---
title: Ascertain the number of blowholes possessed by a baleen whale, and t… — Whales by kind, the baleen whales: blu… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the number of blowholes possessed by a baleen whale, and their nature. Exam question 4 of lesson 312 «Whales by kind, the baleen whales: blue, fin, humpback, grey, right and minke» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and o
---

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# Exam question 4 · Whales by kind, the baleen whales: blue, fin, humpback, gr…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the number of blowholes possessed by a baleen whale, and their nature.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** ascertain, possess · **To what, where:** number, blowholes

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 312 «Whales by kind, the baleen whales: blue, fin, humpback, grey, right and minke» 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/312-whales-by-kind-the-baleen-whales-blue-fin-humpback-grey-right-and-minke/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:312-whales-by-kind-the-baleen-whales-blue-fin-humpback-grey-right-and-minke:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the number of blowholes possessed by a baleen whale, and their nature.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	number	number	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	blowholes	blowhole	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nmod	_	_
6	possessed	possess	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	acl	_	_
7	by	by	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	baleen	baleen	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	whale	whale	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
12	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
13	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	14	nmod:poss	_	_
14	nature	nature	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	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 number of blowholes |  |  |  | blowholes's nature *obl* | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent number=Topic |
| 2 | **possess** | participle |  | blowholes *not said here* |  |  |  | by a baleen whale | vn own-100.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot |

<!-- .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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
None, respiration occurring entirely through the skin of the back

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:312-whales-by-kind-the-baleen-whales-blue-fin-humpback-grey-right-and-minke:e4:o1:1
# text = None, respiration occurring entirely through the skin of the back
1	None	none	PRON	NN	PronType=Neg	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
3	respiration	respiration	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	conj	_	_
4	occurring	occur	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	1	acl	_	_
5	entirely	entirely	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
6	through	through	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	skin	skin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	back	back	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **occur** | gerund |  |  |  | the skin of the back |  | entirely *property* | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme through skin=Location |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Three, being organs for the emission of song

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:312-whales-by-kind-the-baleen-whales-blue-fin-humpback-grey-right-and-minke:e4:o2:1
# text = Three, being organs for the emission of song
1	Three	three	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	4	nummod	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	4	cop	_	_
4	organs	organ	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	emission	emission	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	song	song	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | gerund |  | Three organs |  |  |  | for the emission of song | tree rules |
| 2 | **emit** |  |  | song |  |  |  |  | nom emission «act transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
One, being a mouth for the intake of air

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:312-whales-by-kind-the-baleen-whales-blue-fin-humpback-grey-right-and-minke:e4:o3:1
# text = One, being a mouth for the intake of air
1	One	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	5	nummod	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
3	being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	5	cop	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	mouth	mouth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	for	for	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	intake	intake	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	air	air	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | gerund |  | a One mouth |  |  |  | for the intake of air | tree rules |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Two, being nostrils situated upon the top of the head

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:312-whales-by-kind-the-baleen-whales-blue-fin-humpback-grey-right-and-minke:e4:o4:1
# text = Two, being nostrils situated upon the top of the head
1	Two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	4	nummod	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
3	being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	4	cop	_	_
4	nostrils	nostril	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
5	situated	situate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	acl	_	_
6	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	top	top	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	head	head	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | gerund |  | Two nostrils |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **situate** | participle |  | Two nostrils *not said here* |  | the top of the head |  |  | vn put-9.1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent upon top=Destination |

<!-- 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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