---
title: Identify the principal reason for which cotton buds are not to be in… — Hair, nails and ears · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal reason for which cotton buds are not to be inserted into the ear. Exam question 1 of lesson 77 «Hair, nails and ears» 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 1 · Hair, nails and ears

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal reason for which cotton buds are not to be inserted into the ear.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** identify, not insert · **To what, where:** principal reason, cotton buds, ear

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 77 «Hair, nails and ears» 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/77-hair-nails-and-ears/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:77-hair-nails-and-ears:e1:1
# text = Identify the principal reason for which cotton buds are not to be inserted into the ear.
1	Identify	identify	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	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	13	obl	_	_
7	cotton	cotton	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	buds	bud	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	obl	_	_
9	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	aux:pass	_	_
10	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	13	advmod	_	_
11	to	to	PART	TO	_	13	mark	_	_
12	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	13	aux:pass	_	_
13	inserted	insert	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	acl:relcl	_	_
14	into	into	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	ear	ear	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **identify** | imperative | you *not said here* | the principal reason |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent reason=Theme |
| 2 | **not** **insert** | present · passive | you *not said here* | cotton buds |  | the ear |  | for the principal reason | vn put-9.1-1 «NP V NP» |

<!-- .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 cause the ears to stop producing wax entirely

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:77-hair-nails-and-ears:e1:o1:1
# text = They cause the ears to stop producing wax entirely
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	cause	cause	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	ears	ear	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	stop	stop	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	advcl	_	_
7	producing	produce	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	6	xcomp	_	_
8	wax	wax	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
9	entirely	entirely	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cause** | present | They | the ears |  |  |  |  | vn engender-27.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Precondition ear=Patient |
| 2 | **stop** | to-infinitive | They *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Affector clause=Eventuality |
| 3 | **produce** | gerund | They *not said here* | wax |  |  |  | entirely *property* | vn create-26.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent wax=Result |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They remove all the wax the ear requires

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:77-hair-nails-and-ears:e1:o2:1
# text = They remove all the wax the ear requires
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	remove	remove	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	5	det:predet	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	wax	wax	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	ear	ear	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
8	requires	require	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	parataxis	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **remove** | present | They | all wax |  |  |  |  | vn fire-10.10 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent wax=Theme |
| 2 | **require** | present | the ear |  |  |  |  |  | vn require-103-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They push wax deeper and may injure the eardrum

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:77-hair-nails-and-ears:e1:o3:1
# text = They push wax deeper and may injure the eardrum
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	push	push	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	wax	wax	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
4	deeper	deep	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	2	advmod	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
6	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
7	injure	injure	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	conj	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	eardrum	eardrum	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **push** | present | They | wax |  |  |  | deep *property* | vn carry-11.4-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent wax=Theme |
| 2 | **injure** | may | They *not said here* | the eardrum |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They are too soft to reach any wax at all

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:77-hair-nails-and-ears:e1:o4:1
# text = They are too soft to reach any wax at all
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	too	too	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	soft	soft	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	reach	reach	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	advcl	_	_
7	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	8	det	_	_
8	wax	wax	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
9	at	at	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | They |  |  |  |  | soft *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **reach** | to-infinitive | They *not said here* | any wax |  | all |  |  | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP PP.source NP.asset»: agent=Agent wax=Theme at all=Asset |

<!-- 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: [Hair, nails and ears, test 19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/77-hair-nails-and-ears/t19/)
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