---
title: Which of the following is correctly classified as a trace fossil? — Fossils: how a living thing turns to s… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following is correctly classified as a trace fossil? Exam question 2 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 of each option; Mova's choice 
---

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# Exam question 2 · Fossils: how a living thing turns to stone and how we dig…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following is correctly classified as a trace fossil?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** follow, classify

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This is exam question 2 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/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:275-fossils-how-a-living-thing-turns-to-stone-and-how-we-dig-it-up:e2:1
# text = Which of the following is correctly classified as a trace fossil?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	7	obj	_	_
2	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	following	follow	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	7	nsubj:pass	_	_
5	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux:pass	_	_
6	correctly	correctly	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	classified	classify	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
8	as	as	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	trace	trace	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	compound	_	_
11	fossil	fossil	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	7	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 | **classify** | present · passive |  |  |  |  |  | as a trace fossil; correctly *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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A mineralised thigh bone

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:275-fossils-how-a-living-thing-turns-to-stone-and-how-we-dig-it-up:e2:o1:1
# text = A mineralised thigh bone
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
2	mineralised	mineralis	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	amod	_	_
3	thigh	thigh	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
4	bone	bone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mineralis** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A preserved burrow or footprint

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:275-fossils-how-a-living-thing-turns-to-stone-and-how-we-dig-it-up:e2:o2:1
# text = A preserved burrow or footprint
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	preserved	preserve	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	amod	_	_
3	burrow	burrow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	footprint	footprint	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **preserve** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn defend-72.3 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A petrified tree trunk

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:275-fossils-how-a-living-thing-turns-to-stone-and-how-we-dig-it-up:e2:o3:1
# text = A petrified tree trunk
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
2	petrified	petrify	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	amod	_	_
3	tree	tree	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
4	trunk	trunk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **petrify** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
An ammonite shell

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:275-fossils-how-a-living-thing-turns-to-stone-and-how-we-dig-it-up:e2:o4:1
# text = An ammonite shell
1	An	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	ammonite	ammonite	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	shell	shell	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

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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: [Fossils: how a living thing turns to s…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/275-fossils-how-a-living-thing-turns-to-stone-and-how-we-dig-it-up/e1/)
- next →: [Fossils: how a living thing turns to s…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/275-fossils-how-a-living-thing-turns-to-stone-and-how-we-dig-it-up/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Fossils: how a living thing turns to stone and how we dig it up](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/275-fossils-how-a-living-thing-turns-to-stone-and-how-we-dig-it-up/)