---
title: Ascertain the principal benefit conferred upon coastlines by mangrov… — Mangroves: trees in salt water, mudski… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the principal benefit conferred upon coastlines by mangrove forests. Exam question 4 of lesson 178 «Mangroves: trees in salt water, mudskippers, archerfish and swimming tigers» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of ea
---

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# Exam question 4 · Mangroves: trees in salt water, mudskippers, archerfish an…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the principal benefit conferred upon coastlines by mangrove forests.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** ascertain, confer · **To what, where:** principal benefit

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This is exam question 4 of lesson 178 «Mangroves: trees in salt water, mudskippers, archerfish and swimming tigers» 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/178-mangroves-trees-in-salt-water-mudskippers-archerfish-and-swimming-tigers/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:178-mangroves-trees-in-salt-water-mudskippers-archerfish-and-swimming-tigers:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the principal benefit conferred upon coastlines by mangrove forests.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	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	benefit	benefit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	conferred	confer	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	acl	_	_
6	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	coastlines	coastline	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
8	by	by	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	mangrove	mangrove	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	forests	forest	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	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 principal benefit |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent benefit=Topic |
| 2 | **confer** | participle |  | the principal benefit *not said here* |  |  |  | upon coastlines; by mangrove forests | vn chit\_chat-37.6 «NP V»: agent=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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Their roots diminish the force of waves and retain the soil

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:178-mangroves-trees-in-salt-water-mudskippers-archerfish-and-swimming-tigers:e4:o1:1
# text = Their roots diminish the force of waves and retain the soil
1	Their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	roots	root	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	diminish	diminish	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	force	force	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	waves	wave	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nmod	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	retain	retain	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	soil	soil	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **diminish** | present | Their roots | the force of waves |  |  |  |  | vn caused\_calibratable\_cos-45.6.2-1 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Causer force=Patient |
| 2 | **retain** | present | Their roots *not said here* | the soil |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They raise the temperature of the sea

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:178-mangroves-trees-in-salt-water-mudskippers-archerfish-and-swimming-tigers:e4:o2:1
# text = They raise the temperature of the sea
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	raise	raise	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	temperature	temperature	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	sea	sea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **raise** | present | They | the temperature of the sea |  |  |  |  | vn put\_direction-9.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent temperature=Theme |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They repel all marine animals by means of a poison exuded by their roots

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:178-mangroves-trees-in-salt-water-mudskippers-archerfish-and-swimming-tigers:e4:o3:1
# text = They repel all marine animals by means of a poison exuded by their roots
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	repel	repel	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	all	all	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	marine	marine	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	animals	animal	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
6	by	by	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	parataxis	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	poison	poison	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
11	exuded	exude	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	10	acl	_	_
12	by	by	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	14	nmod:poss	_	_
14	roots	root	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **repel** | present | They | marine animals |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus animal=Experiencer |
| 2 | **mean** | present |  |  |  |  |  | of a poison | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **exude** | participle |  | a poison *not said here* |  |  |  | by animals's roots | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme by root=Location |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They prevent the formation of clouds

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:178-mangroves-trees-in-salt-water-mudskippers-archerfish-and-swimming-tigers:e4:o4:1
# text = They prevent the formation of clouds
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	prevent	prevent	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	formation	formation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	clouds	cloud	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **prevent** | present | They | the formation of clouds |  |  |  |  | vn forbid-64.4-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Causer formation=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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- ← previous: [Mangroves: trees in salt water, mudski…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/178-mangroves-trees-in-salt-water-mudskippers-archerfish-and-swimming-tigers/e3/)
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