---
title: It is given that milk is left at room temperature for one day. Ascer… — Microbes: bacteria and viruses, good a… · tree and pragmatics
description: It is given that milk is left at room temperature for one day. Ascertain the principal cause of its souring. Exam question 3 of lesson 63 «Microbes: bacteria and viruses, good and bad» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each
---

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# Exam question 3 · Microbes: bacteria and viruses, good and bad

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is given that milk is left at room temperature for one day. Ascertain the principal cause of its souring.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, cause · **What happens:** give, leave, ascertain, cause, sour · **To what, where:** It, milk, room temperature, principal cause, souring

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 63 «Microbes: bacteria and viruses, good and bad» 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/63-microbes-bacteria-and-viruses/#e3).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* It is given that milk is left at room temperature for one day.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:63-microbes-bacteria-and-viruses:e3:1
# text = It is given that milk is left at room temperature for one day.
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	given	give	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	that	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	5	det	_	_
5	milk	milk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj:pass	_	_
6	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux:pass	_	_
7	left	leave	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	ccomp	_	_
8	at	at	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	room	room	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	temperature	temperature	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
11	for	for	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	13	nummod	_	_
13	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give** | present · passive |  | It |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **leave** | present · passive |  | that milk |  | room temperature | day |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP PP.location»: subject=Theme at temperature=Location |

<!-- .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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* Ascertain the principal cause of its souring.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:63-microbes-bacteria-and-viruses:e3:2
# text = Ascertain the principal cause of its souring.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	cause	cause	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	souring	souring	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	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 principal cause of cause's souring |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent cause=Topic |
| 2 | **cause** |  |  | cause's souring |  |  |  |  | nom cause «event transitive»: of=patient |
| 3 | **sour** |  | cause |  |  |  |  |  | nom souring «process intransitive»: poss=agent |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The absorption of oxygen by the sugar

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:63-microbes-bacteria-and-viruses:e3:o1:1
# text = The absorption of oxygen by the sugar
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	absorption	absorption	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	oxygen	oxygen	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	sugar	sugar	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **absorb** |  | the sugar | oxygen |  |  |  |  | nom absorption «process transitive»: of=patient by=agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The evaporation of water from the milk

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:63-microbes-bacteria-and-viruses:e3:o2:1
# text = The evaporation of water from the milk
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	evaporation	evaporation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
5	from	from	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	milk	milk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **evaporate** |  |  | water |  | the milk |  |  | nom evaporation «process transitive»: of=patient from=place |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The multiplication of bacteria producing acid

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:63-microbes-bacteria-and-viruses:e3:o3:1
# text = The multiplication of bacteria producing acid
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	multiplication	multiplication	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	bacteria	bacterium	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
5	producing	produce	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	4	acl	_	_
6	acid	acid	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **produce** | gerund | bacteria *not said here* | acid |  |  |  |  | vn create-26.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent acid=Result |
| 2 | **multiply** |  | bacteria |  |  |  |  |  | nom multiplication «act intransitive»: of=agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The action of light upon the fat

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:63-microbes-bacteria-and-viruses:e3:o4:1
# text = The action of light upon the fat
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	action	action	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	light	light	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
5	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	fat	fat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **act** |  | light |  |  |  |  | upon the fat | nom action «act intransitive»: of=agent upon=obl |

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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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