---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the… — The reptile house: snakes · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the function of the forked tongue of a snake? Exam question 2 of lesson 87 «The reptile house: snakes» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's ch
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/87-reptile-house-snakes/e2/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [Biology](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/) / [The reptile house: snakes](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/87-reptile-house-snakes/) / e2

# Exam question 2 · The reptile house: snakes

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the function of the forked tongue of a snake?

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

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 87 «The reptile house: snakes» 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/87-reptile-house-snakes/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:87-reptile-house-snakes:e2:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the function of the forked tongue of a snake?
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	function	function	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
13	forked	fork	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	14	amod	_	_
14	tongue	tongue	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	_
15	of	of	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
16	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	snake	snake	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	?	?	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 function of the forked tongue of a snake |  |  |  | of the following statements; accurately *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **fork** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn pocket-9.10 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .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 -->
It gathers scent and shows on which side the scent is stronger

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:87-reptile-house-snakes:e2:o1:1
# text = It gathers scent and shows on which side the scent is stronger
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	gathers	gather	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	scent	scent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	shows	show	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
6	on	on	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	which	which	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	8	det	_	_
8	side	side	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	scent	scent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
11	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	cop	_	_
12	stronger	strong	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	8	acl:relcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **gather** | present | It | scent |  |  |  |  | vn deduce-97.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent scent=Theme |
| 2 | **show** | present |  |  |  | which side |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **is** | present | the scent | which side *not said here* |  |  |  | strong *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It serves to cool the body during the heat of the day

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:87-reptile-house-snakes:e2:o2:1
# text = It serves to cool the body during the heat of the day
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	serves	serve	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	cool	cool	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	body	body	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	during	during	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	heat	heat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
10	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **serve** | present | It |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **cool** | to-infinitive |  | the body |  |  | during the heat of the day |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent body=Patient |
| 3 | **heat** |  | the day |  |  |  |  |  | nom heat «phenomenon intransitive»: of=agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is employed to produce sound

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:87-reptile-house-snakes:e2:o3:1
# text = It is employed to produce sound
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	employed	employ	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	produce	produce	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
6	sound	sound	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **employ** | present · passive |  | It |  |  |  |  | vn hire-13.5.3 «NP V NP to be NP»: subject=Theme clause=Attribute |
| 2 | **produce** | to-infinitive |  | sound |  |  |  |  | vn create-26.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent sound=Result |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It injects venom into prey

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:87-reptile-house-snakes:e2:o4:1
# text = It injects venom into prey
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	injects	inject	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	venom	venom	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
4	into	into	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	prey	prey	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **inject** | present | It | venom |  | prey |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent venom=Patient |

<!-- div src -->

**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 -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [The reptile house: snakes, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/87-reptile-house-snakes/e1/)
- next →: [The reptile house: snakes, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/87-reptile-house-snakes/e3/)
- ↑ back to [The reptile house: snakes](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/87-reptile-house-snakes/)