---
title: Ascertain the principal reason for which reports of attacks by anima… — Animals in the news: true stories, fak… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the principal reason for which reports of attacks by animals upon persons attract extensive coverage. Exam question 4 of lesson 296 «Animals in the news: true stories, fakes and how to read them» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the
---

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# Exam question 4 · Animals in the news: true stories, fakes and how to read t…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the principal reason for which reports of attacks by animals upon persons attract extensive coverage.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, persons · **What happens:** ascertain, attract, report · **To what, where:** principal reason, extensive coverage, attacks

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 296 «Animals in the news: true stories, fakes and how to read them» 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/296-animals-in-the-news-true-stories-fakes-and-how-to-read-them/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:296-animals-in-the-news-true-stories-fakes-and-how-to-read-them:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the principal reason for which reports of attacks by animals upon persons attract extensive coverage.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	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	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	which	which	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	7	det	_	_
7	reports	report	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nmod	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	attacks	attack	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nmod	_	_
10	by	by	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	animals	animal	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	obl	_	_
12	upon	upon	SCONJ	IN	_	14	mark	_	_
13	persons	person	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	nsubj	_	_
14	attract	attract	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	advcl	_	_
15	extensive	extensive	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	amod	_	_
16	coverage	coverage	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* | the principal reason |  |  |  | for which reports of attacks; by animals | vn ensure-99 «NP V NP PP.beneficiary»: agent=Precondition reason=Theme for report=Beneficiary |
| 2 | **attract** | present | persons | extensive coverage |  |  |  |  | vn lure-59.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent coverage=Patient |
| 3 | **report** |  |  | attacks |  |  |  |  | nom report «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 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Such attacks are rare, and rare events are deemed newsworthy

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:296-animals-in-the-news-true-stories-fakes-and-how-to-read-them:e4:o1:1
# text = Such attacks are rare, and rare events are deemed newsworthy
1	Such	such	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	attacks	attack	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	rare	rare	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
7	rare	rare	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	events	event	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nsubj	_	_
9	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	aux:pass	_	_
10	deemed	deem	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	parataxis	_	_
11	newsworthy	newsworthy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Such attacks |  |  |  |  | rare *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **deem** | present · passive |  | rare events |  |  |  | newsworthy *property* | vn consider-29.9-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: subject=Attribute |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Such attacks are required by law to be reported in newspapers

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:296-animals-in-the-news-true-stories-fakes-and-how-to-read-them:e4:o2:1
# text = Such attacks are required by law to be reported in newspapers
1	Such	such	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	attacks	attack	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	required	require	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	law	law	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
8	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	aux:pass	_	_
9	reported	report	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	advcl	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	newspapers	newspaper	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **require** | present · passive | law | Such attacks |  |  |  |  | vn require-103-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme subject=Precondition |
| 2 | **report** | to-infinitive · passive | law *not said here* |  |  | newspapers |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-2 «NP V NP» |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Such attacks constitute the commonest cause of injury

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:296-animals-in-the-news-true-stories-fakes-and-how-to-read-them:e4:o3:1
# text = Such attacks constitute the commonest cause of injury
1	Such	such	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	attacks	attack	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	constitute	constitute	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	commonest	common	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	6	amod	_	_
6	cause	cause	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	injury	injury	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **constitute** | present | Such attacks | the commonest cause of injury |  |  |  |  | vn comprise-107.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme cause=Pivot |
| 2 | **cause** |  |  | injury |  |  |  |  | nom cause «event transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Such attacks are invariably perpetrated by sharks

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:296-animals-in-the-news-true-stories-fakes-and-how-to-read-them:e4:o4:1
# text = Such attacks are invariably perpetrated by sharks
1	Such	such	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	attacks	attack	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
4	invariably	invariably	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	perpetrated	perpetrate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	by	by	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	sharks	shark	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **perpetrate** | present · passive | sharks | Such attacks |  |  |  | invariably *property* | tree rules |

<!-- 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.

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- ← previous: [Animals in the news: true stories, fak…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/296-animals-in-the-news-true-stories-fakes-and-how-to-read-them/e3/)
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- ↑ back to [Animals in the news: true stories, fakes and how to read them](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/296-animals-in-the-news-true-stories-fakes-and-how-to-read-them/)