	12	aux:pass	_	_
12	preserved	preserve	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl:relcl	_	_
13	nearly	nearly	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
14	intact	intact	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	xcomp	_	_
15	in	in	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	Siberia	Siberia	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	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 agency |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent agency=Topic |
| 2 | **preserve** | present · perfect · passive | the agency | the bodies of mammoths |  | Siberia |  | intact *property* | vn defend-72.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Beneficiary |

<!-- .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 -->
The enclosure of the bodies within resin from trees

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:130-ice-age-real-woolly-mammoths:e3:o1:1
# text = The enclosure of the bodies within resin from trees
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	enclosure	enclosure	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	bodies	body	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
6	within	within	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	resin	resin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
8	from	from	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	trees	tree	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Permanently frozen ground, designated permafrost, which arrests decay

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:130-ice-age-real-woolly-mammoths:e3:o2:1
# text = Permanently frozen ground, designated permafrost, which arrests decay
1	Permanently	permanently	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
2	frozen	freeze	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	amod	_	_
3	ground	ground	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
5	designated	designate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	amod	_	_
6	permafrost	permafrost	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
8	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	10	obj	_	_
9	arrests	arrest	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nsubj	_	_
10	decay	decay	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **freeze** | participle |  |  |  |  |  | permanently *property* | vn other\_cos-45.4-1 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |
| 2 | **designate** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn appoint-29.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **decay** | present | frozen ground and designated permafrost |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The conversion of the bodies into stone over a brief interval

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:130-ice-age-real-woolly-mammoths:e3:o3:1
# text = The conversion of the bodies into stone over a brief interval
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	conversion	conversion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	bodies	body	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
6	into	into	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	stone	stone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
8	over	over	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	brief	brief	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	interval	interval	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **convert** |  |  | the bodies |  | stone |  |  | nom conversion «event transitive»: of=patient into=place |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The deliberate embalming of the bodies by the Ice Age peoples who hunted them

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:130-ice-age-real-woolly-mammoths:e3:o4:1
# text = The deliberate embalming of the bodies by the Ice Age peoples who hunted them
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	deliberate	deliberate	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	embalming	embalming	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	bodies	body	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nmod	_	_
7	by	by	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
9	Ice	Ice	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	Age	Age	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	compound	_	_
11	peoples	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nmod	_	_
12	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	13	nsubj	_	_
13	hunted	hunt	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	11	acl:relcl	_	_
14	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hunt** | past | the Age peoples | peoples *= people* |  |  |  |  | vn hunt-35.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Theme |

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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.

<!-- /div -->

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