---
title: «mammoths died out way before the pyramids, obvs» What is right? — Fossils: how we know about life long ago · tree and pragmatics
description: «mammoths died out way before the pyramids, obvs» What is right? Test 9 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 question and of each option; Mova's choice was right.
---

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# Test 9 · Fossils: how we know about life long ago

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«mammoths died out way before the pyramids, obvs» What is right?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** mammoths · **What happens:** die out, be · **To what, where:** way

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 9 of lesson 74 «Fossils: how we know about life long ago» of the biology course of Mova's primary school. 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/#t9).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:74-fossils-life-long-ago:t9:1
# text = «mammoths died out way before the pyramids, obvs» What is right?
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	mammoths	mammoth	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	died	die	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	14	advcl	_	_
4	out	out	ADP	RP	_	3	compound:prt	_	_
5	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl:unmarked	_	_
6	before	before	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	pyramids	pyramid	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
10	obvs	obv	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
12	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	14	nsubj	_	_
13	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	cop	_	_
14	right	right	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	14	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **die out** *in a quote* | past | mammoths | way |  |  | before the pyramids and obvs |  | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |
| 2 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | right *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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No, herds of mammoths still roam wild across Siberia today

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:74-fossils-life-long-ago:t9:o1:1
# text = No, herds of mammoths still roam wild across Siberia today
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	3	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	herds	herd	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	mammoths	mammoth	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nmod	_	_
6	still	still	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	roam	roam	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	wild	wild	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	xcomp	_	_
9	across	across	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	Siberia	Siberia	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
11	today	today	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl:unmarked	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **roam** | present | herds of mammoths |  |  | Siberia | still; today | wild *property* | vn run-51.3.2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme across siberia=Trajectory |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, mammoths died out a million years ago

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:74-fossils-life-long-ago:t9:o2:1
# text = Yes, mammoths died out a million years ago
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	mammoths	mammoth	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	died	die	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	out	out	ADP	RP	_	4	compound:prt	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	million	million	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	8	nummod	_	_
8	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl:unmarked	_	_
9	ago	ago	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **die out** | past | mammoths |  |  |  | year |  | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Mammoths still lived on Wrangel Island when the pyramids were built

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:74-fossils-life-long-ago:t9:o3:1
# text = Mammoths still lived on Wrangel Island when the pyramids were built
1	Mammoths	mammoth	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	still	still	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	lived	live	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	on	on	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	Wrangel	Wrangel	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	Island	Island	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
7	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	11	advmod	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	pyramids	pyramid	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	nsubj:pass	_	_
10	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	11	aux:pass	_	_
11	built	build	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **live** | past | Mammoths |  |  | Wrangel Island | still |  | vn exist-47.1-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme on island=Location |
| 2 | **build** | past · passive |  | the pyramids |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: subject=Product |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, mammoths died out at the same time as the dinosaurs did

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:74-fossils-life-long-ago:t9:o4:1
# text = Yes, mammoths died out at the same time as the dinosaurs did
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	mammoths	mammoth	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	died	die	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	out	out	ADP	RP	_	4	compound:prt	_	_
6	at	at	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	same	same	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
10	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	dinosaurs	dinosaur	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	nsubj	_	_
13	did	do	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **die out** | past | mammoths |  |  |  | time |  | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |
| 2 | **do** | past | the dinosaurs |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=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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