---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the… — The great rivers · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the relative lengths of the Nile and the Amazon? Exam question 1 of lesson 16 «The great rivers» 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
---

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# Exam question 1 · The great rivers

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the relative lengths of the Nile and the Amazon?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** follow, characteris · **To what, where:** relative lengths

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 16 «The great rivers» of the geography 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/geography/16-the-great-rivers/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:16-the-great-rivers:e1:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the relative lengths of the Nile and the Amazon?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	nsubj	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	following	follow	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	amod	_	_
5	statements	statement	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	_
6	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	7	advmod	_	_
7	accurately	accurately	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	characterises	characteris	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	relative	relative	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	lengths	length	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obj	_	_
12	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	Nile	Nile	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	nmod	_	_
15	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	17	cc	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	Amazon	Amazon	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	14	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **follow** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **characteris** | present |  | the relative lengths of the Nile and the Amazon |  |  |  | of the following statements; accurately *property* | 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.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The Nile is shorter than the Thames

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:16-the-great-rivers:e1:o1:1
# text = The Nile is shorter than the Thames
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	Nile	Nile	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	shorter	short	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	_
5	than	than	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	Thames	Thames	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the Nile |  |  |  |  | than the Thames; short *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The Nile is conventionally designated the longest, whereas certain measurements accord greater length to the Amazon

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:16-the-great-rivers:e1:o2:1
# text = The Nile is conventionally designated the longest, whereas certain measurements accord greater length to the Amazon
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	Nile	Nile	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
4	conventionally	conventionally	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	designated	designate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	longest	long	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	5	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
9	whereas	whereas	SCONJ	IN	_	14	case	_	_
10	certain	certain	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	measurements	measurement	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	nsubj	_	_
12	accord	accord	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
13	greater	great	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	14	amod	_	_
14	length	length	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
15	to	to	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	Amazon	Amazon	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	14	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **designate** | present · passive |  | the Nile |  |  |  | whereas greater length to the Amazon; conventionally *property* | vn appoint-29.1 «NP V NP NP»: subject=Theme long=Attribute |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The two rivers are of precisely identical length

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:16-the-great-rivers:e1:o3:1
# text = The two rivers are of precisely identical length
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	3	nummod	_	_
3	rivers	river	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
4	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	precisely	precisely	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	identical	identical	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	length	length	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the two rivers |  |  |  |  | of identical length | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The Amazon is universally acknowledged to be twice the length of the Nile

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:16-the-great-rivers:e1:o4:1
# text = The Amazon is universally acknowledged to be twice the length of the Nile
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	Amazon	Amazon	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
4	universally	universally	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	acknowledged	acknowledge	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
7	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	cop	_	_
8	twice	twice	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	10	advmod	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	length	length	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	xcomp	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	Nile	Nile	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **acknowledge** | present · passive |  | the Amazon |  |  |  | universally *property* | vn confess-37.10 «NP V NP»: subject=Topic |
| 2 | **is a** | to-infinitive |  | the length |  |  |  | of the Nile; twice *property* | 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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