---
title: Ascertain the number of species of egg-laying mammals presently exta… — The platypus and the echidna: mammals… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the number of species of egg-laying mammals presently extant. Exam question 4 of lesson 43 «The platypus and the echidna: mammals that lay eggs» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was wro
---

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# Exam question 4 · The platypus and the echidna: mammals that lay eggs

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the number of species of egg-laying mammals presently extant.

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

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This is exam question 4 of lesson 43 «The platypus and the echidna: mammals that lay eggs» 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/43-platypus-and-echidna/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:43-platypus-and-echidna:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the number of species of egg-laying mammals presently extant.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	number	number	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	species	species	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nmod	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
7	egg	egg	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	laying	lay	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	10	amod	_	_
10	mammals	mammal	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nmod	_	_
11	presently	presently	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
12	extant	extant	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	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 number of species of laying mammals |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent number=Topic |
| 2 | **lay** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn create-26.4 «NP V NP»: agent=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 -->
Precisely two

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:43-platypus-and-echidna:e4:o1:1
# text = Precisely two
1	Precisely	precisely	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
2	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Twelve

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:43-platypus-and-echidna:e4:o2:1
# text = Twelve
1	Twelve	twelve	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	0	root	_	_
```

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

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Five

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:43-platypus-and-echidna:e4:o3:1
# text = Five
1	Five	five	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A single species

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:43-platypus-and-echidna:e4:o4:1
# text = A single species
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	single	single	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	species	species	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .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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- ← previous: [The platypus and the echidna: mammals…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/43-platypus-and-echidna/e3/)
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- ↑ back to [The platypus and the echidna: mammals that lay eggs](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/43-platypus-and-echidna/)