---
title: What would a palaeontologist need to find out what a dinosaur ate? — Dinosaurs and life long ago · tree and pragmatics
description: What would a palaeontologist need to find out what a dinosaur ate? Test 6 · ★ of lesson 78 «Dinosaurs and life long ago» 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 right.
---

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# Test 6 · ★ · Dinosaurs and life long ago

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What would a palaeontologist need to find out what a dinosaur ate?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** palaeontologist · **What happens:** need, find out

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This is test 6 · ★ of lesson 78 «Dinosaurs and life long ago» 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/78-dinosaurs-and-life-long-ago/#t6).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:78-dinosaurs-and-life-long-ago:t6:1
# text = What would a palaeontologist need to find out what a dinosaur ate?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	5	obj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	palaeontologist	palaeontologist	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	need	need	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	find	find	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	xcomp	_	_
8	out	out	ADP	RP	_	7	compound:prt	_	_
9	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	7	obj	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
11	dinosaur	dinosaur	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	compound	_	_
12	ate	ate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **need** | would | a palaeontologist |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **find out** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | a palaeontologist *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn learn-14-2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent what=Topic |

<!-- .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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Its teeth or fossil droppings

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:78-dinosaurs-and-life-long-ago:t6:o1:1
# text = Its teeth or fossil droppings
1	Its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	teeth	tooth	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
3	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
4	fossil	fossil	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	droppings	dropping	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	conj	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The colour and pattern of its skin

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:78-dinosaurs-and-life-long-ago:t6:o2:1
# text = The colour and pattern of its skin
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	colour	colour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	4	cc	_	_
4	pattern	pattern	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	conj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	skin	skin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

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

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Its name written in an old book

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:78-dinosaurs-and-life-long-ago:t6:o3:1
# text = Its name written in an old book
1	Its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	name	name	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	written	write	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	book	book	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **write** | participle · passive |  | Its name |  | a old book |  |  | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: subject=Theme in book=Destination |
| 2 | **name** |  | Its *= it* |  |  |  |  |  | nom name «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The sound it made when it roared

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:78-dinosaurs-and-life-long-ago:t6:o4:1
# text = The sound it made when it roared
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	sound	sound	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	made	make	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	7	advmod	_	_
6	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
7	roared	roar	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	ccomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | past | the sound |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **roar** | past | sound |  |  |  |  |  | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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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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