---
title: Ascertain the consequence for moths of the darkening of tree bark by… — Masters of camouflage · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the consequence for moths of the darkening of tree bark by industrial soot. Exam question 3 of lesson 189 «Masters of camouflage» 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 was right.
---

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# Exam question 3 · Masters of camouflage

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the consequence for moths of the darkening of tree bark by industrial soot.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** ascertain, darken · **To what, where:** consequence, tree bark

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This is exam question 3 of lesson 189 «Masters of camouflage» 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/189-masters-of-camouflage/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:189-masters-of-camouflage:e3:1
# text = Ascertain the consequence for moths of the darkening of tree bark by industrial soot.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	consequence	consequence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	for	for	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	moths	moth	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	obl	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	darkening	darkening	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	tree	tree	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	compound	_	_
11	bark	bark	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	_
12	by	by	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	industrial	industrial	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	soot	soot	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	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 consequence |  |  |  | for moths of the darkening of tree bark; by industrial soot | vn ensure-99 «NP V NP PP.beneficiary»: agent=Precondition consequence=Theme for moth=Beneficiary |
| 2 | **darken** |  |  | tree bark |  |  |  |  | nom darkening «act transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- .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 -->
All moths perished without distinction

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:189-masters-of-camouflage:e3:o1:1
# text = All moths perished without distinction
1	All	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	2	det	_	_
2	moths	moth	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	perished	perish	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	without	without	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	distinction	distinction	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **perish** | past | all moths |  |  |  |  | without distinction | vn break\_down-45.8 «NP V»: agent=Patient |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Dark moths survived in greater numbers than pale ones

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:189-masters-of-camouflage:e3:o2:1
# text = Dark moths survived in greater numbers than pale ones
1	Dark	dark	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	moths	moth	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	survived	survive	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	greater	great	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	6	amod	_	_
6	numbers	number	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
7	than	than	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	pale	pale	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	ones	one	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **survive** | past | Dark moths |  |  | greater numbers |  | than pale ones | vn exist-47.1-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in number=Location |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Pale moths survived in greater numbers on the darkened trees

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:189-masters-of-camouflage:e3:o3:1
# text = Pale moths survived in greater numbers on the darkened trees
1	Pale	pale	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	moths	moth	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	survived	survive	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	greater	great	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	6	amod	_	_
6	numbers	number	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
7	on	on	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	darkened	darken	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	10	amod	_	_
10	trees	tree	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **survive** | past | Pale moths |  |  | greater numbers |  | on the darkened trees | vn exist-47.1-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in number=Location |
| 2 | **darken** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The moths were unaffected

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:189-masters-of-camouflage:e3:o4:1
# text = The moths were unaffected
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	moths	moth	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	unaffected	unaffected	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | the moths |  |  |  |  | unaffected *property* | tree rules |

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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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