---
title: Ascertain the principal means by which a protective helmet reduces i… — The brain and nerves · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the principal means by which a protective helmet reduces injury to the brain upon impact. Exam question 4 of lesson 68 «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.
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/68-the-brain-and-nerves/e4/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [Biology](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/) / [The brain and nerves](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/68-the-brain-and-nerves/) / e4

# Exam question 4 · The brain and nerves

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the principal means by which a protective helmet reduces injury to the brain upon impact.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, principal, protective helmet · **What happens:** ascertain, mean, reduce · **To what, where:** injury · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 68 «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/68-the-brain-and-nerves/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:68-the-brain-and-nerves:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the principal means by which a protective helmet reduces injury to the brain upon impact.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	principal	principal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	ccomp	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	10	obl	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	protective	protective	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	helmet	helmet	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
10	reduces	reduce	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	ccomp	_	_
11	injury	injury	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	_
12	to	to	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	brain	brain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	_
15	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	impact	impact	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **mean** | present | the principal |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **reduce** | present | a protective helmet | injury |  |  |  | to the brain upon impact *result* | vn caused\_calibratable\_cos-45.6.2 «NP V NP.patient PP.extent PP.initial\_state PP.result»: agent=Causer injury=Patient by which=Extent to brain=Result |

<!-- .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 -->
It cools the brain upon impact

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:68-the-brain-and-nerves:e4:o1:1
# text = It cools the brain upon impact
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	cools	cool	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	brain	brain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	impact	impact	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cool** | present | It | the brain |  |  |  | upon impact | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent brain=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It prevents the head from moving at all

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:68-the-brain-and-nerves:e4:o2:1
# text = It prevents the head from moving at all
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	prevents	prevent	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	head	head	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	from	from	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
6	moving	move	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	advcl	_	_
7	at	at	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **prevent** | present | It | the head |  |  |  |  | vn forbid-64.4-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Causer head=Theme |
| 2 | **move** | gerund |  |  |  | all |  |  | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V PP.trajectory»: agent=Theme at all=Trajectory |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It renders the skull permanently thicker after each impact

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:68-the-brain-and-nerves:e4:o3:1
# text = It renders the skull permanently thicker after each impact
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	renders	render	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	skull	skull	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	permanently	permanently	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	thicker	thick	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	2	advmod	_	_
7	after	after	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	9	det	_	_
9	impact	impact	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **render** | present | It | the skull |  |  | after each impact |  | vn give-13.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent skull=Theme |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Its foam deforms, decelerating the head more gradually

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:68-the-brain-and-nerves:e4:o4:1
# text = Its foam deforms, decelerating the head more gradually
1	Its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	foam	foam	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	deforms	deform	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
5	decelerating	decelerate	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	3	advcl	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	head	head	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	more	more	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	9	advmod	_	_
9	gradually	gradually	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **deform** | present | Its foam |  |  |  |  |  | vn turn-26.6.1 «NP V»: agent=Patient |
| 2 | **decelerate** | gerund | Its foam *not said here* | the head |  |  |  | gradually *property* | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent head=Patient |

<!-- 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 -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [The brain and nerves, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/68-the-brain-and-nerves/e3/)
- next →: [Senses: eyes and ears, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/69-senses-eyes-and-ears/t1/)
- ↑ back to [The brain and nerves](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/68-the-brain-and-nerves/)