---
title: Why do the northern lights appear near the poles and not over Florida? — The night sky and outdoor myths · tree and pragmatics
description: Why do the northern lights appear near the poles and not over Florida? Test 8 · ★★ of lesson 240 «The night sky and outdoor myths» 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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# Test 8 · ★★ · The night sky and outdoor myths

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why do the northern lights appear near the poles and not over Florida?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** northern lights · **What happens:** do, appear · **To what, where:** poles

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 · ★★ of lesson 240 «The night sky and outdoor myths» of the everyday course of Mova's primary school. 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/240-night-sky-and-outdoor-myths/#t8).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:240-night-sky-and-outdoor-myths:t8:1
# text = Why do the northern lights appear near the poles and not over Florida?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	2	advmod	_	_
2	do	do	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	advcl	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	northern	northern	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	lights	light	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
6	appear	appear	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	near	near	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	poles	pole	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obl	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
11	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	13	advmod	_	_
12	over	over	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	Florida	Florida	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | present | the northern lights *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **appear** | present | the northern lights |  |  | the poles and Florida |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme near pole=Location |

<!-- .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 -->
Ice at the poles shines light up into the sky

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:240-night-sky-and-outdoor-myths:t8:o1:1
# text = Ice at the poles shines light up into the sky
1	Ice	ice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
2	at	at	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	poles	pole	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	nmod	_	_
5	shines	shine	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
6	light	light	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	up	up	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
8	into	into	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	sky	sky	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **light up** | present | Ice shines |  |  | the sky |  |  | vn preparing-26.3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The poles are much colder, and very cold air always glows on its own in the dark

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:240-night-sky-and-outdoor-myths:t8:o2:1
# text = The poles are much colder, and very cold air always glows on its own in the dark
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	poles	pole	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	much	much	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	colder	cold	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
8	very	very	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
9	cold	cold	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	air	air	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
11	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	12	advmod	_	_
12	glows	glow	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	parataxis	_	_
13	on	on	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	15	nmod:poss	_	_
15	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	obl	_	_
16	in	in	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	dark	dark	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the poles |  |  |  |  | cold *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **glow** | present | cold air |  |  | air's own |  | in the dark; always *property* | vn light\_emission-43.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme on own=Location |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The Sun's particles are pulled towards the poles, where they make the air glow

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:240-night-sky-and-outdoor-myths:t8:o3:1
# text = The Sun's particles are pulled towards the poles, where they make the air glow
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	Sun	Sun	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	's	's	PART	POS	_	2	case	_	_
4	particles	particle	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj:pass	_	_
5	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux:pass	_	_
6	pulled	pull	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
7	towards	towards	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	poles	pole	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
11	where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	13	advmod	_	_
12	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
13	make	make	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	conj	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
15	air	air	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	compound	_	_
16	glow	glow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pull** | present · passive |  | the Sun's particles |  | the poles |  |  | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP PP.destination»: subject=Theme towards pole=Destination |
| 2 | **make** | present | particles *= particle* | the air glow |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset glow=Product |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Florida is far too close to the Sun for the lights to be able to form over it at night

<!-- fold The tree, 20 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:240-night-sky-and-outdoor-myths:t8:o4:1
# text = Florida is far too close to the Sun for the lights to be able to form over it at night
1	Florida	Florida	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	far	far	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	5	advmod	_	_
4	too	too	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	close	close	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
6	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	Sun	Sun	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
9	for	for	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	lights	light	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
12	to	to	PART	TO	_	14	mark	_	_
13	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	14	cop	_	_
14	able	able	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	advcl	_	_
15	to	to	PART	TO	_	16	mark	_	_
16	form	form	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	14	xcomp	_	_
17	over	over	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
18	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	16	obl	_	_
19	at	at	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
20	night	night	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Florida |  |  |  |  | to the Sun; for the lights; close, far *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** | to-infinitive | Florida *not said here* |  |  |  |  | able *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **form** | to-infinitive | Florida *not said here* |  |  | Sun | night |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme over it=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.

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- ← previous: [The night sky and outdoor myths, test 7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/240-night-sky-and-outdoor-myths/t7/)
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