---
title: «my uncle says they carbon dated a T. rex, that's how they know it's… — How old is it? Rock layers, rock clock… · tree and pragmatics
description: «my uncle says they carbon dated a T. rex, that's how they know it's 66 million» What is right? Test 2 · ★ 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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# Test 2 · ★ · How old is it? Rock layers, rock clocks, amber and the lon…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«my uncle says they carbon dated a T. rex, that's how they know it's 66 million» What is right?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** uncle, they, that, carbon · **What happens:** say, date, be, know · **To what, where:** T. rex, 66 million · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 2 · ★ 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. 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/#t2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:276-how-old-is-it-rock-layers-rock-clocks-amber-and-the-long-story-of-life:t2:1
# text = «my uncle says they carbon dated a T. rex, that's how they know it's 66 million» What is right?
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	3	nmod:poss	_	_
3	uncle	uncle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
6	carbon	carbon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	dated	date	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	ccomp	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	T.	T.	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	rex	rex	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
12	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	14	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	cop	_	_
14	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	16	advmod	_	_
15	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	16	nsubj	_	_
16	know	know	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	ccomp	_	_
17	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	20	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	20	cop	_	_
19	66	66	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	20	compound	_	_
20	million	million	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	16	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	16	punct	_	_
22	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	24	nsubj	_	_
23	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	24	cop	_	_
24	right	right	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* *in a quote* | present | my uncle |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **date** *in a quote* | past | they | a T. rex |  |  |  |  | vn marry-36.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent rex=Co-Agent |
| 3 | **is** *in a quote* | present | that |  |  |  |  | how *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **know** *in a quote* | present | they |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 5 | **is a** *in a quote* | present | carbon | 66 million |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 6 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | right *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 -->
Yes, carbon dating works for anything, however old it is, so it works on T. rex bones

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:276-how-old-is-it-rock-layers-rock-clocks-amber-and-the-long-story-of-life:t2:o1:1
# text = Yes, carbon dating works for anything, however old it is, so it works on T. rex bones
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	carbon	carbon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
4	dating	dating	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	works	work	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	for	for	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	anything	anything	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
9	however	however	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
10	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	parataxis	_	_
11	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
12	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	cop	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
14	so	so	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	_
15	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	16	nsubj	_	_
16	works	work	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	parataxis	_	_
17	on	on	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
18	T.	T.	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	20	compound	_	_
19	rex	rex	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	compound	_	_
20	bones	bone	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	16	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **work** | present | carbon dating |  |  |  |  | for anything | vn employment-95.3 «NP V PP.beneficiary»: agent=Agent for anything=Beneficiary |
| 2 | **is** | present | dating |  |  |  |  | however, old *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **work** | present | dating |  |  |  |  | on T. rex bones | vn employment-95.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent on bone=Theme |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No, carbon dating reaches only about 50,000 years; dinosaurs are dated by other rock clocks

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:276-how-old-is-it-rock-layers-rock-clocks-amber-and-the-long-story-of-life:t2:o2:1
# text = No, carbon dating reaches only about 50,000 years; dinosaurs are dated by other rock clocks
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	5	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	carbon	carbon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
4	dating	dating	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	reaches	reach	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	only	only	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
7	about	about	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	50,000	50000	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	9	nummod	_	_
9	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	13	punct	_	_
11	dinosaurs	dinosaur	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	nsubj:pass	_	_
12	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	aux:pass	_	_
13	dated	date	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	conj	_	_
14	by	by	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
15	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	17	amod	_	_
16	rock	rock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	compound	_	_
17	clocks	clock	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **reach** | present | carbon dating |  |  |  | year |  | vn body\_motion-49.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **date** | present · passive |  | dinosaurs |  |  |  | by other rock clocks | vn marry-36.2 «NP V NP»: subject=Co-Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No, dinosaurs can't be dated at all

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:276-how-old-is-it-rock-layers-rock-clocks-amber-and-the-long-story-of-life:t2:o3:1
# text = No, dinosaurs can't be dated at all
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	3	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	dinosaurs	dinosaur	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	ca	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	7	advmod	_	_
6	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	aux:pass	_	_
7	dated	date	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
8	at	at	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **date** | can · passive |  | dinosaurs |  | all |  |  | vn marry-36.2 «NP V NP»: subject=Co-Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, but only for teeth

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:276-how-old-is-it-rock-layers-rock-clocks-amber-and-the-long-story-of-life:t2:o4:1
# text = Yes, but only for teeth
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	6	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
4	only	only	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	teeth	tooth	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
```

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

<!-- div src -->

**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.

<!-- /div -->

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- ↑ 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/)