---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises humus? — Soil and what lives in it · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises humus? Exam question 1 of lesson 63 «Soil and what lives in it» of the world 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 1 · Soil and what lives in it

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

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** follow, characteris · **To what, where:** humus

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 63 «Soil and what lives in it» of the world 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/world/63-soil-and-what-lives-in-it/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:63-soil-and-what-lives-in-it:e1:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises humus?
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	humus	humus	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	?	?	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 |  | humus |  |  |  | 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 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Water held between grains of clay

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:63-soil-and-what-lives-in-it:e1:o1:1
# text = Water held between grains of clay
1	Water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
2	held	hold	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	1	acl	_	_
3	between	between	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	grains	grain	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	clay	clay	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hold** | participle |  | Water *not said here* |  | grains of clay |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme between grain=Location |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Small fragments of rock without any nutrients

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:63-soil-and-what-lives-in-it:e1:o2:1
# text = Small fragments of rock without any nutrients
1	Small	small	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	fragments	fragment	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	rock	rock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
5	without	without	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	7	det	_	_
7	nutrients	nutrient	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
```

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

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Dark material formed from rotted plants and animals, rich in nutrients

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:63-soil-and-what-lives-in-it:e1:o3:1
# text = Dark material formed from rotted plants and animals, rich in nutrients
1	Dark	dark	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	material	material	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	formed	form	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
4	from	from	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	rotted	rot	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	amod	_	_
6	plants	plant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	animals	animal	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
10	rich	rich	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
11	in	in	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	nutrients	nutrient	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **form** | participle |  | Dark material *not said here* |  | rotted plants and animals |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **rot** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn entity\_specific\_cos-45.5 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The solid rock beneath the subsoil

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:63-soil-and-what-lives-in-it:e1:o4:1
# text = The solid rock beneath the subsoil
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	solid	solid	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	rock	rock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	beneath	beneath	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	subsoil	subsoil	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
```

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

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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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- ← previous: [Soil and what lives in it, test 12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/63-soil-and-what-lives-in-it/t12/)
- next →: [Soil and what lives in it, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/63-soil-and-what-lives-in-it/e2/)
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