---
title: A man in the 1800s cuts a log of petrified wood and sees rings. What… — Fossils: how a living thing turns to s… · tree and pragmatics
description: A man in the 1800s cuts a log of petrified wood and sees rings. What do the rings tell him? Test 8 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 optio
---

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# Test 8 · Fossils: how a living thing turns to stone and how we dig…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A man in the 1800s cuts a log of petrified wood and sees rings. What do the rings tell him?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** man, rings · **What happens:** cut, petrify, see, tell · **To what, where:** log, rings, man · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 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. 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/#t8).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* A man in the 1800s cuts a log of petrified wood and sees rings.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:275-fossils-how-a-living-thing-turns-to-stone-and-how-we-dig-it-up:t8:1
# text = A man in the 1800s cuts a log of petrified wood and sees rings.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	1800s	1800	NOUN	NNS	Number=Ptan|NumForm=Combi|NumType=Card	2	nmod	_	_
6	cuts	cut	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	log	log	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	petrified	petrify	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	11	amod	_	_
11	wood	wood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	_
12	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
13	sees	see	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	conj	_	_
14	rings	ring	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cut** | present | a man in the 1800s | a log of petrified wood |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent log=Product |
| 2 | **petrify** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |
| 3 | **see** | present | a man in the 1800s *not said here* | rings |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer ring=Stimulus |

<!-- .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:* What do the rings tell him?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:275-fossils-how-a-living-thing-turns-to-stone-and-how-we-dig-it-up:t8:2
# text = What do the rings tell him?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	5	obj	_	_
2	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	rings	ring	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
5	tell	tell	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	iobj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tell** *speech: assert* | present · do-support | the rings |  | man |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: agent=Agent he=Recipient what=Topic |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The rings were made by waves on a beach

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:275-fossils-how-a-living-thing-turns-to-stone-and-how-we-dig-it-up:t8:o1:1
# text = The rings were made by waves on a beach
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	rings	ring	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	made	make	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	waves	wave	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl:agent	_	_
7	on	on	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	beach	beach	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | past · passive | waves | the rings |  | a beach |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset subject=Product |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The tree turned to stone in one year

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:275-fossils-how-a-living-thing-turns-to-stone-and-how-we-dig-it-up:t8:o2:1
# text = The tree turned to stone in one year
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	tree	tree	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	turned	turn	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	stone	stone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	8	nummod	_	_
8	year	year	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **turn** | participle |  | the tree *not said here* |  | stone | year |  | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V PP.trajectory»: agent=Theme to stone=Trajectory |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The stone was carved by people to look like wood

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:275-fossils-how-a-living-thing-turns-to-stone-and-how-we-dig-it-up:t8:o3:1
# text = The stone was carved by people to look like wood
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	stone	stone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	carved	carve	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	look	look	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	advcl	_	_
9	like	like	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	wood	wood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **carve** | past · passive | people | the stone |  |  |  |  | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Theme |
| 2 | **look** | to-infinitive | people *not said here* |  |  |  |  | like wood | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Stimulus |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The stone was once a real tree that grew year by year

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:275-fossils-how-a-living-thing-turns-to-stone-and-how-we-dig-it-up:t8:o4:1
# text = The stone was once a real tree that grew year by year
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	stone	stone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
4	once	once	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	7	advmod	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	real	real	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	tree	tree	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
8	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	9	nsubj	_	_
9	grew	grow	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	acl:relcl	_	_
10	year	year	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl:unmarked	_	_
11	by	by	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	year	year	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | the stone | a real tree |  |  |  | once *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **grow** | past | a real tree |  |  |  | year |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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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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