---
title: Ascertain the purpose served by the attachment of rings to the legs… — How scientists find out: naturalists,… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the purpose served by the attachment of rings to the legs of birds. Exam question 4 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 of the question and 
---

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# Exam question 4 · How scientists find out: naturalists, Darwin, the microsco…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the purpose served by the attachment of rings to the legs of birds.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** ascertain, serve, attach · **To what, where:** purpose, rings

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This is exam question 4 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/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:264-how-scientists-find-out-naturalists-darwin-the-microscope-and-wildlife-filming:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the purpose served by the attachment of rings to the legs of birds.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	purpose	purpose	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	served	serve	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	attachment	attachment	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	rings	ring	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nmod	_	_
10	to	to	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	legs	leg	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nmod	_	_
13	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	birds	bird	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	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 purpose |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent purpose=Topic |
| 2 | **serve** | participle |  | the purpose *not said here* |  |  |  | by the attachment of rings to the legs of birds | vn masquerade-29.6-2 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **attach** |  |  | rings to the legs of birds |  |  |  |  | nom attachment «feeling transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- .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 identification of their song

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:264-how-scientists-find-out-naturalists-darwin-the-microscope-and-wildlife-filming:e4:o1:1
# text = The identification of their song
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	identification	identification	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	song	song	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **identify** |  |  | their song |  |  |  |  | nom identification «act transitive»: of=patient |
| 2 | **sing** |  | their *= they* |  |  |  |  |  | nom song «communication intransitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The protection of their legs from predators

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:264-how-scientists-find-out-naturalists-darwin-the-microscope-and-wildlife-filming:e4:o2:1
# text = The protection of their legs from predators
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	protection	protection	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	legs	leg	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
6	from	from	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	predators	predator	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **protect** |  |  | their legs from predators |  |  |  |  | nom protection «act transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The improvement of their flight

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:264-how-scientists-find-out-naturalists-darwin-the-microscope-and-wildlife-filming:e4:o3:1
# text = The improvement of their flight
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	improvement	improvement	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	flight	flight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **improve** |  | their flight |  |  |  |  |  | nom improvement «event intransitive»: of=agent |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The determination of the routes of their travel and the length of their lives

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:264-how-scientists-find-out-naturalists-darwin-the-microscope-and-wildlife-filming:e4:o4:1
# text = The determination of the routes of their travel and the length of their lives
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	determination	determination	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	routes	route	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
8	travel	travel	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	length	length	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	conj	_	_
12	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	14	nmod:poss	_	_
14	lives	life	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **determine** |  | the routes of routes's travel and the length of travel's lives |  |  |  |  |  | nom determination «act intransitive»: of=agent |
| 2 | **travel** |  | routes *= route* |  |  |  |  |  | nom travel «act intransitive»: poss=agent |

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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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