Exam question 2 · Rockets, record speeds and motion everywhere

Ascertain the reason for which a satellite in orbit does not descend to the Earth.

Mova's choice: option 4 · The right answer: option 4 · right ✓ · Who acts: you, satellite · What happens: ascertain, not descend · To what, where: reason, Earth

This is exam question 2 of lesson 38 «Rockets, record speeds and motion everywhere» of the physics 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.

The question

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 reason	det
3	reason	reason	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Ascertain	obj
4	for	for	ADP	_	5 which	case
5	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	12 descend	obl
6	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	7 satellite	det
7	satellite	satellite	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 descend	nsubj
8	in	in	ADP	_	9 orbit	case
9	orbit	orbit	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 satellite	nmod
10	does	do	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	12 descend	aux
11	not	not	PART	Polarity=Neg	12 descend	advmod
12	descend	descend	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	3 reason	parataxis
13	to	to	ADP	_	15 Earth	case
14	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	15 Earth	det
15	Earth	Earth	PROPN	Number=Sing	12 descend	obl
16	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Ascertain	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	ascertain	imperative	you not said here	the reason					vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent reason=Topic
2	not descend	present · do-support	a satellite in orbit			the Earth		for the reason	vn meander-47.7-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme to earth=Location

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

Option 1

Gravitation ceases entirely beyond the atmosphere

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Gravitation	gravitation	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 ceases	nsubj
2	ceases	cease	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	entirely	entirely	ADV	_	2 ceases	advmod
4	beyond	beyond	ADP	_	6 atmosphere	case
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 atmosphere	det
6	atmosphere	atmosphere	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 ceases	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	cease	present	Gravitation					beyond the atmosphere; entirely property	vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality

Option 2

It is suspended by the pressure of sunlight alone

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	It	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	3 suspended	nsubj:pass
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 suspended	aux:pass
3	suspended	suspend	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	by	by	ADP	_	6 pressure	case
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 pressure	det
6	pressure	pressure	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 suspended	obl
7	of	of	ADP	_	8 sunlight	case
8	sunlight	sunlight	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 pressure	nmod
9	alone	alone	ADV	_	8 sunlight	advmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	suspend	present · passive	the pressure of sunlight	It					vn fire-10.10 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Theme
2	press			sunlight					nom pressure «phenomenon transitive»: of=patient

Option 3

Its engines operate without any interruption so as to hold it above the Earth

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Its	its	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	2 engines	nmod:poss
2	engines	engine	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 operate	nsubj
3	operate	operate	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
4	without	without	ADP	_	6 interruption	case
5	any	any	DET	PronType=Ind	6 interruption	det
6	interruption	interruption	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 operate	obl
7	so	so	ADV	_	10 hold	advmod
8	as	as	SCONJ	_	10 hold	mark
9	to	to	PART	_	10 hold	mark
10	hold	hold	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	3 operate	advcl
11	it	it	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	10 hold	obj
12	above	above	ADP	_	14 Earth	case
13	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	14 Earth	det
14	Earth	Earth	PROPN	Number=Sing	10 hold	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	operate	present	Its engines					without any interruption	vn function-105.2.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	hold	to-infinitive	Its engines not said here	interruption		the Earth			vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent it=Theme above earth=Location

Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer

Its sideways velocity is such that it continually falls around the Earth

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Its	its	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	3 velocity	nmod:poss
2	sideways	sideways	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 velocity	compound
3	velocity	velocity	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 such	nsubj
4	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	5 such	cop
5	such	such	ADJ	Degree=Pos ExtPos=ADP	root	root
6	that	that	SCONJ	_	9 falls	mark
7	it	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	9 falls	nsubj
8	continually	continually	ADV	_	9 falls	advmod
9	falls	fall	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	5 such	advcl
10	around	around	ADP	_	12 Earth	case
11	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 Earth	det
12	Earth	Earth	PROPN	Number=Sing	9 falls	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is	present	Its sideways velocity					such property	tree rules
2	fall	present	velocity			the Earth		continually property	vn occur-48.3 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme around earth=Location

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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