---
title: Ascertain the reason for which certain cave fish have lost their eyes. — Caves: bat clouds, blind fish, the olm… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the reason for which certain cave fish have lost their eyes. Exam question 2 of lesson 179 «Caves: bat clouds, blind fish, the olm, glowworms and a sealed cave» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova'
---

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# Exam question 2 · Caves: bat clouds, blind fish, the olm, glowworms and a se…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the reason for which certain cave fish have lost their eyes.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, certain cave fish · **What happens:** ascertain, lose · **To what, where:** reason, eyes

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 179 «Caves: bat clouds, blind fish, the olm, glowworms and a sealed cave» 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/179-caves-bat-clouds-blind-fish-the-olm-glowworms-and-a-sealed-cave/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:179-caves-bat-clouds-blind-fish-the-olm-glowworms-and-a-sealed-cave:e2:1
# text = Ascertain the reason for which certain cave fish have lost their eyes.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	for	for	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	10	obl	_	_
6	certain	certain	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
7	cave	cave	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	fish	fish	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nsubj	_	_
9	have	have	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	aux	_	_
10	lost	lose	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	3	acl:relcl	_	_
11	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	12	nmod:poss	_	_
12	eyes	eye	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	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 reason |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent reason=Topic |
| 2 | **lose** | present · perfect | certain cave fish | fish's eyes |  |  |  | for the reason | vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent eye=Eventuality |

<!-- .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 -->
The cave water dissolves eyes

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:179-caves-bat-clouds-blind-fish-the-olm-glowworms-and-a-sealed-cave:e2:o1:1
# text = The cave water dissolves eyes
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	cave	cave	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	dissolves	dissolve	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	eyes	eye	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **dissolve** | present | the cave water | eyes |  |  |  |  | vn break-45.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent eye=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The eyes were removed by predators

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:179-caves-bat-clouds-blind-fish-the-olm-glowworms-and-a-sealed-cave:e2:o2:1
# text = The eyes were removed by predators
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	eyes	eye	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	removed	remove	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	predators	predator	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **remove** | past · passive | predators | the eyes |  |  |  |  | vn fire-10.10 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Theme |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They are born without eyes for one generation only

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:179-caves-bat-clouds-blind-fish-the-olm-glowworms-and-a-sealed-cave:e2:o3:1
# text = They are born without eyes for one generation only
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	born	bear	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	without	without	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	eyes	eye	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
6	for	for	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	8	nummod	_	_
8	generation	generation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
9	only	only	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **bear** | present · passive |  | They |  |  | for one generation | without eyes | vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: subject=Stimulus for generation=Attribute |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Eyes confer no benefit in total darkness and their maintenance consumes energy

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:179-caves-bat-clouds-blind-fish-the-olm-glowworms-and-a-sealed-cave:e2:o4:1
# text = Eyes confer no benefit in total darkness and their maintenance consumes energy
1	Eyes	eye	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	confer	confer	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	4	det	_	_
4	benefit	benefit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	total	total	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	darkness	darkness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
9	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
10	maintenance	maintenance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
11	consumes	consume	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
12	energy	energy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **confer** | present | Eyes | no benefit |  | total darkness |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **consume** | present | Eyes's maintenance | energy |  |  |  |  | vn consume-66 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent energy=Asset |
| 3 | **maintain** |  | Eyes *= eye* |  |  |  |  |  | nom maintenance «act transitive»: poss=agent |

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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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- next →: [Caves: bat clouds, blind fish, the olm…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/179-caves-bat-clouds-blind-fish-the-olm-glowworms-and-a-sealed-cave/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Caves: bat clouds, blind fish, the olm, glowworms and a sealed cave](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/179-caves-bat-clouds-blind-fish-the-olm-glowworms-and-a-sealed-cave/)