---
title: Ascertain the reason for which a person is unable to tickle himself. — The human body deeper: the brain and n… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the reason for which a person is unable to tickle himself. Exam question 4 of lesson 260 «The human body deeper: the brain and nerves» of the biology 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 4 · The human body deeper: the brain and nerves

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the reason for which a person is unable to tickle himself.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, person · **What happens:** ascertain, be, tickle · **To what, where:** reason, person

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 260 «The human body deeper: the brain and nerves» of the biology 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/biology/260-human-body-deeper-the-brain-and-nerves/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:260-human-body-deeper-the-brain-and-nerves:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the reason for which a person is unable to tickle himself.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	for	for	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	9	obl	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
8	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
9	unable	unable	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	acl	_	_
10	to	to	PART	TO	_	11	mark	_	_
11	tickle	tickle	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	xcomp	_	_
12	himself	himself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	11	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	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 reason |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent reason=Topic |
| 2 | **is** | present | a person |  |  |  |  | for the reason; unable *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **tickle** | to-infinitive | a person *not said here* | person |  |  |  |  | vn touch-20-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent himself=Experiencer |

<!-- .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 -->
The skin is insensible to the touch of the same body

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:260-human-body-deeper-the-brain-and-nerves:e4:o1:1
# text = The skin is insensible to the touch of the same body
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	skin	skin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	insensible	insensible	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	touch	touch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	same	same	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	body	body	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the skin |  |  |  |  | to the touch of the same body; insensible *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **touch** |  |  | the same body |  |  |  |  | nom touch «event transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The brain anticipates the sensation of his own touch and diminishes it

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:260-human-body-deeper-the-brain-and-nerves:e4:o2:1
# text = The brain anticipates the sensation of his own touch and diminishes it
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	brain	brain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	anticipates	anticipate	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	sensation	sensation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
8	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	touch	touch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
11	diminishes	diminish	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
12	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **anticipate** | present | the brain | the sensation of brain's own touch |  |  |  |  | vn conjecture-29.5-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent sensation=Theme |
| 2 | **diminish** | present | the brain *not said here* | sensation |  |  |  |  | vn caused\_calibratable\_cos-45.6.2-1 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Causer it=Patient |
| 3 | **sense** |  |  | brain's own touch |  |  |  |  | nom sensation «cognition transitive»: of=patient |
| 4 | **touch** |  | brain |  |  |  |  |  | nom touch «event transitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The fingers lack the necessary warmth

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:260-human-body-deeper-the-brain-and-nerves:e4:o3:1
# text = The fingers lack the necessary warmth
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	fingers	finger	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	lack	lack	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	necessary	necessary	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	warmth	warmth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lack** | present | the fingers | the necessary warmth |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Tickling is possible only during sleep

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:260-human-body-deeper-the-brain-and-nerves:e4:o4:1
# text = Tickling is possible only during sleep
1	Tickling	tickling	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	possible	possible	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	only	only	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
5	during	during	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	sleep	sleep	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Tickling |  |  |  | during sleep | possible *property* | tree rules |

<!-- div src -->

**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: [The human body deeper: the brain and n…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/260-human-body-deeper-the-brain-and-nerves/e3/)
- next →: [The human body deeper: the heart and b…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/261-human-body-deeper-heart-and-blood/t1/)
- ↑ back to [The human body deeper: the brain and nerves](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/260-human-body-deeper-the-brain-and-nerves/)