---
title: «why's mexico city sinking, is it on the sea??» Which is the best an… — Latin America and the Caribbean · tree and pragmatics
description: «why's mexico city sinking, is it on the sea??» Which is the best answer? Test 5 · ★★ of lesson 14 «Latin America and the Caribbean» of the geography 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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# Test 5 · ★★ · Latin America and the Caribbean

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«why's mexico city sinking, is it on the sea??» Which is the best answer?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** mexico city sinking · **What happens:** be · **To what, where:** mexico city sinking, sea, best answer

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 5 · ★★ of lesson 14 «Latin America and the Caribbean» of the geography 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/geography/14-latin-america-and-the-caribbean/#t5).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* «why's mexico city sinking, is it on the sea??»

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:14-latin-america-and-the-caribbean:t5:1
# text = «why's mexico city sinking, is it on the sea??»
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	6	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
4	mexico	mexico	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
5	city	city	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	sinking	sinking	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
8	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	cop	_	_
9	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
10	on	on	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	sea	sea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	??	??	PUNCT	.	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	12	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** *in a quote* | present |  | mexico city sinking |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** *in a quote* | present | mexico city sinking |  |  | the sea |  |  | 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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* Which is the best answer?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:14-latin-america-and-the-caribbean:t5:2
# text = Which is the best answer?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	5	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	best	good	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	5	amod	_	_
5	answer	answer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present |  | the best answer |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is not sinking at all

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:14-latin-america-and-the-caribbean:t5:o1:1
# text = It is not sinking at all
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	sinking	sink	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **sink** | present · progressive | It |  |  | all |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is floating on the Pacific Ocean

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:14-latin-america-and-the-caribbean:t5:o2:1
# text = It is floating on the Pacific Ocean
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	floating	float	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
4	on	on	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	Pacific	Pacific	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	Ocean	Ocean	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **float** | present · progressive | It |  |  | the Pacific Ocean |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme on ocean=Trajectory |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is built on the soft bed of an old lake, and the ground is slowly sinking

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:14-latin-america-and-the-caribbean:t5:o3:1
# text = It is built on the soft bed of an old lake, and the ground is slowly sinking
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	built	build	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	on	on	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	soft	soft	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	bed	bed	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
9	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	lake	lake	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
13	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	18	cc	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	ground	ground	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	nsubj	_	_
16	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	18	aux	_	_
17	slowly	slowly	ADV	RB	_	18	advmod	_	_
18	sinking	sink	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	3	parataxis	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **build** | present · passive |  | It |  | the soft bed of a old lake |  |  | vn base-97.1 «NP V NP PP.source»: subject=Theme on bed=Source |
| 2 | **sink** | present · progressive | the ground |  |  |  |  | slowly *property* | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A volcano under the city is slowly sucking it down into the earth

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:14-latin-america-and-the-caribbean:t5:o4:1
# text = A volcano under the city is slowly sucking it down into the earth
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	volcano	volcano	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
3	under	under	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	city	city	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
7	slowly	slowly	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	sucking	suck	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
9	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	obj	_	_
10	down	down	ADP	RP	_	8	compound:prt	_	_
11	into	into	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	earth	earth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **suck down** | present · progressive | a volcano under the city | city |  | the earth |  | slowly *property* | vn wipe\_manner-10.4.1-1 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent it=Theme |

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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: [Latin America and the Caribbean, test 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/geography/14-latin-america-and-the-caribbean/t4/)
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