---
title: Ascertain the principal reason for which the ocean is saline. — Water: the most amazing liquid · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the principal reason for which the ocean is saline. Exam question 4 of lesson 34 «Water: the most amazing liquid» 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 · Water: the most amazing liquid

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the principal reason for which the ocean is saline.

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

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This is exam question 4 of lesson 34 «Water: the most amazing liquid» 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/34-water-amazing-liquid/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chemistry:34-water-amazing-liquid:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the principal reason for which the ocean is saline.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	10	obl	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	ocean	ocean	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
9	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	cop	_	_
10	saline	saline	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	acl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	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 principal reason |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent reason=Topic |
| 2 | **is** | present | the ocean |  |  |  |  | for the principal reason; saline *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 -->
Marine animals secrete salt continuously

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chemistry:34-water-amazing-liquid:e4:o1:1
# text = Marine animals secrete salt continuously
1	Marine	marine	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	animals	animal	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
3	secrete	secrete	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	salt	salt	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	conj	_	_
5	continuously	continuously	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Salt is deposited from the clouds by rain

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chemistry:34-water-amazing-liquid:e4:o2:1
# text = Salt is deposited from the clouds by rain
1	Salt	salt	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	deposited	deposit	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	from	from	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	clouds	cloud	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
7	by	by	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	rain	rain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **deposit** | present · passive | rain | Salt |  | the clouds |  |  | vn put-9.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The ocean floor consists of pure salt

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chemistry:34-water-amazing-liquid:e4:o3:1
# text = The ocean floor consists of pure salt
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	ocean	ocean	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	floor	floor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	consists	consist	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	pure	pure	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	salt	salt	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **consist** | present | the ocean floor |  |  |  |  | of pure salt | tree rules |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Salts carried from rocks by rivers remain when water evaporates

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chemistry:34-water-amazing-liquid:e4:o4:1
# text = Salts carried from rocks by rivers remain when water evaporates
1	Salts	salt	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	carried	carry	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	from	from	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	rocks	rock	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
5	by	by	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
6	rivers	river	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
7	remain	remain	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	ccomp	_	_
8	when	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	10	mark	_	_
9	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
10	evaporates	evaporate	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **carry** | past | Salts |  |  | rocks |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **remain** | present | rivers |  |  |  |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **evaporate** | present | water |  |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

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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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