---
title: Ascertain the cause of the lowered sea level which prevailed during… — Ice Age: real sabre-tooths, ground slo… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the cause of the lowered sea level which prevailed during the Ice Age. Exam question 4 of lesson 131 «Ice Age: real sabre-tooths, ground sloths, glyptodonts and dodos» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/131-ice-age-sabre-tooths-ground-sloths-and-scrat/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/) / [Ice Age: real sabre-tooths, ground slo…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/131-ice-age-sabre-tooths-ground-sloths-and-scrat/) / e4

# Exam question 4 · Ice Age: real sabre-tooths, ground sloths, glyptodonts and…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the cause of the lowered sea level which prevailed during the Ice Age.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, lowered sea level · **What happens:** ascertain, lower, prevail, cause · **To what, where:** cause, lowered sea level

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 131 «Ice Age: real sabre-tooths, ground sloths, glyptodonts and dodos» 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/131-ice-age-sabre-tooths-ground-sloths-and-scrat/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:131-ice-age-sabre-tooths-ground-sloths-and-scrat:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the cause of the lowered sea level which prevailed during the Ice Age.
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	_	8	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
6	lowered	lower	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	amod	_	_
7	sea	sea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	level	level	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
9	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	10	nsubj	_	_
10	prevailed	prevail	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	acl:relcl	_	_
11	during	during	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
13	Ice	Ice	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	14	compound	_	_
14	Age	Age	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	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 lowered sea level |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent cause=Topic |
| 2 | **lower** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn caused\_calibratable\_cos-45.6.2-1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Patient |
| 3 | **prevail** | past | the lowered sea level |  |  |  | during the Ice Age |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 4 | **cause** |  |  | the lowered sea level |  |  |  |  | nom cause «event transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- .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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A great volume of water was retained in the form of ice sheets upon the land

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:131-ice-age-sabre-tooths-ground-sloths-and-scrat:e4:o1:1
# text = A great volume of water was retained in the form of ice sheets upon the land
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	great	great	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	volume	volume	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
6	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux:pass	_	_
7	retained	retain	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	form	form	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	ice	ice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	compound	_	_
13	sheets	sheet	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nmod	_	_
14	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	land	land	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **retain** | past · passive |  | a great volume of water |  | the form of ice sheets |  | upon the land | tree rules |
| 2 | **form** |  |  | ice sheets |  |  |  |  | nom form «communication transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The gravitational attraction of the Moon was greatly diminished

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:131-ice-age-sabre-tooths-ground-sloths-and-scrat:e4:o2:1
# text = The gravitational attraction of the Moon was greatly diminished
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	gravitational	gravitational	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	attraction	attraction	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	Moon	Moon	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
7	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux:pass	_	_
8	greatly	greatly	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
9	diminished	diminish	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **diminish** | past · passive |  | the gravitational attraction of the Moon |  |  |  | greatly *property* | vn caused\_calibratable\_cos-45.6.2-1 «NP V NP.patient»: subject=Patient |
| 2 | **attract** |  |  | the Moon |  |  |  |  | nom attraction «phenomenon transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The oceans were consumed by evaporation into space

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:131-ice-age-sabre-tooths-ground-sloths-and-scrat:e4:o3:1
# text = The oceans were consumed by evaporation into space
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	oceans	ocean	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	consumed	consume	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	evaporation	evaporation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
7	into	into	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	space	space	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **consume** | past · passive | evaporation | the oceans |  | space |  |  | vn consume-66 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Asset |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The sea floor was elevated throughout the world

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:131-ice-age-sabre-tooths-ground-sloths-and-scrat:e4:o4:1
# text = The sea floor was elevated throughout the world
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	sea	sea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	floor	floor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
5	elevated	elevate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	throughout	throughout	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	world	world	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **elevate** | past · passive |  | the sea floor |  | the world |  |  | vn put\_direction-9.4 «NP V NP PP.destination»: subject=Theme throughout world=Destination |

<!-- 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: [Ice Age: real sabre-tooths, ground slo…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/131-ice-age-sabre-tooths-ground-sloths-and-scrat/e3/)
- next →: [Finding Nemo: real clownfish and sea a…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/132-finding-nemo-real-clownfish-and-anemones/t1/)
- ↑ back to [Ice Age: real sabre-tooths, ground sloths, glyptodonts and dodos](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/131-ice-age-sabre-tooths-ground-sloths-and-scrat/)