---
title: Ascertain the validity of the assertion that persons swallow eight s… — Minibeasts in the house: house spiders… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the validity of the assertion that persons swallow eight spiders annually during sleep. Exam question 4 of lesson 370 «Minibeasts in the house: house spiders, silverfish, woodlice, moths and cockroaches» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatic
---

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# Exam question 4 · Minibeasts in the house: house spiders, silverfish, woodli…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the validity of the assertion that persons swallow eight spiders annually during sleep.

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

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 370 «Minibeasts in the house: house spiders, silverfish, woodlice, moths and cockroaches» 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/370-minibeasts-in-the-house-house-spiders-silverfish-woodlice-moths-and-cockroaches/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:370-minibeasts-in-the-house-house-spiders-silverfish-woodlice-moths-and-cockroaches:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the validity of the assertion that persons swallow eight spiders annually during sleep.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	validity	validity	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	assertion	assertion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
7	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	9	obj	_	_
8	persons	person	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nsubj	_	_
9	swallow	swallow	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	acl:relcl	_	_
10	eight	eight	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	11	nummod	_	_
11	spiders	spider	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obj	_	_
12	annually	annually	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
13	during	during	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	sleep	sleep	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	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 validity of the assertion |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent validity=Topic |
| 2 | **swallow** | present | persons | the assertion |  |  | during sleep |  | tree rules |

<!-- .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 -->
It is true only during the winter months

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:370-minibeasts-in-the-house-house-spiders-silverfish-woodlice-moths-and-cockroaches:e4:o1:1
# text = It is true only during the winter months
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	true	true	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	only	only	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
5	during	during	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	winter	winter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	months	month	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | It |  |  |  | month | true *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It has been established by careful measurement

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:370-minibeasts-in-the-house-house-spiders-silverfish-woodlice-moths-and-cockroaches:e4:o2:1
# text = It has been established by careful measurement
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	established	establish	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	careful	careful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	measurement	measurement	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **establish** | present · perfect · passive | careful measurement | It |  |  |  |  | vn establish-55.5-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is true only in respect of children

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:370-minibeasts-in-the-house-house-spiders-silverfish-woodlice-moths-and-cockroaches:e4:o3:1
# text = It is true only in respect of children
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	true	true	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	only	only	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	respect	respect	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	conj	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | It |  |  |  |  | true *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **respect** |  |  | children |  |  |  |  | nom respect «cognition transitive»: of=patient |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is without foundation in evidence

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:370-minibeasts-in-the-house-house-spiders-silverfish-woodlice-moths-and-cockroaches:e4:o4:1
# text = It is without foundation in evidence
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	without	without	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	foundation	foundation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	evidence	evidence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | It |  |  | evidence |  | without foundation | tree rules |

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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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- ← previous: [Minibeasts in the house: house spiders…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/370-minibeasts-in-the-house-house-spiders-silverfish-woodlice-moths-and-cockroaches/e3/)
- next →: [Street dogs and cats: feeding, safety…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/371-street-dogs-and-cats-feeding-safety-and-never-touching-a-strange-animal/t1/)
- ↑ back to [Minibeasts in the house: house spiders, silverfish, woodlice, moths and cockroaches](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/370-minibeasts-in-the-house-house-spiders-silverfish-woodlice-moths-and-cockroaches/)