---
title: Identify the principal distinction between adoption and fostering. — A new baby in the house · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal distinction between adoption and fostering. Exam question 2 of lesson 19 «A new baby in the house» of the adult life 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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# Exam question 2 · A new baby in the house

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal distinction between adoption and fostering.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** identify · **To what, where:** principal distinction

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This is exam question 2 of lesson 19 «A new baby in the house» of the adult life 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/adult-life/19-a-new-baby-in-the-house/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:19-a-new-baby-in-the-house:e2:1
# text = Identify the principal distinction between adoption and fostering.
1	Identify	identify	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	distinction	distinction	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	between	between	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	adoption	adoption	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	fostering	fostering	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **identify** | imperative | you *not said here* | the principal distinction |  |  |  | between adoption and fostering | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent distinction=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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Adoption is permanent by law, whereas fostering is ordinarily temporary

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:19-a-new-baby-in-the-house:e2:o1:1
# text = Adoption is permanent by law, whereas fostering is ordinarily temporary
1	Adoption	adoption	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	permanent	permanent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	law	law	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
7	whereas	whereas	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
8	fostering	fostering	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
9	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	cop	_	_
10	ordinarily	ordinarily	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
11	temporary	temporary	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Adoption |  |  |  |  | by law; permanent *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** | present | fostering |  |  |  |  | ordinarily, temporary *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Adoption applies only to newborn infants

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:19-a-new-baby-in-the-house:e2:o2:1
# text = Adoption applies only to newborn infants
1	Adoption	adoption	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	applies	apply	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	only	only	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	newborn	newborn	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	infants	infant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **apply** | present | Adoption | newborn infants |  |  |  |  | vn use-105.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent infant=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Fostering confers the status of birth parent

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:19-a-new-baby-in-the-house:e2:o3:1
# text = Fostering confers the status of birth parent
1	Fostering	fostering	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	confers	confer	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	status	status	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	birth	birth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	parent	parent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **confer** | present | Fostering | the status of birth parent |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Fostering is permanent by law, whereas adoption is temporary

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:19-a-new-baby-in-the-house:e2:o4:1
# text = Fostering is permanent by law, whereas adoption is temporary
1	Fostering	fostering	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	permanent	permanent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	law	law	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
7	whereas	whereas	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
8	adoption	adoption	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
9	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	cop	_	_
10	temporary	temporary	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Fostering |  |  |  |  | by law; permanent *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** | present | adoption |  |  |  |  | temporary *property* | 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: [A new baby in the house, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/adult-life/19-a-new-baby-in-the-house/e1/)
- next →: [A new baby in the house, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/adult-life/19-a-new-baby-in-the-house/e3/)
- ↑ back to [A new baby in the house](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/adult-life/19-a-new-baby-in-the-house/)