---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises icic… — Snow, ice and strong sun · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises icicles? Exam question 2 of lesson 234 «Snow, ice and strong sun» 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 · Snow, ice and strong sun

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises icicles?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **What happens:** follow, characteris · **To what, where:** icicles

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 234 «Snow, ice and strong sun» 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/234-snow-ice-and-sun/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:234-snow-ice-and-sun:e2:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises icicles?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	nsubj	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	following	follow	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	amod	_	_
5	statements	statement	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	_
6	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	7	advmod	_	_
7	accurately	accurately	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	characterises	characteris	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	icicles	icicle	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **follow** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **characteris** | present |  | icicles |  |  |  | of the following statements; accurately *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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They are soft and harmless when they fall

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:234-snow-ice-and-sun:e2:o1:1
# text = They are soft and harmless when they fall
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	soft	soft	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	harmless	harmless	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	conj	_	_
6	when	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	8	mark	_	_
7	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
8	fall	fall	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | They |  |  |  |  | soft *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **be** |  | They *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **fall** | present | they |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They are heavy and sharp, and one does not stand beneath them

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:234-snow-ice-and-sun:e2:o2:1
# text = They are heavy and sharp, and one does not stand beneath them
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	heavy	heavy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	sharp	sharp	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
8	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	11	nsubj	_	_
9	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	aux	_	_
10	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	11	advmod	_	_
11	stand	stand	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	conj	_	_
12	beneath	beneath	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | They |  |  |  |  | heavy *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **be** |  | They *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **not** **stand** | present · do-support | one |  |  |  |  | beneath them *= they* | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent beneath they=Location |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They are safe to eat directly from roofs

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:234-snow-ice-and-sun:e2:o3:1
# text = They are safe to eat directly from roofs
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	safe	safe	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	eat	eat	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
6	directly	directly	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
7	from	from	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	roofs	roof	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | They |  |  |  |  | safe *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **eat** | to-infinitive | They *not said here* |  |  | roofs |  | directly *property* | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V PP.source»: agent=Agent from roof=Source |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They may be knocked down safely with a stick by standing beneath them

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:234-snow-ice-and-sun:e2:o4:1
# text = They may be knocked down safely with a stick by standing beneath them
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	knocked	knock	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	down	down	ADP	RP	_	4	compound:prt	_	_
6	safely	safely	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
7	with	with	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	stick	stick	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
10	by	by	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
11	standing	stand	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	4	advcl	_	_
12	beneath	beneath	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **knock down** | may · passive |  | They |  |  |  | with a stick; safely *property* | vn hit-18.1-1 «NP V NP PP.instrument»: subject=Patient with stick=Instrument |
| 2 | **stand** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | beneath them *= they* | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent beneath they=Location |

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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: [Snow, ice and strong sun, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/234-snow-ice-and-sun/e1/)
- next →: [Snow, ice and strong sun, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/234-snow-ice-and-sun/e3/)
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