---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the… — How plants grow: seeds, light, water a… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the origin of the mass of a mature tree? Exam question 2 of lesson 56 «How plants grow: seeds, light, water and air» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each opt
---

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# Exam question 2 · How plants grow: seeds, light, water and air

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the origin of the mass of a mature tree?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** follow, characteris · **To what, where:** origin

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 56 «How plants grow: seeds, light, water and air» 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/56-how-plants-grow/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:56-how-plants-grow:e2:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the origin of the mass of a mature tree?
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	origin	origin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	mass	mass	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	_
14	of	of	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
15	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
16	mature	mature	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	17	amod	_	_
17	tree	tree	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	?	?	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 origin of the mass of a mature tree |  |  |  | of the following statements; accurately *property* | 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 -->
It is derived principally from soil drawn up by the roots over many years

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:56-how-plants-grow:e2:o1:1
# text = It is derived principally from soil drawn up by the roots over many years
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	derived	derive	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	principally	principally	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
5	from	from	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	soil	soil	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
7	drawn	draw	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	acl	_	_
8	up	up	ADP	RP	_	7	compound:prt	_	_
9	by	by	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	roots	root	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obl	_	_
12	over	over	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **derive** | present · passive |  | It |  | soil | year | principally *property* | vn create-26.4 «NP V NP PP.material»: subject=Result from soil=Material |
| 2 | **draw up** | participle |  | soil *not said here* |  |  |  | by the roots | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It derives chiefly from atmospheric carbon dioxide and water

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:56-how-plants-grow:e2:o2:1
# text = It derives chiefly from atmospheric carbon dioxide and water
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	derives	derive	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	chiefly	chiefly	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
4	from	from	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	atmospheric	atmospheric	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
6	carbon	carbon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	dioxide	dioxide	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **derive** | present | It |  |  | atmospheric carbon dioxide and water |  | chiefly *property* | vn create-26.4 «NP V NP PP.material»: agent=Agent from dioxide=Material |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is wholly contained within the original seed

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:56-how-plants-grow:e2:o3:1
# text = It is wholly contained within the original seed
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
3	wholly	wholly	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	contained	contain	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	within	within	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	original	original	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	seed	seed	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **contain** | present · passive |  | It |  |  |  | within the original seed; wholly *property* | vn comprise-107.2-2 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is derived principally from rainfall alone

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:56-how-plants-grow:e2:o4:1
# text = It is derived principally from rainfall alone
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	derived	derive	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	principally	principally	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
5	from	from	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	rainfall	rainfall	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
7	alone	alone	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **derive** | present · passive |  | It |  | rainfall |  | alone, principally *property* | vn create-26.4 «NP V NP PP.material»: subject=Result from rainfall=Material |

<!-- 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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