---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the… — Evolution myths put right: monkeys, th… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the meaning of the word «theory» in the sciences? Exam question 3 of lesson 280 «Evolution myths put right: monkeys, the strongest and missing links» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatic
---

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# Exam question 3 · Evolution myths put right: monkeys, the strongest and miss…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the meaning of the word «theory» in the sciences?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **What happens:** follow, characteris, mean · **To what, where:** meaning, sciences, word

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This is exam question 3 of lesson 280 «Evolution myths put right: monkeys, the strongest and missing links» 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/280-evolution-myths-put-right-monkeys-the-strongest-and-missing-links/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:280-evolution-myths-put-right-monkeys-the-strongest-and-missing-links:e3:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the meaning of the word «theory» in the sciences?
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	meaning	meaning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	_
14	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	15	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	theory	theory	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	15	punct	_	_
17	in	in	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
18	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
19	sciences	science	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	?	?	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 meaning of the word |  | the sciences |  | of the following statements; accurately *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **mean** |  |  | the word |  |  |  |  | nom meaning «communication 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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A conjecture unsupported by any evidence, awaiting confirmation by experiment

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:280-evolution-myths-put-right-monkeys-the-strongest-and-missing-links:e3:o1:1
# text = A conjecture unsupported by any evidence, awaiting confirmation by experiment
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	conjecture	conjecture	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	unsupported	unsupported	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	6	det	_	_
6	evidence	evidence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
8	awaiting	await	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	acl	_	_
9	confirmation	confirmation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
10	by	by	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	experiment	experiment	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **await** | gerund | a conjecture *not said here* | confirmation |  |  |  | by experiment | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
An opinion held by a single scientist

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:280-evolution-myths-put-right-monkeys-the-strongest-and-missing-links:e3:o2:1
# text = An opinion held by a single scientist
1	An	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	opinion	opinion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	held	hold	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	single	single	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	scientist	scientist	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl:agent	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hold** | participle |  | a opinion *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A comprehensive explanation supported by a substantial body of evidence

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:280-evolution-myths-put-right-monkeys-the-strongest-and-missing-links:e3:o3:1
# text = A comprehensive explanation supported by a substantial body of evidence
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	comprehensive	comprehensive	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	explanation	explanation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	supported	support	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	substantial	substantial	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	body	body	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	evidence	evidence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **support** | participle |  | a comprehensive explanation *not said here* |  |  |  | by a substantial body of evidence | vn admire-31.2 «NP V that S»: agent=Experiencer |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A rule enacted by the government

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:280-evolution-myths-put-right-monkeys-the-strongest-and-missing-links:e3:o4:1
# text = A rule enacted by the government
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	rule	rule	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	enacted	enact	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	government	government	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl:agent	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **enact** | participle |  | a rule *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn performance-26.7 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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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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- ↑ back to [Evolution myths put right: monkeys, the strongest and missing links](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/280-evolution-myths-put-right-monkeys-the-strongest-and-missing-links/)