---
title: Why is the air clearer in many cities now than fifty years ago? — The air we breathe · tree and pragmatics
description: Why is the air clearer in many cities now than fifty years ago? Test 8 · ★★ of lesson 33 «The air we breathe» 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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# Test 8 · ★★ · The air we breathe

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why is the air clearer in many cities now than fifty years ago?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** air · **What happens:** be · **To what, where:** many cities

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This is test 8 · ★★ of lesson 33 «The air we breathe» of the chemistry course of Mova's primary school. 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/33-the-air-we-breathe/#t8).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chemistry:33-the-air-we-breathe:t8:1
# text = Why is the air clearer in many cities now than fifty years ago?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	5	advmod	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	air	air	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	clearer	clear	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	cities	city	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
9	now	now	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	5	advmod	_	_
10	than	than	ADP	IN	_	9	fixed	_	_
11	fifty	fifty	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	12	nummod	_	_
12	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	obl:unmarked	_	_
13	ago	ago	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the air |  |  | many cities | now | clear *property* | tree rules |

<!-- .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 -->
Fewer trees in the parks

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chemistry:33-the-air-we-breathe:t8:o1:1
# text = Fewer trees in the parks
1	Fewer	few	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	2	amod	_	_
2	trees	tree	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	parks	park	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Stronger summer sunlight

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chemistry:33-the-air-we-breathe:t8:o2:1
# text = Stronger summer sunlight
1	Stronger	strong	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	3	amod	_	_
2	summer	summer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	sunlight	sunlight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Cleaner cars and fuels

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chemistry:33-the-air-we-breathe:t8:o3:1
# text = Cleaner cars and fuels
1	Cleaner	cleaner	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	compound	_	_
2	cars	car	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
3	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	4	cc	_	_
4	fuels	fuel	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
More fog rolling in from the sea

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chemistry:33-the-air-we-breathe:t8:o4:1
# text = More fog rolling in from the sea
1	More	more	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	2	amod	_	_
2	fog	fog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	rolling	roll	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	acl	_	_
4	in	in	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
5	from	from	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	sea	sea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **roll in** | gerund | More fog *not said here* |  |  | the sea |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme from sea=Trajectory |

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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.

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- ← previous: [The air we breathe, test 7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/chemistry/33-the-air-we-breathe/t7/)
- next →: [The air we breathe, test 9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/chemistry/33-the-air-we-breathe/t9/)
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