---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the… — Evolution simply: why living things ch… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the process of natural selection? Exam question 1 of lesson 73 «Evolution simply: why living things change over many generations» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question an
---

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# Exam question 1 · Evolution simply: why living things change over many gener…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the process of natural selection?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** follow, characteris, process · **To what, where:** process, natural selection

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This is exam question 1 of lesson 73 «Evolution simply: why living things change over many generations» 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/73-evolution-simply/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:73-evolution-simply:e1:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the process of natural selection?
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	process	process	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	natural	natural	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	selection	selection	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	?	?	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 process of natural selection |  |  |  | of the following statements; accurately *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **process** |  |  | natural selection |  |  |  |  | nom process «act 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 -->
A single organism is transformed into a new species within its own lifetime

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:73-evolution-simply:e1:o1:1
# text = A single organism is transformed into a new species within its own lifetime
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	single	single	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	organism	organism	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
5	transformed	transform	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	into	into	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	new	new	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	species	species	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
10	within	within	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
11	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	13	nmod:poss	_	_
12	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	lifetime	lifetime	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **transform** | present · passive |  | a single organism |  |  |  | into a new species *result*; within organism's own lifetime | vn turn-26.6.1 «NP V NP.patient PP.result»: subject=Patient into species=Result |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Individual organisms deliberately alter their bodies in response to need

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:73-evolution-simply:e1:o2:1
# text = Individual organisms deliberately alter their bodies in response to need
1	Individual	individual	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	organisms	organism	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	deliberately	deliberately	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	alter	alter	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	bodies	body	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	response	response	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
9	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
10	need	need	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **alter** | present | Individual organisms | organisms's bodies |  | response |  | deliberately *property* | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent body=Patient |
| 2 | **need** | to-infinitive | Individual organisms *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Variants conferring an advantage in survival become more frequent over generations

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:73-evolution-simply:e1:o3:1
# text = Variants conferring an advantage in survival become more frequent over generations
1	Variants	variant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
2	conferring	confer	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	1	acl	_	_
3	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	advantage	advantage	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	survival	survival	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
7	become	become	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	more	more	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	9	advmod	_	_
9	frequent	frequent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	xcomp	_	_
10	over	over	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	generations	generation	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **confer** | gerund | Variants *not said here* | a advantage |  | survival |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **become** | present | Variants |  |  |  |  | frequent *property* | vn become-109.1-1-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Characteristics acquired by exercise during life are transmitted to offspring

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:73-evolution-simply:e1:o4:1
# text = Characteristics acquired by exercise during life are transmitted to offspring
1	Characteristics	characteristic	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	acquired	acquire	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	1	acl	_	_
3	by	by	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	exercise	exercise	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
5	during	during	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	life	life	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
7	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux:pass	_	_
8	transmitted	transmit	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
9	to	to	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	offspring	offspring	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **acquire** | participle |  | Characteristics *not said here* |  |  | during life | by exercise | vn obtain-13.5.2-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset |
| 2 | **transmit** | present · passive |  | Characteristics |  | offspring |  |  | vn send-11.1-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: subject=Theme to offspring=Destination |

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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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