---
title: Ascertain the method by which working dogs acquire their skills. — Paw Patrol: real police, fire, rescue… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the method by which working dogs acquire their skills. Exam question 4 of lesson 140 «Paw Patrol: real police, fire, rescue and sniffer dogs» 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 wrong.
---

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# Exam question 4 · Paw Patrol: real police, fire, rescue and sniffer dogs

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the method by which working dogs acquire their skills.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, working dogs · **What happens:** ascertain, work, acquire · **To what, where:** method, skills

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 140 «Paw Patrol: real police, fire, rescue and sniffer dogs» 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/140-paw-patrol-real-working-dogs/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:140-paw-patrol-real-working-dogs:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the method by which working dogs acquire their skills.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	method	method	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	obl	_	_
6	working	work	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	7	amod	_	_
7	dogs	dog	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
8	acquire	acquire	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	acl:relcl	_	_
9	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
10	skills	skill	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	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 method |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent method=Topic |
| 2 | **work** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn employment-95.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **acquire** | present | working dogs | dogs's skills |  |  |  | by the method | vn obtain-13.5.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent skill=Theme |

<!-- .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 -->
Instinct present from birth without any instruction

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:140-paw-patrol-real-working-dogs:e4:o1:1
# text = Instinct present from birth without any instruction
1	Instinct	instinct	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	present	present	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	from	from	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	birth	birth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
5	without	without	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	7	det	_	_
7	instruction	instruction	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

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

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Training over several months by means of rewards such as toys, food and praise

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:140-paw-patrol-real-working-dogs:e4:o2:1
# text = Training over several months by means of rewards such as toys, food and praise
1	Training	training	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
2	over	over	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	several	several	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	months	month	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	nmod	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	rewards	reward	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obl	_	_
9	such	such	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|ExtPos=ADP	11	case	_	_
10	as	as	ADP	IN	_	9	fixed	_	_
11	toys	toy	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
13	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	conj	_	_
14	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
15	praise	praise	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | Training over several months |  |  |  |  | of rewards such toys and food and praise | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Observation of the work of other species, such as horses, over a period of several years

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:140-paw-patrol-real-working-dogs:e4:o3:1
# text = Observation of the work of other species, such as horses, over a period of several years
1	Observation	observation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	work	work	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nmod	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	species	species	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
9	such	such	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|ExtPos=ADP	11	case	_	_
10	as	as	ADP	IN	_	9	fixed	_	_
11	horses	horse	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
13	over	over	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	period	period	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	appos	_	_
16	of	of	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	several	several	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	amod	_	_
18	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	15	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **observe** |  |  | the work of other species and horses |  |  |  |  | nom observation «act transitive»: of=patient |
| 2 | **work** |  | other species and horses |  |  |  |  |  | nom work «act intransitive»: of=agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A single spoken instruction which is retained permanently

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:140-paw-patrol-real-working-dogs:e4:o4:1
# text = A single spoken instruction which is retained permanently
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
2	single	single	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
3	spoken	speak	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	amod	_	_
4	instruction	instruction	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	7	nsubj:pass	_	_
6	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux:pass	_	_
7	retained	retain	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	acl:relcl	_	_
8	permanently	permanently	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **speak** *speech: other* | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn talk-37.5 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **retain** | present · passive |  | a single spoken instruction |  |  |  | permanently *property* | tree rules |

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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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