---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the… — Deep time and the story of life · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the Cambrian explosion? Exam question 3 of lesson 58 «Deep time and the story of life» 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 wrong
---

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# Exam question 3 · Deep time and the story of life

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the Cambrian explosion?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** follow, characteris · **To what, where:** Cambrian explosion

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This is exam question 3 of lesson 58 «Deep time and the story of life» 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/58-deep-time-and-the-story-of-life/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:58-deep-time-and-the-story-of-life:e3:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the Cambrian explosion?
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	11	det	_	_
10	Cambrian	Cambrian	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	compound	_	_
11	explosion	explosion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	?	?	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 Cambrian explosion |  |  |  | of the following statements; accurately *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 -->
The impact of an asteroid upon Mexico

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:58-deep-time-and-the-story-of-life:e3:o1:1
# text = The impact of an asteroid upon Mexico
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	impact	impact	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	asteroid	asteroid	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	Mexico	Mexico	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **impact** |  |  | a asteroid |  |  |  | upon Mexico | nom impact «event transitive»: of=patient upon=obl |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The first appearance of oxygen within the atmosphere

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:58-deep-time-and-the-story-of-life:e3:o2:1
# text = The first appearance of oxygen within the atmosphere
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	first	first	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	3	amod	_	_
3	appearance	appearance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	oxygen	oxygen	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
6	within	within	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	atmosphere	atmosphere	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The comparatively rapid appearance of numerous animal groups possessing shells, eyes and limbs

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:58-deep-time-and-the-story-of-life:e3:o3:1
# text = The comparatively rapid appearance of numerous animal groups possessing shells, eyes and limbs
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
2	comparatively	comparatively	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	rapid	rapid	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	appearance	appearance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	numerous	numerous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
7	animal	animal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	groups	group	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nmod	_	_
9	possessing	possess	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	10	amod	_	_
10	shells	shell	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
12	eyes	eye	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	conj	_	_
13	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
14	limbs	limb	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **possess** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn own-100.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The volcanic eruption which extinguished the dinosaurs

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:58-deep-time-and-the-story-of-life:e3:o4:1
# text = The volcanic eruption which extinguished the dinosaurs
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	volcanic	volcanic	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	eruption	eruption	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	5	nsubj	_	_
5	extinguished	extinguish	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	acl:relcl	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	dinosaurs	dinosaur	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **extinguish** | past | the volcanic eruption | the dinosaurs |  |  |  |  | vn remedy-45.7-1 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent dinosaur=Patient |

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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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