---
title: Ascertain the reason for which a sparkler must be held at arm's leng… — Colours of fire: fireworks · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the reason for which a sparkler must be held at arm's length. Exam question 4 of lesson 26 «Colours of fire: fireworks» of the chemistry 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 · Colours of fire: fireworks

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the reason for which a sparkler must be held at arm's length.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** ascertain, hold · **To what, where:** reason, sparkler, length

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 26 «Colours of fire: fireworks» 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/26-colours-of-fire-fireworks/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chemistry:26-colours-of-fire-fireworks:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the reason for which a sparkler must be held at arm's length.
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	10	obl	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	sparkler	sparkler	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj:pass	_	_
8	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	10	aux	_	_
9	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	aux:pass	_	_
10	held	hold	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl:relcl	_	_
11	at	at	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
12	arm	arm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	's	's	PART	POS	_	12	case	_	_
14	length	length	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	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 | **hold** | must · passive |  | a sparkler |  | arm's length |  | for the reason | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP PP.location»: subject=Theme at length=Location |

<!-- .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 becomes intensely cold upon ignition

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chemistry:26-colours-of-fire-fireworks:e4:o1:1
# text = It becomes intensely cold upon ignition
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	becomes	become	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	intensely	intensely	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	cold	cold	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	xcomp	_	_
5	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	ignition	ignition	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **become** | present | It |  |  |  |  | cold *property* | vn become-109.1-1-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It may ascend into the air without warning

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chemistry:26-colours-of-fire-fireworks:e4:o2:1
# text = It may ascend into the air without warning
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	ascend	ascend	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	into	into	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	air	air	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
7	without	without	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	warning	warning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascend** | may | It |  |  | the air |  | without warning | vn escape-51.1-1-3 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme into air=Initial\_Location |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It emits a poisonous liquid during use

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chemistry:26-colours-of-fire-fireworks:e4:o3:1
# text = It emits a poisonous liquid during use
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	emits	emit	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	poisonous	poisonous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	liquid	liquid	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	during	during	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	use	use	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **emit** | present | It | a poisonous liquid |  |  | during use |  | vn substance\_emission-43.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Source liquid=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Its temperature exceeds one thousand degrees Celsius

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chemistry:26-colours-of-fire-fireworks:e4:o4:1
# text = Its temperature exceeds one thousand degrees Celsius
1	Its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	temperature	temperature	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	exceeds	exceed	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	5	compound	_	_
5	thousand	thousand	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	6	nummod	_	_
6	degrees	degree	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
7	Celsius	Celsius	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	nmod:unmarked	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **exceed** | present | Its temperature | thousand degrees  Celsius |  |  |  |  | vn exceed-90 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot degree=Theme |

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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: [Colours of fire: fireworks, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/chemistry/26-colours-of-fire-fireworks/e3/)
- next →: [Dyes, inks and colouring, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/chemistry/27-dyes-inks-colouring/t1/)
- ↑ back to [Colours of fire: fireworks](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/chemistry/26-colours-of-fire-fireworks/)