---
title: Identify the principal condition which renders the fossilisation of… — Fossils: how a living thing turns to s… · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal condition which renders the fossilisation of an organism more probable. Exam question 1 of lesson 275 «Fossils: how a living thing turns to stone and how we dig it up» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and o
---

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# Exam question 1 · Fossils: how a living thing turns to stone and how we dig…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal condition which renders the fossilisation of an organism more probable.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, principal condition · **What happens:** identify, render, fossilise · **To what, where:** principal condition, fossilisation, organism

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This is exam question 1 of lesson 275 «Fossils: how a living thing turns to stone and how we dig it up» 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/275-fossils-how-a-living-thing-turns-to-stone-and-how-we-dig-it-up/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:275-fossils-how-a-living-thing-turns-to-stone-and-how-we-dig-it-up:e1:1
# text = Identify the principal condition which renders the fossilisation of an organism more probable.
1	Identify	identify	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	condition	condition	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	6	nsubj	_	_
6	renders	render	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	acl:relcl	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	fossilisation	fossilisation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	organism	organism	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	_
12	more	more	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	13	advmod	_	_
13	probable	probable	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **identify** | imperative | you *not said here* | the principal condition |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent condition=Theme |
| 2 | **render** | present | the principal condition | the fossilisation of a organism |  |  |  | probable *property* | vn give-13.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent fossilisation=Theme |
| 3 | **fossilise** |  |  | a organism |  |  |  |  | nom fossilisation «process 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 -->
Death at an advanced age

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:275-fossils-how-a-living-thing-turns-to-stone-and-how-we-dig-it-up:e1:o1:1
# text = Death at an advanced age
1	Death	death	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
2	at	at	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
3	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	advanced	advanced	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	age	age	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nmod	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Rapid burial in sediment, in the absence of air

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:275-fossils-how-a-living-thing-turns-to-stone-and-how-we-dig-it-up:e1:o2:1
# text = Rapid burial in sediment, in the absence of air
1	Rapid	rapid	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	burial	burial	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	sediment	sediment	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	absence	absence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	conj	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	air	air	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **absent** |  |  | air |  |  |  |  | nom absence «state transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Prolonged exposure to sunlight upon the surface

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:275-fossils-how-a-living-thing-turns-to-stone-and-how-we-dig-it-up:e1:o3:1
# text = Prolonged exposure to sunlight upon the surface
1	Prolonged	prolong	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
2	exposure	exposure	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
3	to	to	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	sunlight	sunlight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
5	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	surface	surface	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **prolong** | participle |  | exposure |  |  |  | to sunlight; upon the surface | vn sustain-55.6 «NP V NP PP.instrument»: agent=Agent exposure=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Consumption of the remains by scavengers

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:275-fossils-how-a-living-thing-turns-to-stone-and-how-we-dig-it-up:e1:o4:1
# text = Consumption of the remains by scavengers
1	Consumption	consumption	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	remains	remains	NOUN	NNS	Number=Ptan	1	nmod	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	scavengers	scavenger	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **consume** |  |  | the remains by scavengers |  |  |  |  | nom consumption «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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