---
title: Ascertain the reason for which the cheetah is incapable of maintaini… — Record-breakers: the fastest and the s… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the reason for which the cheetah is incapable of maintaining its maximum speed for an extended period. Exam question 2 of lesson 185 «Record-breakers: the fastest and the slowest» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of
---

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# Exam question 2 · Record-breakers: the fastest and the slowest

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the reason for which the cheetah is incapable of maintaining its maximum speed for an extended period.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, cheetah · **What happens:** ascertain, be, maintain · **To what, where:** reason, maximum speed

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 185 «Record-breakers: the fastest and the slowest» 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/185-record-breakers-the-fastest-and-the-slowest/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:185-record-breakers-the-fastest-and-the-slowest:e2:1
# text = Ascertain the reason for which the cheetah is incapable of maintaining its maximum speed for an extended period.
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	9	obl	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	cheetah	cheetah	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
8	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
9	incapable	incapable	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	acl	_	_
10	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
11	maintaining	maintain	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	9	advcl	_	_
12	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	14	nmod:poss	_	_
13	maximum	maximum	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	speed	speed	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obj	_	_
15	for	for	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
16	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
17	extended	extended	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	amod	_	_
18	period	period	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	.	.	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 | **is** | present | the cheetah |  |  |  |  | for the reason; incapable *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **maintain** | gerund | the cheetah *not said here* | cheetah's maximum speed |  |  |  | for a extended period | vn declare-29.4-1 «NP V NP ADJ»: agent=Agent speed=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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Its body temperature rises excessively

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:185-record-breakers-the-fastest-and-the-slowest:e2:o1:1
# text = Its body temperature rises excessively
1	Its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	3	nmod:poss	_	_
2	body	body	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	temperature	temperature	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	rises	rise	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	excessively	excessively	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **rise** | present | Its body temperature |  |  |  |  | excessively *property* | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Its claws become blunt

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:185-record-breakers-the-fastest-and-the-slowest:e2:o2:1
# text = Its claws become blunt
1	Its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	claws	claw	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	become	become	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	blunt	blunt	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **become** | present | Its claws |  |  |  |  | blunt *property* | vn become-109.1-1-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It lacks lungs of any kind

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:185-record-breakers-the-fastest-and-the-slowest:e2:o3:1
# text = It lacks lungs of any kind
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	lacks	lack	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	lungs	lung	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	6	det	_	_
6	kind	kind	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lack** | present | It | lungs of any kind |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is compelled to stop and feed upon the carcass of its prey

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:185-record-breakers-the-fastest-and-the-slowest:e2:o4:1
# text = It is compelled to stop and feed upon the carcass of its prey
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	compelled	compel	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	stop	stop	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	feed	feed	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	conj	_	_
8	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	carcass	carcass	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	13	nmod:poss	_	_
13	prey	prey	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **compel** | present · passive |  | It |  |  |  |  | vn compel-59.1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: subject=Patient clause=Result |
| 2 | **stop** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality |
| 3 | **feed** | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | upon the carcass of carcass's prey | vn gorge-39.6 «NP V PP.patient»: agent=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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- ← previous: [Record-breakers: the fastest and the s…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/185-record-breakers-the-fastest-and-the-slowest/e1/)
- next →: [Record-breakers: the fastest and the s…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/185-record-breakers-the-fastest-and-the-slowest/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Record-breakers: the fastest and the slowest](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/185-record-breakers-the-fastest-and-the-slowest/)