---
title: «found a shell on a mountain, someone must've dropped it from a picn… — How old is it? Rock layers, rock clock… · tree and pragmatics
description: «found a shell on a mountain, someone must've dropped it from a picnic» What is more likely? Test 4 · ★ 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 an
---

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# Test 4 · ★ · How old is it? Rock layers, rock clocks, amber and the lon…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«found a shell on a mountain, someone must've dropped it from a picnic» What is more likely?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** someone · **What happens:** find, drop, be · **To what, where:** shell, mountain, picnic

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 4 · ★ 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/#t4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:276-how-old-is-it-rock-layers-rock-clocks-amber-and-the-long-story-of-life:t4:1
# text = «found a shell on a mountain, someone must've dropped it from a picnic» What is more likely?
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	found	find	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	21	advcl	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	shell	shell	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	on	on	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	mountain	mountain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
9	someone	someone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	12	nsubj	_	_
10	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	12	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	've	have	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	aux	_	_
12	dropped	drop	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	2	parataxis	_	_
13	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	obj	_	_
14	from	from	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	picnic	picnic	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	2	punct	_	_
18	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	21	nsubj	_	_
19	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	21	cop	_	_
20	more	more	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	21	advmod	_	_
21	likely	likely	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	21	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **find** *in a quote* | past |  | a shell |  | a mountain |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent shell=Topic |
| 2 | **drop** *in a quote* | must · perfect | someone | shell |  | a picnic |  |  | vn put\_direction-9.4 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent it=Theme from picnic=Destination |
| 3 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | likely *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 seagull carried it all the way up there from the beach

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:276-how-old-is-it-rock-layers-rock-clocks-amber-and-the-long-story-of-life:t4:o1:1
# text = A seagull carried it all the way up there from the beach
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	seagull	seagull	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	carried	carry	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	obj	_	_
5	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	7	det:predet	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl:unmarked	_	_
8	up	up	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
9	there	there	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	3	advmod	_	_
10	from	from	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	beach	beach	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **carry** | past | a seagull | it |  | the beach; there |  | all way *obl:unmarked* | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP PP.initial\_location»: agent=Agent it=Theme from beach=Initial\_Location |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It grew there on its own

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:276-how-old-is-it-rock-layers-rock-clocks-amber-and-the-long-story-of-life:t4:o2:1
# text = It grew there on its own
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	grew	grow	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	there	there	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	2	advmod	_	_
4	on	on	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **grow** | past | It |  |  | its own; there |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme on own=Location |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The mountain was a beach last year

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:276-how-old-is-it-rock-layers-rock-clocks-amber-and-the-long-story-of-life:t4:o3:1
# text = The mountain was a beach last year
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	mountain	mountain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	beach	beach	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	last	last	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	year	year	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod:unmarked	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | the mountain | a beach |  |  | year |  | tree rules |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The rock formed under the sea long ago and was pushed up

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:276-how-old-is-it-rock-layers-rock-clocks-amber-and-the-long-story-of-life:t4:o4:1
# text = The rock formed under the sea long ago and was pushed up
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	rock	rock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	formed	form	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	under	under	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	sea	sea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
7	long	long	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	8	advmod	_	_
8	ago	ago	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
10	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	11	aux:pass	_	_
11	pushed	push	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	conj	_	_
12	up	up	ADP	RP	_	11	compound:prt	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **form** | past | the rock |  |  | the sea |  | ago *property* | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme under sea=Location |
| 2 | **push up** | past · passive | the rock *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn push-12-1-1 «NP V PP» |

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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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