---
title: Identify the means by which the brain determines the direction from… — Thinking about noticing · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the means by which the brain determines the direction from which a sound originates. Exam question 2 of lesson 20 «Thinking about noticing» of the everyday course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was right.
---

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# Exam question 2 · Thinking about noticing

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the means by which the brain determines the direction from which a sound originates.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, the, brain, sound · **What happens:** identify, mean, determine, originate · **To what, where:** direction

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 20 «Thinking about noticing» of the everyday 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/everyday/20-noticing-like-a-cat/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:20-noticing-like-a-cat:e2:1
# text = Identify the means by which the brain determines the direction from which a sound originates.
1	Identify	identify	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	nsubj	_	_
3	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	ccomp	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	obl	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	brain	brain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
8	determines	determine	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	parataxis	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	direction	direction	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	from	from	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	15	obl	_	_
13	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	sound	sound	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nsubj	_	_
15	originates	originate	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **identify** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 2 | **mean** | present | the |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **determine** | present | the brain | the direction |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent direction=Topic |
| 4 | **originate** | present | a sound |  |  | the direction |  |  | vn establish-55.5-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By comparing the sound as it arrives at the two ears

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:20-noticing-like-a-cat:e2:o1:1
# text = By comparing the sound as it arrives at the two ears
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	comparing	compare	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	sound	sound	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
6	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
7	arrives	arrive	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	advcl	_	_
8	at	at	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	11	nummod	_	_
11	ears	ear	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **compare** | gerund |  | the sound |  |  |  |  | vn amalgamate-22.2-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent sound=Patient |
| 2 | **arrive** | present | sound |  |  | the two ears |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By measuring the colour of the sound

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:20-noticing-like-a-cat:e2:o2:1
# text = By measuring the colour of the sound
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	measuring	measure	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	colour	colour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	sound	sound	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **measure** | gerund |  | the colour of the sound |  |  |  |  | vn register-54.1-2-1 «NP V NP.value»: agent=Theme colour=Value |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By detecting the vibration of the floor beneath the feet

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:20-noticing-like-a-cat:e2:o3:1
# text = By detecting the vibration of the floor beneath the feet
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	detecting	detect	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	vibration	vibration	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	floor	floor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
8	beneath	beneath	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	feet	foot	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **detect** | gerund |  | the vibration of the floor |  |  |  | beneath the feet | vn see-30.1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Experiencer vibration=Stimulus |
| 2 | **vibrate** |  | the floor |  |  |  |  |  | nom vibration «act intransitive»: of=agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By relying solely upon the sense of smell

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:20-noticing-like-a-cat:e2:o4:1
# text = By relying solely upon the sense of smell
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	relying	rely	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	solely	solely	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
4	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	sense	sense	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	smell	smell	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **rely** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | upon the sense of smell; solely *property* | vn rely-70 «NP V PP.theme S\_ING»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **sense** |  |  | smell |  |  |  |  | nom sense «cognition transitive»: of=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.

<!-- /div -->

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- ← previous: [Thinking about noticing, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/20-noticing-like-a-cat/e1/)
- next →: [Thinking about noticing, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/20-noticing-like-a-cat/e3/)
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