---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the… — Sharks · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the threat posed by sharks to human beings? Exam question 2 of lesson 28 «Sharks» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was wrong.
---

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# Exam question 2 · Sharks

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the threat posed by sharks to human beings?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** follow, characteris, pose · **To what, where:** threat, human beings

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 28 «Sharks» 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/28-sharks/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:28-sharks:e2:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the threat posed by sharks to human beings?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	nsubj	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	following	follow	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	amod	_	_
5	statements	statement	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	_
6	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	7	advmod	_	_
7	accurately	accurately	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	characterises	characteris	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	threat	threat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	posed	pose	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	10	acl	_	_
12	by	by	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	sharks	shark	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	obl	_	_
14	to	to	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	human	human	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	amod	_	_
16	beings	being	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **follow** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **characteris** | present |  | the threat |  |  |  | of the following statements; accurately *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **pose** | participle |  | the threat *not said here* | human beings |  |  | by sharks | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1 «NP V PP.recipient how S»: agent=Agent to being=Recipient |

<!-- .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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Fatal incidents are exceedingly rare and frequently attributable to mistaken identity

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:28-sharks:e2:o1:1
# text = Fatal incidents are exceedingly rare and frequently attributable to mistaken identity
1	Fatal	fatal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	incidents	incident	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	exceedingly	exceedingly	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	rare	rare	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
7	frequently	frequently	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	attributable	attributable	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	conj	_	_
9	to	to	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	mistaken	mistaken	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	identity	identity	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Fatal incidents |  |  |  |  | exceedingly, rare *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **be** |  | Fatal incidents *not said here* |  |  |  |  | to mistaken identity; frequently *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The threat exceeds that which humans pose to sharks

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:28-sharks:e2:o2:1
# text = The threat exceeds that which humans pose to sharks
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	threat	threat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	exceeds	exceed	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
5	which	which	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	6	det	_	_
6	humans	human	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
7	pose	pose	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	ccomp	_	_
8	to	to	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	sharks	shark	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **exceed** | present | the threat |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **pose** | present | which humans |  | sharks |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1 «NP V PP.recipient how S»: agent=Agent to shark=Recipient |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Sharks habitually pursue human beings as their principal and preferred prey in every ocean

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:28-sharks:e2:o3:1
# text = Sharks habitually pursue human beings as their principal and preferred prey in every ocean
1	Sharks	shark	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	habitually	habitually	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	pursue	pursue	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	human	human	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	beings	being	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
6	as	as	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
7	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
8	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
10	preferred	preferred	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	conj	_	_
11	prey	prey	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
12	in	in	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	14	det	_	_
14	ocean	ocean	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pursue** | present | Sharks | human beings |  | every ocean |  | as Sharks's principal prey; habitually *property* | vn chase-51.6 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent being=Theme in ocean=Trajectory |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Sharks attack all persons who enter the water

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:28-sharks:e2:o4:1
# text = Sharks attack all persons who enter the water
1	Sharks	shark	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	attack	attack	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	4	det	_	_
4	persons	person	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	6	nsubj	_	_
6	enter	enter	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	acl:relcl	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **attack** | present | Sharks | all persons |  |  |  |  | vn attack-60.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent person=Patient |
| 2 | **enter** | present | all persons | the water |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme water=Destination |

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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.

<!-- /div -->

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