---
title: Identify the principal method by which the age of a felled tree may… — Plants deeper: the oldest, tallest and… · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal method by which the age of a felled tree may be determined. Exam question 2 of lesson 253 «Plants deeper: the oldest, tallest and strangest trees» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/253-plants-deeper-the-oldest-tallest-and-strangest-trees/e2/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [Biology](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/) / [Plants deeper: the oldest, tallest and…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/253-plants-deeper-the-oldest-tallest-and-strangest-trees/) / e2

# Exam question 2 · Plants deeper: the oldest, tallest and strangest trees

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal method by which the age of a felled tree may be determined.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, principal method · **What happens:** identify, fell, determine · **To what, where:** principal method, age

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 253 «Plants deeper: the oldest, tallest and strangest trees» 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/253-plants-deeper-the-oldest-tallest-and-strangest-trees/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:253-plants-deeper-the-oldest-tallest-and-strangest-trees:e2:1
# text = Identify the principal method by which the age of a felled tree may be determined.
1	Identify	identify	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	method	method	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	15	obl	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	age	age	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nsubj:pass	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
11	felled	fell	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	12	amod	_	_
12	tree	tree	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	_
13	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	15	aux	_	_
14	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	15	aux:pass	_	_
15	determined	determine	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **identify** | imperative | you *not said here* | the principal method |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent method=Theme |
| 2 | **fell** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **determine** | may · passive | the principal method | the age of a felled tree |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=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 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The enumeration of the annual rings within its trunk

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:253-plants-deeper-the-oldest-tallest-and-strangest-trees:e2:o1:1
# text = The enumeration of the annual rings within its trunk
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	enumeration	enumeration	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	annual	annual	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	rings	ring	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
7	within	within	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
9	trunk	trunk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **enumerate** |  |  | the annual rings within enumeration's trunk |  |  |  |  | nom enumeration «communication transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The examination of the colour of its bark

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:253-plants-deeper-the-oldest-tallest-and-strangest-trees:e2:o2:1
# text = The examination of the colour of its bark
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	examination	examination	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	colour	colour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
8	bark	bark	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **examine** |  |  | the colour of colour's bark |  |  |  |  | nom examination «act transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The measurement of its total weight with great precision

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:253-plants-deeper-the-oldest-tallest-and-strangest-trees:e2:o3:1
# text = The measurement of its total weight with great precision
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	measurement	measurement	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
5	total	total	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	weight	weight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
7	with	with	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	great	great	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	precision	precision	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **measure** |  |  | measurement's total weight with great precision |  |  |  |  | nom measurement «act transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The enumeration of its branches

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:253-plants-deeper-the-oldest-tallest-and-strangest-trees:e2:o4:1
# text = The enumeration of its branches
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	enumeration	enumeration	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	branches	branch	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **enumerate** |  |  | enumeration's branches |  |  |  |  | nom enumeration «communication transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- 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 -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [Plants deeper: the oldest, tallest and…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/253-plants-deeper-the-oldest-tallest-and-strangest-trees/e1/)
- next →: [Plants deeper: the oldest, tallest and…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/253-plants-deeper-the-oldest-tallest-and-strangest-trees/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Plants deeper: the oldest, tallest and strangest trees](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/253-plants-deeper-the-oldest-tallest-and-strangest-trees/)