---
title: Identify the principal deficiency of the hypothesis advanced by Lama… — Evolution: why giraffes really have lo… · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal deficiency of the hypothesis advanced by Lamarck in respect of the neck of the giraffe. Exam question 1 of lesson 278 «Evolution: why giraffes really have long necks» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of
---

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# Exam question 1 · Evolution: why giraffes really have long necks

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal deficiency of the hypothesis advanced by Lamarck in respect of the neck of the giraffe.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** identify, advance, respect · **To what, where:** principal deficiency, hypothesis, neck

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 278 «Evolution: why giraffes really have long necks» 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/278-evolution-why-giraffes-really-have-long-necks/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:278-evolution-why-giraffes-really-have-long-necks:e1:1
# text = Identify the principal deficiency of the hypothesis advanced by Lamarck in respect of the neck of the giraffe.
1	Identify	identify	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	deficiency	deficiency	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	hypothesis	hypothesis	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
8	advanced	advance	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	acl	_	_
9	by	by	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	Lamarck	Lamarck	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
11	in	in	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	respect	respect	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
13	of	of	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	neck	neck	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nmod	_	_
16	of	of	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	giraffe	giraffe	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **identify** | imperative | you *not said here* | the principal deficiency of the hypothesis |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent deficiency=Theme |
| 2 | **advance** | participle |  | the hypothesis *not said here* |  |  |  | by Lamarck; in respect of the neck of the giraffe | vn caused\_calibratable\_cos-45.6.2-1 «NP.patient V PP.attribute PP.extent PP.initial\_state PP.result»: agent=Patient by lamarck=Extent in respect=Attribute |
| 3 | **respect** |  |  | the neck of the giraffe |  |  |  |  | nom respect «cognition transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- .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 -->
The necks of giraffes possess no bones

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:278-evolution-why-giraffes-really-have-long-necks:e1:o1:1
# text = The necks of giraffes possess no bones
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	necks	neck	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	giraffes	giraffe	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
5	possess	possess	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	7	det	_	_
7	bones	bone	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **possess** | present | the necks of giraffes | no bones |  |  |  |  | vn own-100.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot bone=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Giraffes do not consume foliage of any kind

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:278-evolution-why-giraffes-really-have-long-necks:e1:o2:1
# text = Giraffes do not consume foliage of any kind
1	Giraffes	giraffe	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
2	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	consume	consume	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	foliage	foliage	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	8	det	_	_
8	kind	kind	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **consume** | present · do-support | Giraffes | foliage of any kind |  |  |  |  | vn consume-66 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent foliage=Asset |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Giraffes produce no offspring

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:278-evolution-why-giraffes-really-have-long-necks:e1:o3:1
# text = Giraffes produce no offspring
1	Giraffes	giraffe	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	produce	produce	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	4	det	_	_
4	offspring	offspring	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **produce** | present | Giraffes | no offspring |  |  |  |  | vn create-26.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent offspring=Result |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Characteristics acquired during a lifetime are not transmitted through the DNA to offspring

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:278-evolution-why-giraffes-really-have-long-necks:e1:o4:1
# text = Characteristics acquired during a lifetime are not transmitted through the DNA to offspring
1	Characteristics	characteristic	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	acquired	acquire	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	parataxis	_	_
3	during	during	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	lifetime	lifetime	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
6	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux:pass	_	_
7	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	8	advmod	_	_
8	transmitted	transmit	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
9	through	through	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	DNA	DNA	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
12	to	to	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	offspring	offspring	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **acquire** | past | Characteristics |  |  |  | during a lifetime |  | vn obtain-13.5.2-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset |
| 2 | **not** **transmit** | present · passive |  |  |  | the DNA to offspring |  |  | vn send-11.1-1 «NP V NP» |

<!-- 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 [Evolution: why giraffes really have long necks](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/278-evolution-why-giraffes-really-have-long-necks/)