---
title: Identify the principal characteristic of a fair test as conducted in… — How scientists find out: naturalists,… · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal characteristic of a fair test as conducted in a scientific investigation. Exam question 1 of lesson 264 «How scientists find out: naturalists, Darwin, the microscope and wildlife filming» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics o
---

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# Exam question 1 · How scientists find out: naturalists, Darwin, the microsco…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal characteristic of a fair test as conducted in a scientific investigation.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** identify, conduct · **To what, where:** principal characteristic, scientific investigation

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This is exam question 1 of lesson 264 «How scientists find out: naturalists, Darwin, the microscope and wildlife filming» 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/264-how-scientists-find-out-naturalists-darwin-the-microscope-and-wildlife-filming/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:264-how-scientists-find-out-naturalists-darwin-the-microscope-and-wildlife-filming:e1:1
# text = Identify the principal characteristic of a fair test as conducted in a scientific investigation.
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	characteristic	characteristic	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	fair	fair	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	test	test	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
9	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
10	conducted	conduct	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	1	advcl	_	_
11	in	in	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
12	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
13	scientific	scientific	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	investigation	investigation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	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 characteristic of a fair test |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent characteristic=Theme |
| 2 | **conduct** | participle | you *not said here* |  |  | a scientific investigation |  |  | vn accompany-51.7 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent in investigation=Destination |

<!-- .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 test is conducted once only and never repeated

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:264-how-scientists-find-out-naturalists-darwin-the-microscope-and-wildlife-filming:e1:o1:1
# text = The test is conducted once only and never repeated
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	test	test	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	conducted	conduct	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	once	once	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	4	advmod	_	_
6	only	only	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
8	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	9	advmod	_	_
9	repeated	repeat	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **conduct** | present · passive |  | the test |  |  |  | once *property* | vn accompany-51.7 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 2 | **not** **repeat** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A single factor is varied whilst all other conditions are maintained constant

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:264-how-scientists-find-out-naturalists-darwin-the-microscope-and-wildlife-filming:e1:o2:1
# text = A single factor is varied whilst all other conditions are maintained constant
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	single	single	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	factor	factor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
5	varied	varied	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
6	whilst	whilst	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
7	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	9	det	_	_
8	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	conditions	condition	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	nsubj:pass	_	_
10	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	aux:pass	_	_
11	maintained	maintain	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	advcl	_	_
12	constant	constant	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | a single factor |  |  |  |  | varied *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **maintain** | present · passive |  | all other conditions |  |  |  | constant *property* | vn declare-29.4-1 «NP V NP ADJ»: subject=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
All factors are varied simultaneously for the sake of economy and speed of work

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:264-how-scientists-find-out-naturalists-darwin-the-microscope-and-wildlife-filming:e1:o3:1
# text = All factors are varied simultaneously for the sake of economy and speed of work
1	All	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	2	det	_	_
2	factors	factor	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	varied	varied	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	simultaneously	simultaneously	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
6	for	for	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	sake	sake	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	economy	economy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
12	speed	speed	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	conj	_	_
13	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	work	work	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | all factors |  |  |  |  | for the sake of economy and speed of work; simultaneously, varied *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The result is decided before the commencement of the test

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:264-how-scientists-find-out-naturalists-darwin-the-microscope-and-wildlife-filming:e1:o4:1
# text = The result is decided before the commencement of the test
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	result	result	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	decided	decide	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	before	before	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	commencement	commencement	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	test	test	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **decide** | present · passive |  | the result |  |  | before the commencement of the test |  | vn correspond-36.1-1 «NP V S»: subject=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.

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