---
title: Identify the mechanism by which the common nettle inflicts its sting. — Weeds and wildflowers: dandelions, net… · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the mechanism by which the common nettle inflicts its sting. Exam question 2 of lesson 340 «Weeds and wildflowers: dandelions, nettles, daisies, clover and plantain» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; M
---

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# Exam question 2 · Weeds and wildflowers: dandelions, nettles, daisies, clove…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the mechanism by which the common nettle inflicts its sting.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, common nettle, nettle · **What happens:** identify, inflict, sting · **To what, where:** mechanism, sting

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 340 «Weeds and wildflowers: dandelions, nettles, daisies, clover and plantain» 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/340-weeds-and-wildflowers-dandelions-nettles-daisies-clover-and-plantain/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:340-weeds-and-wildflowers-dandelions-nettles-daisies-clover-and-plantain:e2:1
# text = Identify the mechanism by which the common nettle inflicts its sting.
1	Identify	identify	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	mechanism	mechanism	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	9	obl	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	common	common	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	nettle	nettle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
9	inflicts	inflict	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	acl:relcl	_	_
10	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
11	sting	sting	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	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 mechanism |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent mechanism=Theme |
| 2 | **inflict** | present | the common nettle | nettle's sting |  |  |  | by the mechanism | tree rules |
| 3 | **sting** |  | nettle |  |  |  |  |  | nom sting «state transitive»: poss=agent |

<!-- .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 -->
Small teeth upon the stem lacerate the skin

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:340-weeds-and-wildflowers-dandelions-nettles-daisies-clover-and-plantain:e2:o1:1
# text = Small teeth upon the stem lacerate the skin
1	Small	small	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	teeth	tooth	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
3	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	stem	stem	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	lacerate	lacerate	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	skin	skin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lacerate** | infinitive | Small teeth upon the stem | the skin |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The leaves emit a heated vapour upon contact

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:340-weeds-and-wildflowers-dandelions-nettles-daisies-clover-and-plantain:e2:o2:1
# text = The leaves emit a heated vapour upon contact
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	leaves	leaf	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	emit	emit	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	heated	heat	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	amod	_	_
6	vapour	vapour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
7	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	contact	contact	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **emit** | present | the leaves | a heated vapour |  |  |  | upon contact | vn substance\_emission-43.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Source vapour=Theme |
| 2 | **heat** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn cooking-45.3 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The roots discharge a venom into the surrounding soil

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:340-weeds-and-wildflowers-dandelions-nettles-daisies-clover-and-plantain:e2:o3:1
# text = The roots discharge a venom into the surrounding soil
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	roots	root	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	discharge	discharge	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	venom	venom	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	into	into	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	surrounding	surrounding	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	soil	soil	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **discharge** | present | the roots | a venom |  | the surrounding soil |  |  | vn banish-10.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent venom=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Brittle hairs fracture upon contact and introduce irritant chemicals into the skin

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:340-weeds-and-wildflowers-dandelions-nettles-daisies-clover-and-plantain:e2:o4:1
# text = Brittle hairs fracture upon contact and introduce irritant chemicals into the skin
1	Brittle	brittle	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	hairs	hair	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	fracture	fracture	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	contact	contact	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	introduce	introduce	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	conj	_	_
8	irritant	irritant	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	chemicals	chemical	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obj	_	_
10	into	into	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	skin	skin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fracture** | present | Brittle hairs |  |  |  |  | upon contact | vn break-45.1 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |
| 2 | **introduce** | infinitive | Brittle hairs *not said here* | irritant chemicals |  | the skin |  |  | vn amalgamate-22.2-3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent chemical=Patient |

<!-- 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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- ← previous: [Weeds and wildflowers: dandelions, net…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/340-weeds-and-wildflowers-dandelions-nettles-daisies-clover-and-plantain/e1/)
- next →: [Weeds and wildflowers: dandelions, net…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/340-weeds-and-wildflowers-dandelions-nettles-daisies-clover-and-plantain/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Weeds and wildflowers: dandelions, nettles, daisies, clover and plantain](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/340-weeds-and-wildflowers-dandelions-nettles-daisies-clover-and-plantain/)