---
title: A cliff shows many flat layers of rock, and the layer at the bottom… — Rocks, minerals and fossils · tree and pragmatics
description: A cliff shows many flat layers of rock, and the layer at the bottom holds fossils of fish. Which is most likely true? Test 1 of lesson 61 «Rocks, minerals and fossils» of the world course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's cho
---

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# Test 1 · Rocks, minerals and fossils

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A cliff shows many flat layers of rock, and the layer at the bottom holds fossils of fish. Which is most likely true?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** cliff, layer · **What happens:** show, hold, be · **To what, where:** many flat layers, fossils

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 1 of lesson 61 «Rocks, minerals and fossils» of the world 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/world/61-rocks-minerals-fossils/#t1).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* A cliff shows many flat layers of rock, and the layer at the bottom holds fossils of fish.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:61-rocks-minerals-fossils:t1:1
# text = A cliff shows many flat layers of rock, and the layer at the bottom holds fossils of fish.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	cliff	cliff	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	shows	show	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
5	flat	flat	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	layers	layer	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	rock	rock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	layer	layer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nsubj	_	_
13	at	at	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	bottom	bottom	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nmod	_	_
16	holds	hold	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
17	fossils	fossil	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	16	obj	_	_
18	of	of	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
19	fish	fish	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **show** | present | a cliff | many flat layers of rock |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent layer=Recipient |
| 2 | **hold** | present | the layer at the bottom | fossils of fish |  |  |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent fossil=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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* Which is most likely true?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:61-rocks-minerals-fossils:t1:2
# text = Which is most likely true?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	5	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	4	advmod	_	_
4	likely	likely	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	true	true	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The fish swam into the rock after it hardened

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:61-rocks-minerals-fossils:t1:o1:1
# text = The fish swam into the rock after it hardened
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	fish	fish	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	swam	swim	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	into	into	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	rock	rock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
7	after	after	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
8	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
9	hardened	harden	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **swim** | past | the fish |  |  | the rock |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme into rock=Destination |
| 2 | **harden** | past | fish |  |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
All the layers formed together in a single day of flooding

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:61-rocks-minerals-fossils:t1:o2:1
# text = All the layers formed together in a single day of flooding
1	All	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	3	det:predet	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	layers	layer	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	formed	form	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	together	together	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	single	single	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
10	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	flooding	flooding	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **form** | past | all layers |  |  |  | day | together *property* | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The bottom layer is older than the layers above it

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:61-rocks-minerals-fossils:t1:o3:1
# text = The bottom layer is older than the layers above it
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	bottom	bottom	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	layer	layer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
5	older	old	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	_
6	than	than	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	layers	layer	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
9	above	above	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the bottom layer |  |  |  |  | than the layers above it; old *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The top layer is the oldest one

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:61-rocks-minerals-fossils:t1:o4:1
# text = The top layer is the oldest one
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	top	top	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	layer	layer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	oldest	old	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	7	amod	_	_
7	one	one	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | the top layer | the oldest one |  |  |  |  | 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.

<!-- /div -->

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- ← previous: [Thinking it through — forces, heat, li…, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/60-reasoning-energy-technology/e4/)
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