---
title: Ascertain the approximate upper limit of the age which may be determ… — How old is it? Rock layers, rock clock… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the approximate upper limit of the age which may be determined by carbon dating. Exam question 3 of lesson 276 «How old is it? Rock layers, rock clocks, amber and the long story of life» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question
---

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# Exam question 3 · How old is it? Rock layers, rock clocks, amber and the lon…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the approximate upper limit of the age which may be determined by carbon dating.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, carbon dating · **What happens:** ascertain, determine · **To what, where:** approximate upper limit, age

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 276 «How old is it? Rock layers, rock clocks, amber and the long story of life» 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/276-how-old-is-it-rock-layers-rock-clocks-amber-and-the-long-story-of-life/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:276-how-old-is-it-rock-layers-rock-clocks-amber-and-the-long-story-of-life:e3:1
# text = Ascertain the approximate upper limit of the age which may be determined by carbon dating.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
3	approximate	approximate	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
4	upper	upper	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	limit	limit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	age	age	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
9	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	12	nsubj:pass	_	_
10	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	12	aux	_	_
11	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	aux:pass	_	_
12	determined	determine	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	acl:relcl	_	_
13	by	by	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	carbon	carbon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	compound	_	_
15	dating	dating	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	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 approximate upper limit of the age |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent limit=Topic |
| 2 | **determine** | may · passive | carbon dating | the age |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=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.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Approximately four and a half billion years

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:276-how-old-is-it-rock-layers-rock-clocks-amber-and-the-long-story-of-life:e3:o1:1
# text = Approximately four and a half billion years
1	Approximately	approximately	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
2	four	four	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	6	compound	_	_
3	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	half	half	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing|NumForm=Word|NumType=Frac	2	conj	_	_
6	billion	billion	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	7	nummod	_	_
7	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
```

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

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Approximately fifty thousand years

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:276-how-old-is-it-rock-layers-rock-clocks-amber-and-the-long-story-of-life:e3:o2:1
# text = Approximately fifty thousand years
1	Approximately	approximately	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
2	fifty	fifty	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	3	compound	_	_
3	thousand	thousand	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	4	nummod	_	_
4	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Approximately one hundred and fifty years

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:276-how-old-is-it-rock-layers-rock-clocks-amber-and-the-long-story-of-life:e3:o3:1
# text = Approximately one hundred and fifty years
1	Approximately	approximately	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
2	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	3	compound	_	_
3	hundred	hundred	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	6	nummod	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	fifty	fifty	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	3	conj	_	_
6	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Approximately sixty-six million years

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:276-how-old-is-it-rock-layers-rock-clocks-amber-and-the-long-story-of-life:e3:o4:1
# text = Approximately sixty-six million years
1	Approximately	approximately	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
2	sixty	sixty	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	5	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	six	six	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	2	conj	_	_
5	million	million	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	6	nummod	_	_
6	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	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: [How old is it? Rock layers, rock clock…, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/276-how-old-is-it-rock-layers-rock-clocks-amber-and-the-long-story-of-life/e2/)
- next →: [How old is it? Rock layers, rock clock…, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/276-how-old-is-it-rock-layers-rock-clocks-amber-and-the-long-story-of-life/e4/)
- ↑ back to [How old is it? Rock layers, rock clocks, amber and the long story of life](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/276-how-old-is-it-rock-layers-rock-clocks-amber-and-the-long-story-of-life/)