---
title: Ascertain the reason for which the blood of the octopus is of a blue… — Animal minds: the octopus, escape arti… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the reason for which the blood of the octopus is of a blue colour. Exam question 3 of lesson 234 «Animal minds: the octopus, escape artist and puzzle solver» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's c
---

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# Exam question 3 · Animal minds: the octopus, escape artist and puzzle solver

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the reason for which the blood of the octopus is of a blue colour.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, blood · **What happens:** ascertain, be · **To what, where:** reason

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 234 «Animal minds: the octopus, escape artist and puzzle solver» 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/234-animal-minds-the-octopus-escape-artist-and-puzzle-solver/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:234-animal-minds-the-octopus-escape-artist-and-puzzle-solver:e3:1
# text = Ascertain the reason for which the blood of the octopus is of a blue colour.
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	15	obl	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	blood	blood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nsubj	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	octopus	octopus	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
11	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	cop	_	_
12	of	of	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
13	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
14	blue	blue	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	15	amod	_	_
15	colour	colour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	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 reason |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent reason=Topic |
| 2 | **is** | present | the blood of the octopus |  |  |  |  | of a blue colour; for the reason | tree rules |

<!-- .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 -->
Sea water of a blue colour is absorbed into it through the skin

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:234-animal-minds-the-octopus-escape-artist-and-puzzle-solver:e3:o1:1
# text = Sea water of a blue colour is absorbed into it through the skin
1	Sea	sea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	compound	_	_
2	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	blue	blue	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	colour	colour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
7	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux:pass	_	_
8	absorbed	absorb	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
9	into	into	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	obl	_	_
11	through	through	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	skin	skin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **absorb** | present · passive |  | Sea water of a blue colour |  | colour |  | through the skin | vn absorb-39.8 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ink is mixed with the blood

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:234-animal-minds-the-octopus-escape-artist-and-puzzle-solver:e3:o2:1
# text = Ink is mixed with the blood
1	Ink	ink	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	mixed	mix	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	with	with	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	blood	blood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mix** | present · passive |  | Ink |  |  |  | with the blood | vn mix-22.1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.co-patient»: subject=Patient with blood=Co-Patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The animal is permanently chilled

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:234-animal-minds-the-octopus-escape-artist-and-puzzle-solver:e3:o3:1
# text = The animal is permanently chilled
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	animal	animal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
4	permanently	permanently	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	chilled	chill	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **chill** | present · passive |  | the animal |  |  |  | permanently *property* | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Experiencer |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Copper rather than iron is employed in the transport of oxygen

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:234-animal-minds-the-octopus-escape-artist-and-puzzle-solver:e3:o4:1
# text = Copper rather than iron is employed in the transport of oxygen
1	Copper	copper	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	rather	rather	ADV	RB	ExtPos=CCONJ	4	cc	_	_
3	than	than	ADP	IN	_	2	fixed	_	_
4	iron	iron	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	conj	_	_
5	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux:pass	_	_
6	employed	employ	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	transport	transport	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
10	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	oxygen	oxygen	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **employ** | present · passive |  | Copper rather iron |  | the transport of oxygen |  |  | vn hire-13.5.3 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |

<!-- div src -->

**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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