---
title: Ascertain the reason for which a python may survive for many months… — Big snakes: pythons, boas and anaconda… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the reason for which a python may survive for many months without food following a large meal. Exam question 4 of lesson 321 «Big snakes: pythons, boas and anacondas, and how big they really get» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the
---

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# Exam question 4 · Big snakes: pythons, boas and anacondas, and how big they…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the reason for which a python may survive for many months without food following a large meal.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, python · **What happens:** ascertain, survive, follow · **To what, where:** reason, large meal

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This is exam question 4 of lesson 321 «Big snakes: pythons, boas and anacondas, and how big they really get» 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/321-big-snakes-pythons-boas-and-anacondas-and-how-big-they-really-get/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:321-big-snakes-pythons-boas-and-anacondas-and-how-big-they-really-get:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the reason for which a python may survive for many months without food following a large meal.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	for	for	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	9	obl	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	python	python	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
8	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
9	survive	survive	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	acl:relcl	_	_
10	for	for	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	months	month	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obl	_	_
13	without	without	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
15	following	follow	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	9	advcl	_	_
16	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
17	large	large	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	amod	_	_
18	meal	meal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	.	.	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 reason |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent reason=Topic |
| 2 | **survive** | may | a python |  |  |  | month | for the reason; without food | vn exist-47.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **follow** | gerund | a python *not said here* | a large meal |  |  |  |  | vn chase-51.6 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent meal=Theme |

<!-- .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 -->
As a cold-blooded animal it expends very little energy

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:321-big-snakes-pythons-boas-and-anacondas-and-how-big-they-really-get:e4:o1:1
# text = As a cold-blooded animal it expends very little energy
1	As	as	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
3	cold	cold	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	blooded	blooded	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	animal	animal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
7	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
8	expends	expend	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	very	very	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
10	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	energy	energy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **expend** | present | animal | little energy |  |  |  | as a blooded animal | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It stores the prey alive within its body

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:321-big-snakes-pythons-boas-and-anacondas-and-how-big-they-really-get:e4:o2:1
# text = It stores the prey alive within its body
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	stores	store	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	prey	prey	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	alive	alive	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	xcomp	_	_
6	within	within	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
8	body	body	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **store** | present | It | the prey |  |  |  | within prey's body; alive *property* | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent prey=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It obtains nourishment from vegetation during this period

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:321-big-snakes-pythons-boas-and-anacondas-and-how-big-they-really-get:e4:o3:1
# text = It obtains nourishment from vegetation during this period
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	obtains	obtain	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	nourishment	nourishment	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
4	from	from	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	vegetation	vegetation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
6	during	during	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	this	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	8	det	_	_
8	period	period	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **obtain** | present | It | nourishment |  | vegetation | during this period |  | vn obtain-13.5.2-1 «NP V NP PP.source»: agent=Agent nourishment=Theme from vegetation=Source |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It ceases all bodily activity until spring

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:321-big-snakes-pythons-boas-and-anacondas-and-how-big-they-really-get:e4:o4:1
# text = It ceases all bodily activity until spring
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	ceases	cease	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	all	all	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	bodily	bodily	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	activity	activity	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	until	until	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	spring	spring	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cease** | present | It | bodily activity |  |  | spring |  | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP V NP.eventuality»: agent=Subeventuality activity=Eventuality |

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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.

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- ← previous: [Big snakes: pythons, boas and anaconda…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/321-big-snakes-pythons-boas-and-anacondas-and-how-big-they-really-get/e3/)
- next →: [Snakes to keep away from: cobras, mamb…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/322-snakes-to-keep-away-from-cobras-mambas-vipers-and-rattlesnakes/t1/)
- ↑ back to [Big snakes: pythons, boas and anacondas, and how big they really get](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/321-big-snakes-pythons-boas-and-anacondas-and-how-big-they-really-get/)