---
title: Ascertain the reason for which the flowers of a hydrangea become blu… — Alkalis and soda, and how they cancel… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the reason for which the flowers of a hydrangea become blue in certain gardens. Exam question 4 of lesson 16 «Alkalis and soda, and how they cancel acids» of the chemistry course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's ch
---

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# Exam question 4 · Alkalis and soda, and how they cancel acids

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the reason for which the flowers of a hydrangea become blue in certain gardens.

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

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 16 «Alkalis and soda, and how they cancel acids» of the chemistry 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/chemistry/16-alkalis-and-soda/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chemistry:16-alkalis-and-soda:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the reason for which the flowers of a hydrangea become blue in certain gardens.
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	11	obl	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	flowers	flower	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	nsubj	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	hydrangea	hydrangea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
11	become	become	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	acl:relcl	_	_
12	blue	blue	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	xcomp	_	_
13	in	in	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	certain	certain	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	15	amod	_	_
15	gardens	garden	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	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 | **become** | present | the flowers of a hydrangea |  |  |  |  | for the reason; blue *property* | vn become-109.1-1-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Patient |

<!-- .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 plant is watered with coloured solutions

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chemistry:16-alkalis-and-soda:e4:o1:1
# text = The plant is watered with coloured solutions
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	plant	plant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	watered	water	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	with	with	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	coloured	coloured	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	solutions	solution	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **water** | present · passive |  | the plant |  |  |  | with coloured solutions | vn butter-9.9 «NP V NP PP.theme»: subject=Destination with solution=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
In acidic soil the plant absorbs aluminium

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chemistry:16-alkalis-and-soda:e4:o2:1
# text = In acidic soil the plant absorbs aluminium
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	acidic	acidic	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	soil	soil	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	plant	plant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	absorbs	absorb	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	aluminium	aluminium	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **absorb** | present | the plant | aluminium |  | acidic soil |  |  | vn absorb-39.8 «NP V NP»: agent=Goal aluminium=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
In alkaline soil the plant absorbs copper

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chemistry:16-alkalis-and-soda:e4:o3:1
# text = In alkaline soil the plant absorbs copper
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	alkaline	alkaline	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	soil	soil	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	plant	plant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	absorbs	absorb	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	copper	copper	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **absorb** | present | the plant | copper |  | alkaline soil |  |  | vn absorb-39.8 «NP V NP»: agent=Goal copper=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The flowers reflect the colour of the sky

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chemistry:16-alkalis-and-soda:e4:o4:1
# text = The flowers reflect the colour of the sky
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	flowers	flower	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	reflect	reflect	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	colour	colour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	sky	sky	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **reflect** | present | the flowers | the colour of the sky |  |  |  |  | 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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