---
title: Why does a fish that dies and is buried in mud at once have a better… — Fossils · tree and pragmatics
description: Why does a fish that dies and is buried in mud at once have a better chance of becoming a fossil than one that dies on a beach? Test 3 · ★ 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 choic
---

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# Test 3 · ★ · Fossils

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why does a fish that dies and is buried in mud at once have a better chance of becoming a fossil than one that dies on a beach?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** fish, better chance · **What happens:** do, die, bury, have, become · **To what, where:** fish, mud, better chance, fossil, beach

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 3 · ★ of lesson 57 «Fossils» of the geography 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/geography/57-fossils/#t3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:57-fossils:t3:1
# text = Why does a fish that dies and is buried in mud at once have a better chance of becoming a fossil than one that dies on a beach?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	0	root	_	_
2	does	do	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	conj	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	fish	fish	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	6	nsubj	_	_
6	dies	die	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	acl:relcl	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
8	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux:pass	_	_
9	buried	bury	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	conj	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	mud	mud	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
12	at	at	SCONJ	IN	_	14	mark	_	_
13	once	once	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	14	advmod	_	_
14	have	have	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	advcl	_	_
15	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
16	better	good	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	17	amod	_	_
17	chance	chance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obj	_	_
18	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	19	mark	_	_
19	becoming	become	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	17	acl	_	_
20	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
21	fossil	fossil	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	xcomp	_	_
22	than	than	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
23	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	19	obl	_	_
24	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	25	nsubj	_	_
25	dies	die	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	23	acl:relcl	_	_
26	on	on	ADP	IN	_	28	case	_	_
27	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	28	det	_	_
28	beach	beach	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	25	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
29	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | present |  | a fish |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent fish=Eventuality |
| 2 | **die** | present | a fish |  |  |  |  |  | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |
| 3 | **bury** | present · passive | a fish *not said here* |  |  | mud |  |  | vn put-9.1-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: in mud=Destination |
| 4 | **have** | infinitive | a fish *not said here* | a better chance |  |  |  | once *property* | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent chance=Patient |
| 5 | **become** | gerund | a better chance *not said here* | a fossil |  |  |  | than one | vn become-109.1-1-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Patient |
| 6 | **die** | present |  |  |  | a beach |  |  | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |

<!-- .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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Quick burial protects it from rotting and scavengers

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:57-fossils:t3:o1:1
# text = Quick burial protects it from rotting and scavengers
1	Quick	quick	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	burial	burial	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	protects	protect	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	obj	_	_
5	from	from	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
6	rotting	rot	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	3	advcl	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	scavengers	scavenger	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **protect** | present | Quick burial | it |  |  |  |  | vn defend-72.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Beneficiary |
| 2 | **rot** | gerund | Quick burial *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn entity\_specific\_cos-45.5 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Mud is warmer than sand

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:57-fossils:t3:o2:1
# text = Mud is warmer than sand
1	Mud	mud	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	warmer	warm	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	_
4	than	than	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	sand	sand	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Mud |  |  |  |  | than sand; warm *property* | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Beaches have no oxygen

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:57-fossils:t3:o3:1
# text = Beaches have no oxygen
1	Beaches	beach	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	have	have	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	4	det	_	_
4	oxygen	oxygen	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | Beaches | no oxygen |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent oxygen=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Fish on beaches slowly turn into sand grains in the sun

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:57-fossils:t3:o4:1
# text = Fish on beaches slowly turn into sand grains in the sun
1	Fish	fish	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
2	on	on	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
3	beaches	beach	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	nmod	_	_
4	slowly	slowly	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	turn	turn	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	into	into	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	sand	sand	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	grains	grain	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
9	in	in	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	sun	sun	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **turn** | present | Fish on beaches |  |  | sand grains |  | in the sun; slowly *property* | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V PP.trajectory»: agent=Theme into grain=Trajectory |

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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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