---
title: Ascertain the principal reason for which mammoth bones were employed… — Ice Age Ukraine and Europe: cave bears… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the principal reason for which mammoth bones were employed in the construction of dwellings at Mezhyrich. Exam question 1 of lesson 385 «Ice Age Ukraine and Europe: cave bears, cave lions, the Siberian unicorn and mammoth-bone houses» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with th
---

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# Exam question 1 · Ice Age Ukraine and Europe: cave bears, cave lions, the Si…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the principal reason for which mammoth bones were employed in the construction of dwellings at Mezhyrich.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** ascertain, employ, construct · **To what, where:** principal reason, mammoth bones, construction, dwellings

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 385 «Ice Age Ukraine and Europe: cave bears, cave lions, the Siberian unicorn and mammoth-bone houses» 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/385-ice-age-ukraine-and-europe-cave-bears-cave-lions-the-siberian-unicorn-and-mammoth-bone-houses/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:385-ice-age-ukraine-and-europe-cave-bears-cave-lions-the-siberian-unicorn-and-mammoth-bone-houses:e1:1
# text = Ascertain the principal reason for which mammoth bones were employed in the construction of dwellings at Mezhyrich.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	10	obl	_	_
7	mammoth	mammoth	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	bones	bone	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nsubj:pass	_	_
9	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	aux:pass	_	_
10	employed	employ	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	acl:relcl	_	_
11	in	in	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	construction	construction	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	_
14	of	of	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	dwellings	dwelling	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	nmod	_	_
16	at	at	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
17	Mezhyrich	Mezhyrich	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	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 principal reason |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent reason=Topic |
| 2 | **employ** | past · passive |  | mammoth bones |  | the construction of dwellings |  | for the principal reason; at Mezhyrich | vn use-105.1 «NP V NP PP.predicate»: subject=Theme for which=Eventuality |
| 3 | **construct** |  |  | dwellings |  |  |  |  | nom construction «act transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- .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 -->
Timber was scarce upon the treeless steppe

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:385-ice-age-ukraine-and-europe-cave-bears-cave-lions-the-siberian-unicorn-and-mammoth-bone-houses:e1:o1:1
# text = Timber was scarce upon the treeless steppe
1	Timber	timber	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	scarce	scarce	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	treeless	treeless	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	steppe	steppe	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | Timber |  |  |  |  | upon the treeless steppe; scarce *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Bone was regarded as sacred and wood forbidden

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:385-ice-age-ukraine-and-europe-cave-bears-cave-lions-the-siberian-unicorn-and-mammoth-bone-houses:e1:o2:1
# text = Bone was regarded as sacred and wood forbidden
1	Bone	bone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	regarded	regard	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	as	as	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	sacred	sacred	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	obl	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
7	wood	wood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
8	forbidden	forbid	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **regard** | past · passive |  | Bone |  |  |  | as sacred | vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP PP.value»: subject=Theme as sacred=Value |
| 2 | **forbid** | participle | wood |  |  |  |  |  | vn forbid-64.4-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Causer |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Bone weighs less than any timber

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:385-ice-age-ukraine-and-europe-cave-bears-cave-lions-the-siberian-unicorn-and-mammoth-bone-houses:e1:o3:1
# text = Bone weighs less than any timber
1	Bone	bone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	weighs	weigh	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	less	less	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp|ExtPos=ADV	2	advmod	_	_
4	than	than	ADP	IN	_	3	fixed	_	_
5	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	6	det	_	_
6	timber	timber	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **weigh** | present | Bone | any timber |  |  |  |  | vn register-54.1-2-1 «NP V NP.value»: agent=Theme timber=Value |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Stone was abundant but too soft

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:385-ice-age-ukraine-and-europe-cave-bears-cave-lions-the-siberian-unicorn-and-mammoth-bone-houses:e1:o4:1
# text = Stone was abundant but too soft
1	Stone	stone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	abundant	abundant	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
5	too	too	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	soft	soft	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | Stone |  |  |  |  | abundant *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **be** |  | Stone *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

<!-- 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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