---
title: Ascertain the manner in which a dolphin obtains rest whilst continui… — Animal minds: dolphins' names, orca gr… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the manner in which a dolphin obtains rest whilst continuing to breathe. Exam question 4 of lesson 235 «Animal minds: dolphins' names, orca grandmothers and whale songs» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each opti
---

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# Exam question 4 · Animal minds: dolphins' names, orca grandmothers and whale…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the manner in which a dolphin obtains rest whilst continuing to breathe.

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

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 235 «Animal minds: dolphins' names, orca grandmothers and whale songs» 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/235-animal-minds-dolphins-names-orca-grandmothers-and-whale-songs/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:235-animal-minds-dolphins-names-orca-grandmothers-and-whale-songs:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the manner in which a dolphin obtains rest whilst continuing to breathe.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	manner	manner	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	obl	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	dolphin	dolphin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
8	obtains	obtain	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	acl:relcl	_	_
9	rest	rest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
10	whilst	whilst	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
11	continuing	continue	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	8	advcl	_	_
12	to	to	PART	TO	_	13	mark	_	_
13	breathe	breathe	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	11	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	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 manner |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent manner=Topic |
| 2 | **obtain** | present | a dolphin | rest |  | the manner |  |  | vn obtain-13.5.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent rest=Theme |
| 3 | **continue** | gerund | a dolphin *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 4 | **breathe** | to-infinitive | a dolphin *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn breathe-40.1.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .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 -->
By attaching itself to floating ice

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:235-animal-minds-dolphins-names-orca-grandmothers-and-whale-songs:e4:o1:1
# text = By attaching itself to floating ice
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	attaching	attach	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	itself	itself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	2	obj	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	floating	float	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	6	amod	_	_
6	ice	ice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **attach** | gerund |  | itself *= it* |  |  |  | to floating ice | vn shake-22.3-2-1 «NP V NP PP»: agent=Agent itself=Patient to ice=Co-Patient |
| 2 | **float** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By ceasing to breathe throughout the night

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:235-animal-minds-dolphins-names-orca-grandmothers-and-whale-songs:e4:o2:1
# text = By ceasing to breathe throughout the night
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	ceasing	cease	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	breathe	breathe	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
5	throughout	throughout	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	night	night	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cease** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Affector clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **breathe** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  | night |  | vn breathe-40.1.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By resting one hemisphere of the brain at a time

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:235-animal-minds-dolphins-names-orca-grandmothers-and-whale-songs:e4:o3:1
# text = By resting one hemisphere of the brain at a time
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	resting	rest	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	4	nummod	_	_
4	hemisphere	hemisphere	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	brain	brain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
8	at	at	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **rest** | gerund |  | one hemisphere of the brain |  |  | time |  | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6-1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location hemisphere=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By descending to the sea floor for several hours

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:235-animal-minds-dolphins-names-orca-grandmothers-and-whale-songs:e4:o4:1
# text = By descending to the sea floor for several hours
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	descending	descend	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	sea	sea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	floor	floor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
7	for	for	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	several	several	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	hours	hour	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **descend** | gerund |  |  |  | the sea floor | hour |  | vn meander-47.7-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme to floor=Location |

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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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- ↑ back to [Animal minds: dolphins' names, orca grandmothers and whale songs](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/235-animal-minds-dolphins-names-orca-grandmothers-and-whale-songs/)