---
title: Ascertain the relationship between the brushtail possum of Australia… — Raccoons, opossums and skunks · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the relationship between the brushtail possum of Australia and the opossum of the Americas. Exam question 4 of lesson 224 «Raccoons, opossums and skunks» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choic
---

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# Exam question 4 · Raccoons, opossums and skunks

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the relationship between the brushtail possum of Australia and the opossum of the Americas.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** ascertain · **To what, where:** relationship

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 224 «Raccoons, opossums and skunks» 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/224-raccoons-opossums-and-skunks/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:224-raccoons-opossums-and-skunks:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the relationship between the brushtail possum of Australia and the opossum of the Americas.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	relationship	relationship	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	between	between	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	brushtail	brushtail	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	possum	possum	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	Australia	Australia	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	opossum	opossum	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	conj	_	_
13	of	of	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	Americas	AMERICAS	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	12	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	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 relationship and the opossum of the Americas |  |  |  | between the brushtail possum of Australia | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent relationship=Topic |

<!-- .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 -->
They are a single species distributed across two continents

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:224-raccoons-opossums-and-skunks:e4:o1:1
# text = They are a single species distributed across two continents
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	single	single	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	species	species	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	distributed	distribute	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	acl	_	_
7	across	across	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	9	nummod	_	_
9	continents	continent	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | They | a single species |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **distribute** | participle |  | a single species *not said here* |  | two continents |  |  | vn contribute-13.2-1 «NP V PP.recipient»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The former is a rodent, whereas the latter is a marsupial

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:224-raccoons-opossums-and-skunks:e4:o2:1
# text = The former is a rodent, whereas the latter is a marsupial
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
2	former	former	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	rodent	rodent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
7	whereas	whereas	SCONJ	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	latter	latter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
10	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	cop	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	marsupial	marsupial	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present |  | the former rodent |  |  |  | whereas the latter | tree rules |
| 2 | **is a** | present | the former rodent | a marsupial |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Both are marsupials, but they belong to different families

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:224-raccoons-opossums-and-skunks:e4:o3:1
# text = Both are marsupials, but they belong to different families
1	Both	both	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	3	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	marsupials	marsupial	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
5	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
6	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
7	belong	belong	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	parataxis	_	_
8	to	to	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	different	different	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	families	family	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | Both | marsupials |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **belong** | present | marsupials *= marsupial* |  |  |  |  | to different families | vn attend-107.4-2 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The latter was introduced to Australia, where it became the former

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:224-raccoons-opossums-and-skunks:e4:o4:1
# text = The latter was introduced to Australia, where it became the former
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	latter	latter	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	introduced	introduce	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	Australia	Australia	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
8	where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	10	advmod	_	_
9	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
10	became	become	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	acl:relcl	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	former	former	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **introduce** | past · passive |  | the latter | Australia |  |  |  | vn amalgamate-22.2-3-1 «NP V NP PP.co-patient»: subject=Patient to australia=Co-Patient |
| 2 | **become** | past | it |  |  |  |  | former *property* | vn become-109.1-1-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Patient |

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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: [Raccoons, opossums and skunks, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/224-raccoons-opossums-and-skunks/e3/)
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- ↑ back to [Raccoons, opossums and skunks](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/224-raccoons-opossums-and-skunks/)