---
title: Ascertain the principal difficulty confronting mammals and birds of… — Record-breakers: the biggest and the s… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the principal difficulty confronting mammals and birds of very small size. Exam question 4 of lesson 186 «Record-breakers: the biggest and the smallest» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice
---

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# Exam question 4 · Record-breakers: the biggest and the smallest

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the principal difficulty confronting mammals and birds of very small size.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, principal difficulty · **What happens:** ascertain, confront · **To what, where:** principal difficulty, mammals

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 186 «Record-breakers: the biggest and the smallest» 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/186-record-breakers-the-biggest-and-the-smallest/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:186-record-breakers-the-biggest-and-the-smallest:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the principal difficulty confronting mammals and birds of very small size.
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	difficulty	difficulty	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	confronting	confront	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	4	acl	_	_
6	mammals	mammal	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	birds	bird	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	conj	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
10	very	very	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
11	small	small	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	size	size	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	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 principal difficulty |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent difficulty=Topic |
| 2 | **confront** | gerund | the principal difficulty *not said here* | mammals and birds of small size |  |  |  |  | vn confront-98 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent mammal=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 -->
The rapid loss of bodily heat

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:186-record-breakers-the-biggest-and-the-smallest:e4:o1:1
# text = The rapid loss of bodily heat
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	rapid	rapid	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	loss	loss	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	bodily	bodily	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	heat	heat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
An excessive requirement for large meals

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:186-record-breakers-the-biggest-and-the-smallest:e4:o2:1
# text = An excessive requirement for large meals
1	An	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	excessive	excessive	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	requirement	requirement	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	large	large	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	meals	meal	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nmod	_	_
```

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

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
An inability to move

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:186-record-breakers-the-biggest-and-the-smallest:e4:o3:1
# text = An inability to move
1	An	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	inability	inability	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	move	move	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	acl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **move** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP.theme V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Excessive bodily weight

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:186-record-breakers-the-biggest-and-the-smallest:e4:o4:1
# text = Excessive bodily weight
1	Excessive	excessive	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
2	bodily	bodily	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	weight	weight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

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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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- ← previous: [Record-breakers: the biggest and the s…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/186-record-breakers-the-biggest-and-the-smallest/e3/)
- next →: [Record-breakers: the loudest and the l…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/187-record-breakers-the-loudest-and-the-longest-lived/t1/)
- ↑ back to [Record-breakers: the biggest and the smallest](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/186-record-breakers-the-biggest-and-the-smallest/)