---
title: Ascertain the appropriate action upon seeing a person start a fire i… — Litter and caring for nature · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the appropriate action upon seeing a person start a fire in the countryside. Exam question 4 of lesson 239 «Litter and caring for nature» 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 · Litter and caring for nature

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the appropriate action upon seeing a person start a fire in the countryside.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** ascertain, see, start · **To what, where:** appropriate action, person, fire, countryside

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This is exam question 4 of lesson 239 «Litter and caring for nature» 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/239-litter-and-caring-for-nature/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:239-litter-and-caring-for-nature:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the appropriate action upon seeing a person start a fire in the countryside.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	appropriate	appropriate	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	action	action	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	upon	upon	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
6	seeing	see	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	1	advcl	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
9	start	start	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	1	conj	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	fire	fire	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
12	in	in	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	countryside	countryside	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	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 appropriate action |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent action=Topic |
| 2 | **see** | gerund | you *not said here* | a person |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer person=Stimulus |
| 3 | **start** | infinitive | you *not said here* | a fire |  | the countryside |  |  | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent fire=Eventuality |

<!-- .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 -->
To ignore the matter entirely

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:239-litter-and-caring-for-nature:e4:o1:1
# text = To ignore the matter entirely
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	ignore	ignore	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	matter	matter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	entirely	entirely	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ignore** | to-infinitive |  | the matter |  |  |  | entirely *property* | vn neglect-75.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent matter=Theme |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To put out the fire with one's bare hands as fast as possible

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:239-litter-and-caring-for-nature:e4:o2:1
# text = To put out the fire with one's bare hands as fast as possible
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	put	put	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	out	out	ADP	RP	_	2	compound:prt	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	fire	fire	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	with	with	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
7	one	one	PRON	PRP	Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	's	's	PART	POS	_	7	case	_	_
9	bare	bare	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	hands	hand	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
11	as	as	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
12	fast	fast	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	2	advmod	_	_
13	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	14	mark	_	_
14	possible	possible	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **put out** | to-infinitive |  | the fire |  |  |  | with one's bare hands; fast *property* | vn invest-13.5.4-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Agent fire=Goal |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To argue with the person at once

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:239-litter-and-caring-for-nature:e4:o3:1
# text = To argue with the person at once
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	argue	argue	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	with	with	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
6	at	at	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	once	once	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **argue** *speech: disagree* | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | with the person | vn chit\_chat-37.6-1 «NP V PP.co-agent»: agent=Agent with person=Co-Agent |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To inform an adult, a ranger or the police without arguing

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:239-litter-and-caring-for-nature:e4:o4:1
# text = To inform an adult, a ranger or the police without arguing
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	inform	inform	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	adult	adult	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	ranger	ranger	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	conj	_	_
8	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	police	police	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	conj	_	_
11	without	without	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
12	arguing	argue	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **inform** *speech: other* | to-infinitive |  |  | a adult and a ranger or the police |  |  |  | vn tell-37.2 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent adult=Recipient |
| 2 | **argue** *speech: disagree* | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn correspond-36.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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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: [Litter and caring for nature, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/239-litter-and-caring-for-nature/e3/)
- next →: [The night sky and outdoor myths, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/240-night-sky-and-outdoor-myths/t1/)
- ↑ back to [Litter and caring for nature](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/239-litter-and-caring-for-nature/)