---
title: Identify the principal cause of the phenomenon designated coral blea… — Coral reef builders: polyps, bleaching… · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal cause of the phenomenon designated coral bleaching. Exam question 2 of lesson 172 «Coral reef builders: polyps, bleaching, sand from parrotfish and giant clams» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each 
---

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# Exam question 2 · Coral reef builders: polyps, bleaching, sand from parrotfi…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal cause of the phenomenon designated coral bleaching.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, principal cause · **What happens:** identify, designate, cause · **To what, where:** coral bleaching, phenomenon

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 172 «Coral reef builders: polyps, bleaching, sand from parrotfish and giant clams» 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/172-coral-reef-builders-polyps-bleaching-sand-from-parrotfish-and-giant-clams/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:172-coral-reef-builders-polyps-bleaching-sand-from-parrotfish-and-giant-clams:e2:1
# text = Identify the principal cause of the phenomenon designated coral bleaching.
1	Identify	identify	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	cause	cause	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	phenomenon	phenomenon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
8	designated	designate	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	1	parataxis	_	_
9	coral	coral	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	bleaching	bleaching	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **identify** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn empathize-88.2 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 2 | **designate** | past | the principal cause of the phenomenon | coral bleaching |  |  |  |  | vn appoint-29.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent bleaching=Theme |
| 3 | **cause** |  |  | the phenomenon |  |  |  |  | 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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The consumption of coral by parrotfish

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:172-coral-reef-builders-polyps-bleaching-sand-from-parrotfish-and-giant-clams:e2:o1:1
# text = The consumption of coral by parrotfish
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	consumption	consumption	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	coral	coral	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	parrotfish	parrotfish	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **consume** |  | parrotfish | coral |  |  |  |  | nom consumption «act transitive»: of=patient by=agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The deposition of salt crystals upon the reef

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:172-coral-reef-builders-polyps-bleaching-sand-from-parrotfish-and-giant-clams:e2:o2:1
# text = The deposition of salt crystals upon the reef
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	deposition	deposition	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	salt	salt	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	crystals	crystal	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
6	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	reef	reef	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **depose** |  | salt crystals upon the reef |  |  |  |  |  | nom deposition «process intransitive»: of=agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
An excess of sunlight in water of moderate temperature during the winter months

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:172-coral-reef-builders-polyps-bleaching-sand-from-parrotfish-and-giant-clams:e2:o3:1
# text = An excess of sunlight in water of moderate temperature during the winter months
1	An	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	excess	excess	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	sunlight	sunlight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	moderate	moderate	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	temperature	temperature	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
10	during	during	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
12	winter	winter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	compound	_	_
13	months	month	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
```

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

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The expulsion of symbiotic algae consequent upon excessive water temperature

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:172-coral-reef-builders-polyps-bleaching-sand-from-parrotfish-and-giant-clams:e2:o4:1
# text = The expulsion of symbiotic algae consequent upon excessive water temperature
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	expulsion	expulsion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	symbiotic	symbiotic	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	algae	alga	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
6	consequent	consequent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
7	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	excessive	excessive	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
9	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	temperature	temperature	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **expel** |  |  | symbiotic algae |  |  |  |  | nom expulsion «act transitive»: of=patient |

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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.

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- ↑ back to [Coral reef builders: polyps, bleaching, sand from parrotfish and giant clams](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/172-coral-reef-builders-polyps-bleaching-sand-from-parrotfish-and-giant-clams/)