---
title: Ascertain the principal reason for which small animals such as ants… — Ants of the world: weaver ants, bullet… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the principal reason for which small animals such as ants may carry loads many times their own weight. Exam question 4 of lesson 304 «Ants of the world: weaver ants, bullet ants, honeypot ants and trap-jaw ants» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and p
---

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# Exam question 4 · Ants of the world: weaver ants, bullet ants, honeypot ants…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the principal reason for which small animals such as ants may carry loads many times their own weight.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, small animals · **What happens:** ascertain, carry · **To what, where:** principal reason, loads

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This is exam question 4 of lesson 304 «Ants of the world: weaver ants, bullet ants, honeypot ants and trap-jaw ants» 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/304-ants-of-the-world-weaver-ants-bullet-ants-honeypot-ants-and-trap-jaw-ants/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:304-ants-of-the-world-weaver-ants-bullet-ants-honeypot-ants-and-trap-jaw-ants:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the principal reason for which small animals such as ants may carry loads many times their own weight.
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	_	6	case	_	_
6	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	13	obl	_	_
7	small	small	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	animals	animal	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	nsubj	_	_
9	such	such	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|ExtPos=ADP	11	case	_	_
10	as	as	ADP	IN	_	9	fixed	_	_
11	ants	ant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nmod	_	_
12	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	_
13	carry	carry	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	acl:relcl	_	_
14	loads	load	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	obj	_	_
15	many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	amod	_	_
16	times	time	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	obl:unmarked	_	_
17	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	19	nmod:poss	_	_
18	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	19	amod	_	_
19	weight	weight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	.	.	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 |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent reason=Topic |
| 2 | **carry** | may | small animals such ants | loads |  |  | time | for the principal reason | vn cost-54.2 «NP V NP NP»: agent=Theme load=Beneficiary weight=Value |

<!-- .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 -->
Ants possess metallic reinforcement within the joints of their legs

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:304-ants-of-the-world-weaver-ants-bullet-ants-honeypot-ants-and-trap-jaw-ants:e4:o1:1
# text = Ants possess metallic reinforcement within the joints of their legs
1	Ants	ant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	possess	possess	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	metallic	metallic	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	reinforcement	reinforcement	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	within	within	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	joints	joint	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
10	legs	leg	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **possess** | present | Ants | metallic reinforcement |  |  |  | within the joints of Ants's legs | vn own-100.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot reinforcement=Theme |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ants consume exceptionally nourishing food

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:304-ants-of-the-world-weaver-ants-bullet-ants-honeypot-ants-and-trap-jaw-ants:e4:o2:1
# text = Ants consume exceptionally nourishing food
1	Ants	ant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	consume	consume	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	exceptionally	exceptionally	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
4	nourishing	nourishing	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **consume** | present | Ants | nourishing food |  |  |  | exceptionally *property* | vn consume-66 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent food=Asset |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The loads carried by ants are always hollow

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:304-ants-of-the-world-weaver-ants-bullet-ants-honeypot-ants-and-trap-jaw-ants:e4:o3:1
# text = The loads carried by ants are always hollow
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	loads	load	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
3	carried	carry	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	ants	ant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
6	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
7	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	8	advmod	_	_
8	hollow	hollow	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **carry** | participle |  | the loads *not said here* |  |  |  | by ants | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is** | present | the loads |  |  |  |  | always, hollow *property* | tree rules |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Weight diminishes more rapidly than strength as body size decreases

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:304-ants-of-the-world-weaver-ants-bullet-ants-honeypot-ants-and-trap-jaw-ants:e4:o4:1
# text = Weight diminishes more rapidly than strength as body size decreases
1	Weight	weight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	diminishes	diminish	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	more	more	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	4	advmod	_	_
4	rapidly	rapidly	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
5	than	than	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	strength	strength	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
7	as	as	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	body	body	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	size	size	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	decreases	decrease	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **diminish** | present | Weight |  |  |  |  | than strength; as size decreases; rapidly *property* | vn caused\_calibratable\_cos-45.6.2-1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Patient |

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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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