---
title: Ascertain the defensive conduct of musk oxen upon the approach of wo… — The Arctic: ice, snow and the polar be… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the defensive conduct of musk oxen upon the approach of wolves. Exam question 4 of lesson 6 «The Arctic: ice, snow and the polar bear's world» 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 · The Arctic: ice, snow and the polar bear's world

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the defensive conduct of musk oxen upon the approach of wolves.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, wolves · **What happens:** ascertain, conduct, approach · **To what, where:** defensive conduct, musk oxen

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 6 «The Arctic: ice, snow and the polar bear's world» 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/6-the-arctic/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:6-the-arctic:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the defensive conduct 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	4	det	_	_
3	defensive	defensive	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	conduct	conduct	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	musk	musk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	oxen	ox	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nmod	_	_
8	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	approach	approach	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	wolves	wolf	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nmod	_	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 defensive conduct of musk oxen upon the approach of wolves |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent conduct=Topic |
| 2 | **conduct** |  |  | musk oxen upon the approach of wolves |  |  |  |  | nom conduct «act transitive»: of=patient |
| 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 -->
The calves are concealed in burrows excavated beneath the snow

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:6-the-arctic:e4:o1:1
# text = The calves are concealed in burrows excavated beneath the snow
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	calves	calf	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	concealed	conceal	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	burrows	burrow	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
7	excavated	excavate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	acl	_	_
8	beneath	beneath	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	snow	snow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **conceal** | present · passive |  | the calves |  | burrows |  |  | vn concealment-16 «NP V NP PP.location»: subject=Patient in burrow=Location |
| 2 | **excavate** | participle |  | burrows *not said here* |  | the snow |  |  | vn search-35.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent beneath snow=Location |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The herd disperses in every direction

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:6-the-arctic:e4:o2:1
# text = The herd disperses in every direction
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	herd	herd	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	disperses	disperse	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	6	det	_	_
6	direction	direction	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **disperse** | present | the herd |  |  | every direction |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The herd forms a ring with horns directed outward and the calves enclosed within

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:6-the-arctic:e4:o3:1
# text = The herd forms a ring with horns directed outward and the calves enclosed within
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	herd	herd	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	forms	form	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	ring	ring	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	with	with	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	horns	horn	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nmod	_	_
8	directed	direct	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	acl	_	_
9	outward	outward	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	calves	calf	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	conj	_	_
13	enclosed	enclose	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	12	acl	_	_
14	within	within	ADP	IN	_	13	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **form** | present | the herd | a ring |  |  |  | with horns and the calves | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location ring=Theme |
| 2 | **direct** | participle |  | horns and the calves *not said here* |  |  |  | outward *property* | vn performance-26.7 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **enclose** | participle |  | the calves *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn contiguous\_location-47.8 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Each animal lies motionless upon the snow

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:6-the-arctic:e4:o4:1
# text = Each animal lies motionless upon the snow
1	Each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	2	det	_	_
2	animal	animal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	lies	lie	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	motionless	motionless	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	xcomp	_	_
5	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	snow	snow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lie** | present | each animal |  |  | the snow |  | motionless *property* | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent upon snow=Location |

<!-- 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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