---
title: Ascertain the measure most likely to relieve discomfort of the ears… — Airports and planes · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the measure most likely to relieve discomfort of the ears during the descent of an aircraft. Exam question 4 of lesson 271 «Airports and planes» 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 wr
---

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# Exam question 4 · Airports and planes

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the measure most likely to relieve discomfort of the ears during the descent of an aircraft.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, aircraft · **What happens:** ascertain, relieve, descend · **To what, where:** measure, discomfort

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 271 «Airports and planes» 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/271-airports-and-planes/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:271-airports-and-planes:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the measure most likely to relieve discomfort of the ears during the descent of an aircraft.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	measure	measure	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	5	advmod	_	_
5	likely	likely	ADV	RB	_	1	advmod	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	relieve	relieve	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	1	advcl	_	_
8	discomfort	discomfort	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	ears	ear	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nmod	_	_
12	during	during	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	descent	descent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
15	of	of	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
16	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	aircraft	aircraft	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	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 measure |  |  |  | likely *property* | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent measure=Topic |
| 2 | **relieve** | to-infinitive | you *not said here* | discomfort of the ears |  |  | during the descent of a aircraft |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus discomfort=Experiencer |
| 3 | **descend** |  | a aircraft |  |  |  |  |  | nom descent «event intransitive»: of=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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Covering the ears tightly with both hands

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:271-airports-and-planes:e4:o1:1
# text = Covering the ears tightly with both hands
1	Covering	cover	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	ears	ear	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	obj	_	_
4	tightly	tightly	ADV	RB	_	1	advmod	_	_
5	with	with	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	both	both	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	7	det	_	_
7	hands	hand	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cover** | gerund |  | the ears |  |  |  | with both hands; tightly *property* | vn fill-9.8-1 «NP V NP PP.theme»: agent=Agent ear=Destination with hand=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Resting the head against the cabin window

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:271-airports-and-planes:e4:o2:1
# text = Resting the head against the cabin window
1	Resting	rest	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	head	head	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	against	against	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	cabin	cabin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	window	window	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **rest** | gerund |  | the head |  | the cabin window |  |  | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6-1 «NP V NP.theme PP»: agent=Agent head=Theme against window=Location |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Holding the breath until the aircraft has come to rest upon the runway

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:271-airports-and-planes:e4:o3:1
# text = Holding the breath until the aircraft has come to rest upon the runway
1	Holding	hold	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	breath	breath	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	until	until	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	aircraft	aircraft	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
7	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
8	come	come	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	1	advcl	_	_
9	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
10	rest	rest	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	advcl	_	_
11	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	runway	runway	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hold** | gerund |  | the breath |  |  |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent breath=Theme |
| 2 | **come** | present · perfect | the aircraft |  |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **rest** | to-infinitive | the aircraft *not said here* |  |  | the runway |  |  | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme upon runway=Location |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Swallowing, yawning or chewing to equalise the pressure

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:271-airports-and-planes:e4:o4:1
# text = Swallowing, yawning or chewing to equalise the pressure
1	Swallowing	swallow	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
3	yawning	yawn	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	1	conj	_	_
4	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	chewing	chew	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	1	conj	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	equalise	equalise	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	xcomp	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	pressure	pressure	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **swallow** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn hiccup-40.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **yawn** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn nonverbal\_expression-40.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **chew** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **equalise** | to-infinitive |  | the pressure |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

<!-- div src -->

**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: [Airports and planes, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/271-airports-and-planes/e3/)
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