---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the… — The reptile house: Komodo dragons, cha… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the determination of sex in crocodilian embryos? Exam question 3 of lesson 88 «The reptile house: Komodo dragons, chameleons, tortoises and crocodiles» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmat
---

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# Exam question 3 · The reptile house: Komodo dragons, chameleons, tortoises a…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the determination of sex in crocodilian embryos?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** sex · **What happens:** follow, characteris, determine · **To what, where:** determination, crocodilian embryos

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 88 «The reptile house: Komodo dragons, chameleons, tortoises and crocodiles» 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/88-reptile-house-komodo-chameleons-tortoises-crocodiles/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:88-reptile-house-komodo-chameleons-tortoises-crocodiles:e3:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the determination of sex in crocodilian embryos?
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	determination	determination	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	sex	sex	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	_
13	in	in	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	crocodilian	crocodilian	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	15	amod	_	_
15	embryos	embryo	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	?	?	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 determination of sex |  | crocodilian embryos |  | of the following statements; accurately *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **determine** |  | sex |  |  |  |  |  | nom determination «act intransitive»: of=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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is determined by the colour of the shell

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:88-reptile-house-komodo-chameleons-tortoises-crocodiles:e3:o1:1
# text = It is determined by the colour of the shell
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	determined	determine	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	colour	colour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	shell	shell	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **determine** | present · passive | the colour of the shell | It |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Topic |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is determined by the temperature at which the eggs are incubated

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:88-reptile-house-komodo-chameleons-tortoises-crocodiles:e3:o2:1
# text = It is determined by the temperature at which the eggs are incubated
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	determined	determine	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	temperature	temperature	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
7	at	at	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	12	obl	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	eggs	egg	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	nsubj:pass	_	_
11	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	aux:pass	_	_
12	incubated	incubate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	acl:relcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **determine** | present · passive | the temperature | It |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Topic |
| 2 | **incubate** | present · passive |  | the eggs |  | the temperature |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is chosen by the parents after hatching

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:88-reptile-house-komodo-chameleons-tortoises-crocodiles:e3:o3:1
# text = It is chosen by the parents after hatching
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	chosen	choose	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	parents	parent	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
7	after	after	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
8	hatching	hatch	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	3	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **choose** | present · passive | the parents | It |  |  |  |  | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Theme |
| 2 | **hatch** | gerund | the parents *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn grow-26.2.1 «NP.patient V PP.product»: agent=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is determined by the size of the mother

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:88-reptile-house-komodo-chameleons-tortoises-crocodiles:e3:o4:1
# text = It is determined by the size of the mother
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	determined	determine	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	size	size	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	mother	mother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **determine** | present · passive | the size of the mother | It |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Topic |

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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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