---
title: Ascertain the tendency observed among elephants isolated upon island… — Terror birds, moas, giant insects and… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the tendency observed among elephants isolated upon islands such as Sicily and Crete. Exam question 3 of lesson 274 «Terror birds, moas, giant insects and other lost giants» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each 
---

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# Exam question 3 · Terror birds, moas, giant insects and other lost giants

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the tendency observed among elephants isolated upon islands such as Sicily and Crete.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** ascertain, observe, isolate · **To what, where:** tendency, elephants, islands

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 274 «Terror birds, moas, giant insects and other lost giants» 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/274-terror-birds-moas-giant-insects-and-lost-giants/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:274-terror-birds-moas-giant-insects-and-lost-giants:e3:1
# text = Ascertain the tendency observed among elephants isolated upon islands such as Sicily and Crete.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	tendency	tendency	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	observed	observe	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl	_	_
5	among	among	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	elephants	elephant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
7	isolated	isolate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	acl	_	_
8	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	islands	island	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obl	_	_
10	such	such	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|ExtPos=ADP	12	case	_	_
11	as	as	ADP	IN	_	10	fixed	_	_
12	Sicily	Sicily	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	_
13	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
14	Crete	Crete	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	12	conj	_	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 tendency |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent tendency=Topic |
| 2 | **observe** | participle |  | the tendency *not said here* |  |  |  | among elephants | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **isolate** | participle |  | elephants *not said here* |  | islands such Sicily and Crete |  |  | vn concealment-16 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent upon island=Location |

<!-- .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 loss of the trunk

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:274-terror-birds-moas-giant-insects-and-lost-giants:e3:o1:1
# text = The loss of the trunk
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	loss	loss	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	trunk	trunk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
An increase in body size to twice the mainland form

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:274-terror-birds-moas-giant-insects-and-lost-giants:e3:o2:1
# text = An increase in body size to twice the mainland form
1	An	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	increase	increase	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	body	body	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	size	size	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
7	twice	twice	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	10	advmod	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	mainland	mainland	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	form	form	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	appos	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A reduction in body size to that of a pony

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:274-terror-birds-moas-giant-insects-and-lost-giants:e3:o3:1
# text = A reduction in body size to that of a pony
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	reduction	reduction	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	body	body	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	size	size	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	to	to	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	0	root	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	pony	pony	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The acquisition of the capacity for flight

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:274-terror-birds-moas-giant-insects-and-lost-giants:e3:o4:1
# text = The acquisition of the capacity for flight
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	acquisition	acquisition	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	capacity	capacity	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	for	for	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	flight	flight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **acquire** |  |  | the capacity for flight |  |  |  |  | nom acquisition «act transitive»: of=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.

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- next →: [Terror birds, moas, giant insects and…, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/274-terror-birds-moas-giant-insects-and-lost-giants/e4/)
- ↑ back to [Terror birds, moas, giant insects and other lost giants](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/274-terror-birds-moas-giant-insects-and-lost-giants/)