---
title: Ascertain the formation adopted by a herd of musk oxen upon the appr… — How animals defend themselves · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the formation adopted by a herd of musk oxen upon the approach of wolves. Exam question 4 of lesson 53 «How animals defend themselves» 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 right.
---

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# Exam question 4 · How animals defend themselves

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the formation adopted by a herd of musk oxen upon the approach of wolves.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, wolves · **What happens:** ascertain, adopt, approach · **To what, where:** formation

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This is exam question 4 of lesson 53 «How animals defend themselves» 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/53-how-animals-defend-themselves/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:53-how-animals-defend-themselves:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the formation adopted by a herd of musk oxen upon the approach of wolves.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	formation	formation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	adopted	adopt	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	herd	herd	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	musk	musk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	oxen	ox	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nmod	_	_
11	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	approach	approach	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	_
14	of	of	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	wolves	wolf	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	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 formation |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent formation=Topic |
| 2 | **adopt** | participle |  | the formation *not said here* |  |  |  | by a herd of musk oxen upon the approach of wolves | vn appoint-29.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **approach** |  | wolves |  |  |  |  |  | nom approach «act intransitive»: of=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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A concealment of the herd within snow drifts

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:53-how-animals-defend-themselves:e4:o1:1
# text = A concealment of the herd within snow drifts
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	concealment	concealment	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	herd	herd	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	within	within	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	snow	snow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	drifts	drift	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **conceal** |  |  | the herd |  |  |  | within snow drifts | nom concealment «state transitive»: of=patient within=obl |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A ring facing outward with the young enclosed

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:53-how-animals-defend-themselves:e4:o2:1
# text = A ring facing outward with the young enclosed
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	ring	ring	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
3	facing	face	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	acl	_	_
4	outward	outward	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
5	with	with	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	young	young	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
8	enclosed	enclose	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **face** | gerund | a ring *not said here* |  |  |  |  | with the young; outward *property* | vn fill-9.8-1 «NP V NP PP.theme»: agent=Agent with young=Theme |
| 2 | **enclose** | participle | a ring |  |  |  |  |  | vn contiguous\_location-47.8 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A dispersal of individuals at random

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:53-how-animals-defend-themselves:e4:o3:1
# text = A dispersal of individuals at random
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	dispersal	dispersal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	individuals	individual	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	random	random	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **disperse** |  |  | individuals |  | random |  |  | nom dispersal «act transitive»: of=patient at=place |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A single file retreating at speed

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:53-how-animals-defend-themselves:e4:o4:1
# text = A single file retreating at speed
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	single	single	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	file	file	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	retreating	retreat	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	3	acl	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	speed	speed	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **retreat** | gerund | a single file *not said here* |  |  | speed |  |  | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1-1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |

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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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