---
title: Ascertain the reason for which a stand of aspen trees may be regarde… — Plants deeper: do trees talk? Fungi, w… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the reason for which a stand of aspen trees may be regarded as a single organism. Exam question 4 of lesson 252 «Plants deeper: do trees talk? Fungi, warning smells and giant clones» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and
---

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# Exam question 4 · Plants deeper: do trees talk? Fungi, warning smells and gi…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the reason for which a stand of aspen trees may be regarded as a single organism.

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

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This is exam question 4 of lesson 252 «Plants deeper: do trees talk? Fungi, warning smells and giant clones» 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/252-plants-deeper-do-trees-talk-fungi-warning-smells-and-giant-clones/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:252-plants-deeper-do-trees-talk-fungi-warning-smells-and-giant-clones:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the reason for which a stand of aspen trees may be regarded as a single organism.
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	13	obl	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	stand	stand	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj:pass	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	aspen	aspen	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	trees	tree	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nmod	_	_
11	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	_
12	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	13	aux:pass	_	_
13	regarded	regard	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl:relcl	_	_
14	as	as	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
15	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
16	single	single	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	17	amod	_	_
17	organism	organism	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	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 | **regard** | may · passive |  | a stand of aspen trees |  |  |  | for the reason; as a single organism | vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: subject=Theme for which=Attribute |

<!-- .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 trunks arise from a single connected root system and share identical genes

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:252-plants-deeper-do-trees-talk-fungi-warning-smells-and-giant-clones:e4:o1:1
# text = The trunks arise from a single connected root system and share identical genes
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	trunks	trunk	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	arise	arise	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	from	from	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
6	single	single	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
7	connected	connect	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	9	amod	_	_
8	root	root	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	system	system	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
11	share	share	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
12	identical	identical	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	genes	gene	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **arise** | present | the trunks |  |  | a single connected root system |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **connect** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn mix-22.1-2-1 «NP V»: agent=Patient |
| 3 | **share** | present | the trunks *not said here* | identical genes |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The trunks were planted on the same day by a single forester, from one bag of seed

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:252-plants-deeper-do-trees-talk-fungi-warning-smells-and-giant-clones:e4:o2:1
# text = The trunks were planted on the same day by a single forester, from one bag of seed
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	trunks	trunk	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	planted	plant	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	on	on	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	same	same	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
9	by	by	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
11	single	single	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	forester	forester	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
14	from	from	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	16	nummod	_	_
16	bag	bag	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
17	of	of	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
18	seed	seed	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **plant** | past · passive | a single forester | the trunks |  | one bag of seed | day |  | vn establish-55.5-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The trunks are all of identical height

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:252-plants-deeper-do-trees-talk-fungi-warning-smells-and-giant-clones:e4:o3:1
# text = The trunks are all of identical height
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	trunks	trunk	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	0	root	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	identical	identical	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	height	height	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
```

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

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The trunks are joined by their branches above ground

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:252-plants-deeper-do-trees-talk-fungi-warning-smells-and-giant-clones:e4:o4:1
# text = The trunks are joined by their branches above ground
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	trunks	trunk	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	joined	join	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	branches	branch	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
8	above	above	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
9	ground	ground	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **join** | present · passive | trunks's branches | the trunks |  |  |  | ground *obl*; above *property* | vn mix-22.1-2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=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: [Plants deeper: do trees talk? Fungi, w…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/252-plants-deeper-do-trees-talk-fungi-warning-smells-and-giant-clones/e3/)
- next →: [Plants deeper: the oldest, tallest and…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/253-plants-deeper-the-oldest-tallest-and-strangest-trees/t1/)
- ↑ back to [Plants deeper: do trees talk? Fungi, warning smells and giant clones](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/252-plants-deeper-do-trees-talk-fungi-warning-smells-and-giant-clones/)