---
title: Ascertain the approximate length attributed by scientists to the ser… — Giant reptiles of the past: Titanoboa,… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the approximate length attributed by scientists to the serpent Titanoboa. Exam question 1 of lesson 383 «Giant reptiles of the past: Titanoboa, Sarcosuchus, Deinosuchus and giant tortoises» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the quest
---

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# Exam question 1 · Giant reptiles of the past: Titanoboa, Sarcosuchus, Deinos…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the approximate length attributed by scientists to the serpent Titanoboa.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** ascertain, attribute · **To what, where:** approximate length

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This is exam question 1 of lesson 383 «Giant reptiles of the past: Titanoboa, Sarcosuchus, Deinosuchus and giant tortoises» 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/383-giant-reptiles-of-the-past-titanoboa-sarcosuchus-deinosuchus-and-giant-tortoises/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:383-giant-reptiles-of-the-past-titanoboa-sarcosuchus-deinosuchus-and-giant-tortoises:e1:1
# text = Ascertain the approximate length attributed by scientists to the serpent Titanoboa.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	approximate	approximate	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	length	length	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	attributed	attribute	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	acl	_	_
6	by	by	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	scientists	scientist	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
8	to	to	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	serpent	serpent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
11	Titanoboa	Titanoboa	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	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 approximate length |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent length=Topic |
| 2 | **attribute** | participle |  | the approximate length *not said here* |  |  |  | by scientists; to the serpent | 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 -->
Fifty metres or more

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:383-giant-reptiles-of-the-past-titanoboa-sarcosuchus-deinosuchus-and-giant-tortoises:e1:o1:1
# text = Fifty metres or more
1	Fifty	fifty	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	2	nummod	_	_
2	metres	metre	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
3	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	4	cc	_	_
4	more	more	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	2	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Three metres or less

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:383-giant-reptiles-of-the-past-titanoboa-sarcosuchus-deinosuchus-and-giant-tortoises:e1:o2:1
# text = Three metres or less
1	Three	three	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	2	nummod	_	_
2	metres	metre	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
3	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	4	cc	_	_
4	less	less	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	2	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Thirteen metres

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:383-giant-reptiles-of-the-past-titanoboa-sarcosuchus-deinosuchus-and-giant-tortoises:e1:o3:1
# text = Thirteen metres
1	Thirteen	thirteen	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	2	nummod	_	_
2	metres	metre	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
One metre and a half

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:383-giant-reptiles-of-the-past-titanoboa-sarcosuchus-deinosuchus-and-giant-tortoises:e1:o4:1
# text = One metre and a half
1	One	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	2	nummod	_	_
2	metre	metre	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	half	half	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing|NumForm=Word|NumType=Frac	2	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

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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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