---
title: Why is fossil dung so useful to scientists? — Tyrannosaurus rex: what we really know… · tree and pragmatics
description: Why is fossil dung so useful to scientists? Test 7 of lesson 265 «Tyrannosaurus rex: what we really know, from teeth and dung to tiny arms» 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 right.
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/265-tyrannosaurus-rex-teeth-dung-and-tiny-arms/t7/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [Biology](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/) / [Tyrannosaurus rex: what we really know…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/265-tyrannosaurus-rex-teeth-dung-and-tiny-arms/) / t7

# Test 7 · Tyrannosaurus rex: what we really know, from teeth and dun…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why is fossil dung so useful to scientists?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **What happens:** be · **To what, where:** fossil dung

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 7 of lesson 265 «Tyrannosaurus rex: what we really know, from teeth and dung to tiny arms» 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/265-tyrannosaurus-rex-teeth-dung-and-tiny-arms/#t7).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:265-tyrannosaurus-rex-teeth-dung-and-tiny-arms:t7:1
# text = Why is fossil dung so useful to scientists?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	fossil	fossil	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
4	dung	dung	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
5	so	so	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	useful	useful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
7	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	scientists	scientist	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present |  | fossil dung |  |  |  |  | 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 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It shows what the animal really ate

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:265-tyrannosaurus-rex-teeth-dung-and-tiny-arms:t7:o1:1
# text = It shows what the animal really ate
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	shows	show	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	7	obj	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	animal	animal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
6	really	really	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	ate	eat	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	ccomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **show** | present | It |  |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **eat** | past | the animal |  |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent what=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It shows how fast the animal ran

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:265-tyrannosaurus-rex-teeth-dung-and-tiny-arms:t7:o2:1
# text = It shows how fast the animal ran
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	shows	show	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
4	fast	fast	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	2	advmod	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	animal	animal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	ran	run	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **show** | present | It |  |  |  |  | fast *property* | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **run** | past | the animal |  |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It shows what colour the animal was

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:265-tyrannosaurus-rex-teeth-dung-and-tiny-arms:t7:o3:1
# text = It shows what colour the animal was
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	shows	show	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	what	what	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	4	det	_	_
4	colour	colour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	animal	animal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	appos	_	_
7	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	cop	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | It |  |  |  |  | show *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It shows how loud the animal roared

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:265-tyrannosaurus-rex-teeth-dung-and-tiny-arms:t7:o4:1
# text = It shows how loud the animal roared
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	shows	show	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
4	loud	loud	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	animal	animal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	roared	roar	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **show** | present | It |  |  |  |  | loud *property* | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **roar** | past | the animal |  |  |  |  |  | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «NP.location V PP.theme»: agent=Location |

<!-- 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 -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [Tyrannosaurus rex: what we really know…, test 6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/265-tyrannosaurus-rex-teeth-dung-and-tiny-arms/t6/)
- next →: [Tyrannosaurus rex: what we really know…, test 8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/265-tyrannosaurus-rex-teeth-dung-and-tiny-arms/t8/)
- ↑ back to [Tyrannosaurus rex: what we really know, from teeth and dung to tiny arms](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/265-tyrannosaurus-rex-teeth-dung-and-tiny-arms/)