---
title: A scientist finds a tail in amber with feathers on it. Why is amber… — Feathered dinosaurs: from Archaeoptery… · tree and pragmatics
description: A scientist finds a tail in amber with feathers on it. Why is amber so good at keeping it? Test 8 · ★ 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 question and of ea
---

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# Test 8 · ★ · Feathered dinosaurs: from Archaeopteryx to the chicken on…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A scientist finds a tail in amber with feathers on it. Why is amber so good at keeping it?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** scientist, amber · **What happens:** find, be, keep · **To what, where:** tail, amber

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 · ★ of lesson 269 «Feathered dinosaurs: from Archaeopteryx to the chicken on your plate» 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/269-feathered-dinosaurs-archaeopteryx-to-chicken/#t8).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* A scientist finds a tail in amber with feathers on it.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:269-feathered-dinosaurs-archaeopteryx-to-chicken:t8:1
# text = A scientist finds a tail in amber with feathers on it.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	scientist	scientist	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	finds	find	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	tail	tail	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	amber	amber	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
8	with	with	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	feathers	feather	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
10	on	on	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **find** | present | a scientist | a tail |  | amber |  | with feathers on amber | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent tail=Topic |

<!-- .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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* Why is amber so good at keeping it?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:269-feathered-dinosaurs-archaeopteryx-to-chicken:t8:2
# text = Why is amber so good at keeping it?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	5	advmod	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	amber	amber	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
4	so	so	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	good	good	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
6	at	at	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
7	keeping	keep	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	5	advcl	_	_
8	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | amber |  |  |  |  | good *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **keep** | gerund | amber *not said here* | amber |  |  |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Amber is a kind of ice that never melts at all

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:269-feathered-dinosaurs-archaeopteryx-to-chicken:t8:o1:1
# text = Amber is a kind of ice that never melts at all
1	Amber	amber	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	kind	kind	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	ice	ice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
7	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	9	nsubj	_	_
8	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	9	advmod	_	_
9	melts	melt	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	acl:relcl	_	_
10	at	at	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	9	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | Amber | a kind |  |  |  | of ice | tree rules |
| 2 | **not** **melt** | present | a kind |  |  | all |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4-1 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Resin trapped it and hardened, keeping it in 3D

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:269-feathered-dinosaurs-archaeopteryx-to-chicken:t8:o2:1
# text = Resin trapped it and hardened, keeping it in 3D
1	Resin	resin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
2	trapped	trap	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	1	acl	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obj	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	hardened	harden	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
7	keeping	keep	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	advcl	_	_
8	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	obj	_	_
9	in	in	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	3D	3d	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **trap** | participle | Resin *not said here* | Resin |  |  |  |  | vn trick-59.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Patient |
| 2 | **harden** | participle | Resin *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |
| 3 | **keep** | gerund | Resin *not said here* | Resin |  | 3D |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent it=Theme in 3d=Location |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Amber is a kind of bone that grows round things

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:269-feathered-dinosaurs-archaeopteryx-to-chicken:t8:o3:1
# text = Amber is a kind of bone that grows round things
1	Amber	amber	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	kind	kind	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	bone	bone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
7	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	nsubj	_	_
8	grows	grow	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	acl:relcl	_	_
9	round	round	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	things	thing	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | Amber | a kind |  |  |  | of bone | tree rules |
| 2 | **grow** | present | a kind | round things |  |  |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location thing=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Amber cooks things hard, like clay in an oven

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:269-feathered-dinosaurs-archaeopteryx-to-chicken:t8:o4:1
# text = Amber cooks things hard, like clay in an oven
1	Amber	amber	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	cooks	cook	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	things	thing	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
4	hard	hard	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	2	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
6	like	like	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	clay	clay	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	conj	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	oven	oven	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cook** | present | Amber | things |  |  |  | hard *property* | vn cooking-45.3 «NP.instrument V NP»: agent=Instrument thing=Patient |

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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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