---
title: How could rotifers survive about 24,000 years in ice? — The microscopic world: tardigrades, mi… · tree and pragmatics
description: How could rotifers survive about 24,000 years in ice? Test 11 of lesson 259 «The microscopic world: tardigrades, mites, plankton and other tiny creatures» 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 wro
---

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# Test 11 · The microscopic world: tardigrades, mites, plankton and ot…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
How could rotifers survive about 24,000 years in ice?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** rotifers · **What happens:** survive · **To what, where:** ice

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 11 of lesson 259 «The microscopic world: tardigrades, mites, plankton and other tiny creatures» of the biology course of Mova's primary school. 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/259-the-microscopic-world-tardigrades-mites-plankton-and-other-tiny-creatures/#t11).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:259-the-microscopic-world-tardigrades-mites-plankton-and-other-tiny-creatures:t11:1
# text = How could rotifers survive about 24,000 years in ice?
1	How	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	rotifers	rotifer	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	survive	survive	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	about	about	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	24,000	24000	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	7	nummod	_	_
7	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl:unmarked	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	ice	ice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **survive** | could | rotifers |  |  | ice | year |  | vn exist-47.1-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in ice=Location |

<!-- .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 -->
They kept warm by swimming

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:259-the-microscopic-world-tardigrades-mites-plankton-and-other-tiny-creatures:t11:o1:1
# text = They kept warm by swimming
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	kept	keep	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	warm	warm	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	xcomp	_	_
4	by	by	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
5	swimming	swim	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **keep** | past | They |  |  |  |  | warm *property* | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **swim** | gerund | They *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They ate the ice slowly, a little bit at a time, to stay alive

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:259-the-microscopic-world-tardigrades-mites-plankton-and-other-tiny-creatures:t11:o2:1
# text = They ate the ice slowly, a little bit at a time, to stay alive
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	ate	eat	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	ice	ice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	slowly	slowly	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	bit	bit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl:unmarked	_	_
10	at	at	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
14	to	to	PART	TO	_	15	mark	_	_
15	stay	stay	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
16	alive	alive	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	15	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **eat** | past | They | the ice |  |  |  | a little bit at a time *obl:unmarked*; slowly *property* | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent ice=Patient |
| 2 | **stay** | to-infinitive | They *not said here* |  |  |  |  | alive *property* | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Frozen, they stopped nearly all life processes until they thawed

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:259-the-microscopic-world-tardigrades-mites-plankton-and-other-tiny-creatures:t11:o3:1
# text = Frozen, they stopped nearly all life processes until they thawed
1	Frozen	Frozen	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	stopped	stop	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	nearly	nearly	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
6	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	7	det	_	_
7	life	life	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
8	processes	process	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	parataxis	_	_
9	until	until	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
10	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
11	thawed	thaw	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stop** | past | Frozen |  |  |  |  | nearly *property* | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality |
| 2 | **process** | present | all life |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **thaw** | past | they |  |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4-1 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They were born just before scientists found them

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:259-the-microscopic-world-tardigrades-mites-plankton-and-other-tiny-creatures:t11:o4:1
# text = They were born just before scientists found them
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	born	bear	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	just	just	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
5	before	before	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
6	scientists	scientist	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
7	found	find	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
8	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **bear** | past · passive |  | They |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient |
| 2 | **find** | past | scientists | them *= they* |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Topic |

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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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- next →: [The microscopic world: tardigrades, mi…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/259-the-microscopic-world-tardigrades-mites-plankton-and-other-tiny-creatures/e1/)
- ↑ back to [The microscopic world: tardigrades, mites, plankton and other tiny creatures](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/259-the-microscopic-world-tardigrades-mites-plankton-and-other-tiny-creatures/)