---
title: Identify the principal reason for which antibiotics are ineffective… — The big biology quiz, part 2: plants,… · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal reason for which antibiotics are ineffective in the treatment of the common cold. Exam question 2 of lesson 299 «The big biology quiz, part 2: plants, the body and microbes» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question
---

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# Exam question 2 · The big biology quiz, part 2: plants, the body and microbes

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal reason for which antibiotics are ineffective in the treatment of the common cold.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, antibiotics · **What happens:** identify, be, treat · **To what, where:** principal reason, treatment, common cold

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 299 «The big biology quiz, part 2: plants, the body and microbes» 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/299-the-big-biology-quiz-part-2-plants-the-body-and-microbes/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:299-the-big-biology-quiz-part-2-plants-the-body-and-microbes:e2:1
# text = Identify the principal reason for which antibiotics are ineffective in the treatment of the common cold.
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	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	9	obl	_	_
7	antibiotics	antibiotic	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nsubj	_	_
8	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
9	ineffective	ineffective	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	acl	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	treatment	treatment	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
13	of	of	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
15	common	common	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	amod	_	_
16	cold	cold	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	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 reason |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent reason=Theme |
| 2 | **is** | present | antibiotics |  |  | the treatment of the common cold |  | for the principal reason; ineffective *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **treat** |  |  | the common cold |  |  |  |  | nom treatment «act 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 -->
The common cold is caused by viruses, upon which antibiotics have no effect

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:299-the-big-biology-quiz-part-2-plants-the-body-and-microbes:e2:o1:1
# text = The common cold is caused by viruses, upon which antibiotics have no effect
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	common	common	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	cold	cold	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
5	caused	cause	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	by	by	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	viruses	virus	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
9	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	12	obl	_	_
11	antibiotics	antibiotic	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	nsubj	_	_
12	have	have	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
13	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	14	det	_	_
14	effect	effect	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cause** | present · passive | viruses | the common cold |  |  |  |  | vn engender-27.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Precondition subject=Patient |
| 2 | **have** | present | antibiotics | no effect |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent effect=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Antibiotics act exclusively upon fungi

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:299-the-big-biology-quiz-part-2-plants-the-body-and-microbes:e2:o2:1
# text = Antibiotics act exclusively upon fungi
1	Antibiotics	antibiotic	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	act	act	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	exclusively	exclusively	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
4	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	fungi	fungus	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **act** | present | Antibiotics |  |  |  |  | upon fungi; exclusively *property* | vn act-114-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The common cold is caused by bacteria resistant to all medicines

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:299-the-big-biology-quiz-part-2-plants-the-body-and-microbes:e2:o3:1
# text = The common cold is caused by bacteria resistant to all medicines
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	common	common	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	cold	cold	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
5	caused	cause	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	by	by	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	bacteria	bacterium	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl:agent	_	_
8	resistant	resistant	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
9	to	to	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	11	det	_	_
11	medicines	medicine	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cause** | present · passive | bacteria | the common cold |  |  |  | to all medicines | vn engender-27.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Precondition subject=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Antibiotics are effective solely in persons of advanced age

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:299-the-big-biology-quiz-part-2-plants-the-body-and-microbes:e2:o4:1
# text = Antibiotics are effective solely in persons of advanced age
1	Antibiotics	antibiotic	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	effective	effective	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	solely	solely	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	persons	person	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	advanced	advanced	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	age	age	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Antibiotics |  |  |  |  | in persons of advanced age; effective, solely *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.

<!-- /div -->

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