---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the… — Octopuses, squid and cuttlefish · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the distribution of nerve cells in the octopus? Exam question 2 of lesson 39 «Octopuses, squid and cuttlefish» 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 · Octopuses, squid and cuttlefish

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the distribution of nerve cells in the octopus?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **What happens:** follow, characteris, distribute · **To what, where:** distribution, octopus, nerve cells

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 39 «Octopuses, squid and cuttlefish» 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/39-octopuses-squid-and-cuttlefish/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:39-octopuses-squid-and-cuttlefish:e2:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the distribution of nerve cells in the octopus?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	nsubj	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	following	follow	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	amod	_	_
5	statements	statement	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	_
6	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	7	advmod	_	_
7	accurately	accurately	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	characterises	characteris	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	distribution	distribution	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	nerve	nerve	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	compound	_	_
13	cells	cell	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nmod	_	_
14	in	in	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	octopus	octopus	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **follow** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **characteris** | present |  | the distribution of nerve cells |  | the octopus |  | of the following statements; accurately *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **distribute** |  |  | nerve cells |  |  |  |  | nom distribution «cognition 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 -->
The majority reside within the arms

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:39-octopuses-squid-and-cuttlefish:e2:o1:1
# text = The majority reside within the arms
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	majority	majority	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	reside	reside	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	within	within	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	arms	arm	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **reside** | infinitive | the majority |  |  |  |  | within the arms | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They are confined to the eyes

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:39-octopuses-squid-and-cuttlefish:e2:o2:1
# text = They are confined to the eyes
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	confined	confine	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	eyes	eye	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **confine** | present · passive |  | They |  | the eyes |  |  | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: subject=Theme to eye=Destination |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
All reside within the central brain

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:39-octopuses-squid-and-cuttlefish:e2:o3:1
# text = All reside within the central brain
1	All	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	2	advmod	_	_
2	reside	reside	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	within	within	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	central	central	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	brain	brain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **reside** | present |  |  |  |  |  | within the central brain | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They are absent from the arms

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:39-octopuses-squid-and-cuttlefish:e2:o4:1
# text = They are absent from the arms
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	absent	absent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	from	from	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	arms	arm	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | They |  |  | the arms |  | absent *property* | 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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