---
title: Ascertain the cause of the diurnal variation in human stature of app… — Cells, bones and muscles · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the cause of the diurnal variation in human stature of approximately one centimetre. Exam question 4 of lesson 64 «Cells, bones and muscles» 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 wrong.
---

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# Exam question 4 · Cells, bones and muscles

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the cause of the diurnal variation in human stature of approximately one centimetre.

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

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 64 «Cells, bones and muscles» 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/64-cells-bones-and-muscles/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:64-cells-bones-and-muscles:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the cause of the diurnal variation in human stature of approximately one centimetre.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	cause	cause	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	diurnal	diurnal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	variation	variation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	human	human	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	stature	stature	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
12	approximately	approximately	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
13	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	14	nummod	_	_
14	centimetre	centimetre	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	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 cause of the diurnal variation in human stature of one centimetre |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent cause=Topic |
| 2 | **cause** |  |  | the diurnal variation in human stature of one centimetre |  |  |  |  | nom cause «event transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- .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 -->
The nightly growth of the long bones

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:64-cells-bones-and-muscles:e4:o1:1
# text = The nightly growth of the long bones
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	nightly	nightly	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	growth	growth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	long	long	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	bones	bone	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **grow** |  | the long bones |  |  |  |  |  | nom growth «process intransitive»: of=agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The contraction of the heart muscle

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:64-cells-bones-and-muscles:e4:o2:1
# text = The contraction of the heart muscle
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	contraction	contraction	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	heart	heart	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	muscle	muscle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **contract** |  |  | the heart muscle |  |  |  |  | nom contraction «act transitive»: of=patient |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Compression and recovery of the intervertebral discs

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:64-cells-bones-and-muscles:e4:o3:1
# text = Compression and recovery of the intervertebral discs
1	Compression	compression	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
2	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	3	cc	_	_
3	recovery	recovery	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	conj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	intervertebral	intervertebral	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	discs	disc	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **compress** |  |  | the intervertebral discs |  |  |  |  | nom compression «event transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The swelling of the feet by evening

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:64-cells-bones-and-muscles:e4:o4:1
# text = The swelling of the feet by evening
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	swelling	swelling	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	feet	foot	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
6	by	by	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	evening	evening	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **swell** |  | the feet |  |  |  |  |  | nom swelling «state intransitive»: of=agent |

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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: [Cells, bones and muscles, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/64-cells-bones-and-muscles/e3/)
- next →: [The heart and blood, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/65-the-heart-and-blood/t1/)
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