---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the… — Fossils: how we know about life long ago · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the relative age of strata in an undisturbed sequence of rock? Exam question 3 of lesson 74 «Fossils: how we know about life long ago» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the questi
---

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# Exam question 3 · Fossils: how we know about life long ago

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the relative age of strata in an undisturbed sequence of rock?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **What happens:** follow, characteris · **To what, where:** relative age, undisturbed sequence

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This is exam question 3 of lesson 74 «Fossils: how we know about life long ago» 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/74-fossils-life-long-ago/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:74-fossils-life-long-ago:e3:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the relative age of strata in an undisturbed sequence of rock?
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	11	det	_	_
10	relative	relative	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	age	age	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
12	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	strata	strata	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod	_	_
14	in	in	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
15	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
16	undisturbed	undisturbed	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	17	amod	_	_
17	sequence	sequence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
18	of	of	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
19	rock	rock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	?	?	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 relative age of strata |  | a undisturbed sequence of rock |  | 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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Lower strata are ordinarily older than those situated above them

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:74-fossils-life-long-ago:e3:o1:1
# text = Lower strata are ordinarily older than those situated above them
1	Lower	low	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	2	amod	_	_
2	strata	strata	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	ordinarily	ordinarily	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	older	old	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	_
6	than	than	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	those	that	PRON	DT	Number=Plur|PronType=Dem	5	obl	_	_
8	situated	situate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	acl	_	_
9	above	above	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Lower strata |  |  |  |  | than those; old, ordinarily *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **situate** | participle |  |  |  |  |  | above them *= they* | vn put-9.1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent above they=Destination |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
All strata in a given cliff are invariably of identical age

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:74-fossils-life-long-ago:e3:o2:1
# text = All strata in a given cliff are invariably of identical age
1	All	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	2	det	_	_
2	strata	strata	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	given	give	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	amod	_	_
6	cliff	cliff	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
7	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
8	invariably	invariably	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	0	root	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	identical	identical	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	age	age	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn break\_down-45.8 «NP V»: agent=Patient |
| 2 | **is** | present | all strata in a given cliff |  |  |  | of identical age | invariably *property* | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The thickness of a stratum alone determines its age

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:74-fossils-life-long-ago:e3:o3:1
# text = The thickness of a stratum alone determines its age
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	thickness	thickness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	stratum	stratum	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	alone	alone	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	determines	determine	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
9	age	age	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **determine** | present | the thickness of a stratum | thickness's age |  |  |  | alone *property* | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent age=Topic |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Higher strata are ordinarily older than those situated below them

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:74-fossils-life-long-ago:e3:o4:1
# text = Higher strata are ordinarily older than those situated below them
1	Higher	high	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	2	amod	_	_
2	strata	strata	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	ordinarily	ordinarily	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	older	old	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	_
6	than	than	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	those	that	PRON	DT	Number=Plur|PronType=Dem	5	obl	_	_
8	situated	situate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	acl	_	_
9	below	below	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Higher strata |  |  |  |  | than those; old, ordinarily *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **situate** | participle |  |  |  |  |  | below them *= they* | vn put-9.1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent below they=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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