---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises bact… — The microscopic world: bacteria, good… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises bacteria in general? Exam question 3 of lesson 257 «The microscopic world: bacteria, good and bad» 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
---

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# Exam question 3 · The microscopic world: bacteria, good and bad

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises bacteria in general?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** follow, characteris · **To what, where:** bacteria, general

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 257 «The microscopic world: bacteria, good and bad» 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/257-the-microscopic-world-bacteria-good-and-bad/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:257-the-microscopic-world-bacteria-good-and-bad:e3:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises bacteria in general?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	nsubj	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	following	follow	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	amod	_	_
5	statements	statement	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	_
6	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	7	advmod	_	_
7	accurately	accurately	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	characterises	characteris	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	bacteria	bacterium	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obj	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	general	general	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **follow** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **characteris** | present |  | bacteria |  | general |  | of the following statements; accurately *property* | 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 -->
Bacteria inhabit only unclean environments, such as drains and refuse

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:257-the-microscopic-world-bacteria-good-and-bad:e3:o1:1
# text = Bacteria inhabit only unclean environments, such as drains and refuse
1	Bacteria	bacterium	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	inhabit	inhabit	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	only	only	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
4	unclean	unclean	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	environments	environment	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
7	such	such	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|ExtPos=ADP	9	case	_	_
8	as	as	ADP	IN	_	7	fixed	_	_
9	drains	drain	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	conj	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
11	refuse	refuse	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **inhabit** | present | Bacteria | unclean environments and drains |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **refuse** | present | Bacteria *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn reject-77.2 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The majority are harmless or beneficial, a small minority being the cause of disease

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:257-the-microscopic-world-bacteria-good-and-bad:e3:o2:1
# text = The majority are harmless or beneficial, a small minority being the cause of disease
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	majority	majority	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	harmless	harmless	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	beneficial	beneficial	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	small	small	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	minority	minority	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	_
11	being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	13	cop	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	cause	cause	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	parataxis	_	_
14	of	of	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	disease	disease	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the majority |  |  |  |  | harmless *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **be** |  | the majority *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **is a** | gerund | a small minority | the cause |  |  |  | of disease | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
All bacteria are invariably the cause of disease

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:257-the-microscopic-world-bacteria-good-and-bad:e3:o3:1
# text = All bacteria are invariably the cause of disease
1	All	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	2	det	_	_
2	bacteria	bacterium	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
4	invariably	invariably	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	cause	cause	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	disease	disease	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | all bacteria | the cause |  |  |  | of disease; invariably *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Bacteria are multicellular animals possessing eyes, mouths and minute limbs

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:257-the-microscopic-world-bacteria-good-and-bad:e3:o4:1
# text = Bacteria are multicellular animals possessing eyes, mouths and minute limbs
1	Bacteria	bacterium	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	multicellular	multicellular	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	animals	animal	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
5	possessing	possess	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	4	acl	_	_
6	eyes	eye	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
8	mouths	mouth	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	conj	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
10	minute	minute	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	compound	_	_
11	limbs	limb	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | Bacteria | multicellular animals |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **possess** | gerund | multicellular animals *not said here* | eyes and mouths and minute limbs |  |  |  |  | vn own-100.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot eye=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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