---
title: Ascertain the approximate period for which an elephant mother carrie… — Mammals and how they care for their yo… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the approximate period for which an elephant mother carries her young before birth. Exam question 3 of lesson 75 «Mammals and how they care for their young» of the world course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choi
---

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# Exam question 3 · Mammals and how they care for their young

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the approximate period for which an elephant mother carries her young before birth.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, elephant mother · **What happens:** ascertain, carry · **To what, where:** approximate period, young

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 75 «Mammals and how they care for their young» 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/75-mammals-and-their-young/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:75-mammals-and-their-young:e3:1
# text = Ascertain the approximate period for which an elephant mother carries her young before birth.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	approximate	approximate	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	period	period	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	10	obl	_	_
7	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	elephant	elephant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	mother	mother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
10	carries	carry	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	acl:relcl	_	_
11	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	12	nmod:poss	_	_
12	young	young	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	_
13	before	before	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	birth	birth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	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 approximate period |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent period=Topic |
| 2 | **carry** | present | a elephant mother | mother's young |  |  | before birth | for the approximate period | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent young=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 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
About 9 months

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:75-mammals-and-their-young:e3:o1:1
# text = About 9 months
1	About	about	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
2	9	9	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	3	nummod	_	_
3	months	month	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
About 40 months

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:75-mammals-and-their-young:e3:o2:1
# text = About 40 months
1	About	about	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
2	40	40	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	3	nummod	_	_
3	months	month	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
```

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

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
About 22 months

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:75-mammals-and-their-young:e3:o3:1
# text = About 22 months
1	About	about	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
2	22	22	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	3	nummod	_	_
3	months	month	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
About 6 months

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:75-mammals-and-their-young:e3:o4:1
# text = About 6 months
1	About	about	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
2	6	6	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	3	nummod	_	_
3	months	month	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .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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