---
title: Ascertain the principal function of smoke alarms in the home. — Fire, fireworks, garden dangers and th… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the principal function of smoke alarms in the home. Exam question 4 of lesson 219 «Fire, fireworks, garden dangers and the bathroom» 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 wrong.
---

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# Exam question 4 · Fire, fireworks, garden dangers and the bathroom

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the principal function of smoke alarms in the home.

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

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 219 «Fire, fireworks, garden dangers and the bathroom» 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/219-fire-fireworks-tools-and-the-bathroom/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:219-fire-fireworks-tools-and-the-bathroom:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the principal function of smoke alarms in the home.
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	function	function	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	smoke	smoke	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	alarms	alarm	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nmod	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	home	home	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	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 function of smoke alarms in the home |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent function=Topic |

<!-- .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 -->
They prevent fires from starting

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:219-fire-fireworks-tools-and-the-bathroom:e4:o1:1
# text = They prevent fires from starting
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	prevent	prevent	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	fires	fire	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
4	from	from	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	starting	starting	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **prevent** | present | They | fires |  | starting |  |  | vn forbid-64.4-1 «NP V NP PP.theme»: agent=Causer fire=Beneficiary from starting=Eventuality |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They provide the minutes needed for escape

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:219-fire-fireworks-tools-and-the-bathroom:e4:o2:1
# text = They provide the minutes needed for escape
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	provide	provide	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	minutes	minute	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
5	needed	need	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	ccomp	_	_
6	for	for	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	escape	escape	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **provide** | present | They |  |  |  |  |  | vn ensure-99 «NP V that S»: agent=Precondition clause=Theme |
| 2 | **need** | past | the minutes |  |  |  |  | for escape | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They extinguish fires automatically

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:219-fire-fireworks-tools-and-the-bathroom:e4:o3:1
# text = They extinguish fires automatically
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	extinguish	extinguish	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	fires	fire	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
4	automatically	automatically	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **extinguish** | present | They | fires |  |  |  | automatically *property* | vn remedy-45.7-1 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent fire=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They summon the fire brigade by themselves

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:219-fire-fireworks-tools-and-the-bathroom:e4:o4:1
# text = They summon the fire brigade by themselves
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	summon	summon	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	fire	fire	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	brigade	brigade	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	by	by	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	themselves	themselves	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **summon** | present | They | the fire brigade |  |  |  | by themselves *= they* | vn urge-58.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent brigade=Recipient |

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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: [Fire, fireworks, garden dangers and th…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/219-fire-fireworks-tools-and-the-bathroom/e3/)
- next →: [Bleach and cleaning products, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/220-bleach-and-cleaning-products/t1/)
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