---
title: Ascertain the relationship which is presently accepted between birds… — Fossils · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the relationship which is presently accepted between birds and dinosaurs. Exam question 4 of lesson 57 «Fossils» of the geography 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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# Exam question 4 · Fossils

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the relationship which is presently accepted between birds and dinosaurs.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** ascertain, accept · **To what, where:** relationship

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 57 «Fossils» of the geography 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/geography/57-fossils/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:57-fossils:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the relationship which is presently accepted between birds and dinosaurs.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	relationship	relationship	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	7	nsubj:pass	_	_
5	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux:pass	_	_
6	presently	presently	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	accepted	accept	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl:relcl	_	_
8	between	between	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	birds	bird	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obl	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
11	dinosaurs	dinosaur	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* | the relationship |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent relationship=Topic |
| 2 | **accept** | present · passive |  | the relationship |  |  |  | between birds and dinosaurs; presently *property* | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |

<!-- .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 -->
Birds are descended from bats

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:57-fossils:e4:o1:1
# text = Birds are descended from bats
1	Birds	bird	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	descended	descend	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	from	from	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	bats	bat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **descend** | present · passive |  | Birds |  | bats |  |  | vn meander-47.7-1 «PP.location V NP»: subject=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Birds preceded all dinosaurs by a billion years

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:57-fossils:e4:o2:1
# text = Birds preceded all dinosaurs by a billion years
1	Birds	bird	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	preceded	proceed	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	4	det	_	_
4	dinosaurs	dinosaur	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	billion	billion	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	8	nummod	_	_
8	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **proceed** | past | Birds | all dinosaurs |  |  | year |  | tree rules |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Birds are themselves dinosaurs, descended from feathered forms

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:57-fossils:e4:o3:1
# text = Birds are themselves dinosaurs, descended from feathered forms
1	Birds	bird	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	themselves	themselves	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	4	nsubj	_	_
4	dinosaurs	dinosaur	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
6	descended	descend	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	acl	_	_
7	from	from	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	feathered	feathered	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	forms	form	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | Birds | dinosaurs |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **descend** | participle |  | dinosaurs *not said here* |  | feathered forms |  |  | vn meander-47.7-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme from form=Location |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Birds and dinosaurs are wholly unrelated

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:57-fossils:e4:o4:1
# text = Birds and dinosaurs are wholly unrelated
1	Birds	bird	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
2	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	3	cc	_	_
3	dinosaurs	dinosaur	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	conj	_	_
4	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
5	wholly	wholly	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	unrelated	unrelated	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Birds and dinosaurs |  |  |  |  | unrelated, wholly *property* | tree rules |

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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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