---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the… — Feathered dinosaurs: from Archaeoptery… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the earliest function of feathers? Exam question 4 of lesson 269 «Feathered dinosaurs: from Archaeopteryx to the chicken on your plate» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the quest
---

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# Exam question 4 · Feathered dinosaurs: from Archaeopteryx to the chicken on…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the earliest function of feathers?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** follow, characteris · **To what, where:** earliest function

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 269 «Feathered dinosaurs: from Archaeopteryx to the chicken on your plate» 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/269-feathered-dinosaurs-archaeopteryx-to-chicken/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:269-feathered-dinosaurs-archaeopteryx-to-chicken:e4:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the earliest function of feathers?
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	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	earliest	early	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	11	amod	_	_
11	function	function	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
12	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	feathers	feather	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	?	?	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 |  | the earliest function of feathers |  |  |  | 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 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They are understood to have served first and solely for flight

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:269-feathered-dinosaurs-archaeopteryx-to-chicken:e4:o1:1
# text = They are understood to have served first and solely for flight
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	understood	understand	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
5	have	have	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	aux	_	_
6	served	serve	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	3	xcomp	_	_
7	first	first	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	6	advmod	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	solely	solely	ADV	RB	_	7	conj	_	_
10	for	for	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	flight	flight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **understand** | present · passive |  | They |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **serve** | to-infinitive · perfect |  |  |  |  |  | for flight; first *property* | vn fulfilling-13.4.1-1 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent for flight=Recipient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They are understood to have served for digging

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:269-feathered-dinosaurs-archaeopteryx-to-chicken:e4:o2:1
# text = They are understood to have served for digging
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	understood	understand	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
5	have	have	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	aux	_	_
6	served	serve	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	3	xcomp	_	_
7	for	for	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	digging	digging	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **understand** | present · passive |  | They |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **serve** | to-infinitive · perfect |  |  |  |  |  | for digging | vn fulfilling-13.4.1-1 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent for digging=Recipient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They are understood to have served for swimming

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:269-feathered-dinosaurs-archaeopteryx-to-chicken:e4:o3:1
# text = They are understood to have served for swimming
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	understood	understand	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
5	have	have	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	aux	_	_
6	served	serve	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	3	xcomp	_	_
7	for	for	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	swimming	swimming	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **understand** | present · passive |  | They |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **serve** | to-infinitive · perfect |  |  |  |  |  | for swimming | vn fulfilling-13.4.1-1 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent for swimming=Recipient |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They are understood to have served first for insulation, and only subsequently for display and flight

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:269-feathered-dinosaurs-archaeopteryx-to-chicken:e4:o4:1
# text = They are understood to have served first for insulation, and only subsequently for display and flight
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	understood	understand	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
5	have	have	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	aux	_	_
6	served	serve	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	3	xcomp	_	_
7	first	first	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	6	advmod	_	_
8	for	for	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	insulation	insulation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
12	only	only	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
13	subsequently	subsequently	ADV	RB	_	15	advmod	_	_
14	for	for	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	display	display	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	parataxis	_	_
16	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	17	cc	_	_
17	flight	flight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **understand** | present · passive |  | They |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **serve** | to-infinitive · perfect |  |  |  |  |  | for insulation; first *property* | vn fulfilling-13.4.1-1 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent for insulation=Recipient |

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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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- ← previous: [Feathered dinosaurs: from Archaeoptery…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/269-feathered-dinosaurs-archaeopteryx-to-chicken/e3/)
- next →: [Not dinosaurs at all: pterosaurs, ples…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/270-not-dinosaurs-pterosaurs-plesiosaurs-mosasaurs-mary-anning/t1/)
- ↑ back to [Feathered dinosaurs: from Archaeopteryx to the chicken on your plate](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/269-feathered-dinosaurs-archaeopteryx-to-chicken/)