---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the… — Reef giants and wanderers: whale shark… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the determination of sex in the offspring of sea turtles? Exam question 2 of lesson 174 «Reef giants and wanderers: whale sharks, mantas, dugongs and sea turtles» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree 
---

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# Exam question 2 · Reef giants and wanderers: whale sharks, mantas, dugongs a…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the determination of sex in the offspring of sea turtles?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** sex · **What happens:** follow, characteris, determine · **To what, where:** determination, offspring

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 174 «Reef giants and wanderers: whale sharks, mantas, dugongs and sea turtles» 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/174-reef-giants-and-wanderers-whale-sharks-mantas-dugongs-and-sea-turtles/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:174-reef-giants-and-wanderers-whale-sharks-mantas-dugongs-and-sea-turtles:e2:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the determination of sex in the offspring of sea turtles?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	nsubj	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	following	follow	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	amod	_	_
5	statements	statement	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	_
6	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	7	advmod	_	_
7	accurately	accurately	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	characterises	characteris	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	determination	determination	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	sex	sex	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	_
13	in	in	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	offspring	offspring	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
16	of	of	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	sea	sea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	compound	_	_
18	turtles	turtle	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	15	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **follow** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **characteris** | present |  | the determination of sex |  | the offspring of sea turtles |  | of the following statements; accurately *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **determine** |  | sex |  |  |  |  |  | nom determination «act intransitive»: of=agent |

<!-- .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 -->
It is fixed by the salinity of the adjacent sea

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:174-reef-giants-and-wanderers-whale-sharks-mantas-dugongs-and-sea-turtles:e2:o1:1
# text = It is fixed by the salinity of the adjacent sea
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	fixed	fix	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	salinity	salinity	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	adjacent	adjacent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	sea	sea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fix** | present · passive | the salinity of the adjacent sea | It |  |  |  |  | vn shake-22.3-2 «NP V NP together»: agent=Agent subject=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is determined by the phase of the moon at laying

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:174-reef-giants-and-wanderers-whale-sharks-mantas-dugongs-and-sea-turtles:e2:o2:1
# text = It is determined by the phase of the moon at laying
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	determined	determine	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	phase	phase	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	moon	moon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
10	at	at	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
11	laying	lay	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	3	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **determine** | present · passive | the phase of the moon | It |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Topic |
| 2 | **lay** | gerund | the phase of the moon *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn create-26.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is governed by the temperature of the sand in which the eggs are incubated

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:174-reef-giants-and-wanderers-whale-sharks-mantas-dugongs-and-sea-turtles:e2:o3:1
# text = It is governed by the temperature of the sand in which the eggs are incubated
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	governed	govern	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	temperature	temperature	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	sand	sand	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	15	obl	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	eggs	egg	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	15	nsubj:pass	_	_
14	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	aux:pass	_	_
15	incubated	incubate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	9	acl:relcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **govern** | present · passive | the temperature of the sand | It |  |  |  |  | vn supervision-95.2.2 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent subject=Theme |
| 2 | **incubate** | present · passive |  | the eggs |  | the sand |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is determined by the age of the mother

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:174-reef-giants-and-wanderers-whale-sharks-mantas-dugongs-and-sea-turtles:e2:o4:1
# text = It is determined by the age of the mother
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	determined	determine	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	age	age	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	mother	mother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **determine** | present · passive | the age of the mother | It |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Topic |

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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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