---
title: Ascertain the mechanism by which a bladderwort captures its prey. — Plants deeper: carnivorous plants that… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the mechanism by which a bladderwort captures its prey. Exam question 4 of lesson 254 «Plants deeper: carnivorous plants that count, slip and suck» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was 
---

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# Exam question 4 · Plants deeper: carnivorous plants that count, slip and suck

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the mechanism by which a bladderwort captures its prey.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, bladderwort · **What happens:** ascertain, capture · **To what, where:** mechanism, prey

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This is exam question 4 of lesson 254 «Plants deeper: carnivorous plants that count, slip and suck» 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/254-plants-deeper-carnivorous-plants-that-count-slip-and-suck/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:254-plants-deeper-carnivorous-plants-that-count-slip-and-suck:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the mechanism by which a bladderwort captures its prey.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	mechanism	mechanism	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	by	by	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	bladderwort	bladderwort	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
8	captures	capture	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	acl:relcl	_	_
9	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
10	prey	prey	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	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 mechanism |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent mechanism=Topic |
| 2 | **capture** | present | a bladderwort | bladderwort's prey |  |  |  | by the mechanism | vn steal-10.5-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent prey=Theme |

<!-- .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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The drowning of insects in a lidded pitcher

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:254-plants-deeper-carnivorous-plants-that-count-slip-and-suck:e4:o1:1
# text = The drowning of insects in a lidded pitcher
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	drowning	drowning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	insects	insect	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	lidded	lid	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	amod	_	_
8	pitcher	pitcher	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lid** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The snapping closure of a hinged leaf upon contact

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:254-plants-deeper-carnivorous-plants-that-count-slip-and-suck:e4:o2:1
# text = The snapping closure of a hinged leaf upon contact
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	snapping	snap	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	3	amod	_	_
3	closure	closure	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	hinged	hinge	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	amod	_	_
7	leaf	leaf	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
8	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	contact	contact	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **snap** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **hinge** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn tape-22.4 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Patient |
| 3 | **close** |  | a hinged leaf upon contact |  |  |  |  |  | nom closure «act intransitive»: of=agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The adhesion of flies to sticky tentacles above the surface of the water

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:254-plants-deeper-carnivorous-plants-that-count-slip-and-suck:e4:o3:1
# text = The adhesion of flies to sticky tentacles above the surface of the water
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	adhesion	adhesion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	flies	fly	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	sticky	sticky	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	tentacles	tentacle	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
8	above	above	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	surface	surface	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **adhere** |  | flies |  |  |  |  |  | nom adhesion «state intransitive»: of=agent |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The rapid suction of water fleas into a low-pressure underwater bladder

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:254-plants-deeper-carnivorous-plants-that-count-slip-and-suck:e4:o4:1
# text = The rapid suction of water fleas into a low-pressure underwater bladder
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	rapid	rapid	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	suction	suction	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	fleas	flea	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nmod	_	_
7	into	into	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
9	low	low	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	pressure	pressure	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	compound	_	_
12	underwater	underwater	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	compound	_	_
13	bladder	bladder	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **suction** |  | water fleas |  |  | a underwater bladder |  |  | nom suction «phenomenon intransitive»: of=agent into=place |

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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.

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- ↑ back to [Plants deeper: carnivorous plants that count, slip and suck](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/254-plants-deeper-carnivorous-plants-that-count-slip-and-suck/)