---
title: Identify the principal reason for the diminished temperature prevail… — Mountains and highlands · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal reason for the diminished temperature prevailing at the summits of high mountains. Exam question 2 of lesson 17 «Mountains and highlands» 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 2 · Mountains and highlands

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal reason for the diminished temperature prevailing at the summits of high mountains.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, diminished temperature · **What happens:** identify, diminish, prevail · **To what, where:** principal reason, summits

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 17 «Mountains and highlands» 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/17-mountains-and-highlands/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:17-mountains-and-highlands:e2:1
# text = Identify the principal reason for the diminished temperature prevailing at the summits of high mountains.
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	_	8	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	diminished	diminish	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	amod	_	_
8	temperature	temperature	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
9	prevailing	prevail	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	8	acl	_	_
10	at	at	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	summits	summit	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obl	_	_
13	of	of	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	high	high	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	15	amod	_	_
15	mountains	mountain	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	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 |  |  |  | for the diminished temperature | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent reason=Theme |
| 2 | **diminish** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn caused\_calibratable\_cos-45.6.2-1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Patient |
| 3 | **prevail** | gerund | the diminished temperature *not said here* |  |  | the summits of high mountains |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme at summit=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 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The summits are situated at a greater distance from the Sun, whose heat diminishes with altitude

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:17-mountains-and-highlands:e2:o1:1
# text = The summits are situated at a greater distance from the Sun, whose heat diminishes with altitude
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	summits	summit	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	situated	situate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	greater	great	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	8	amod	_	_
8	distance	distance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
9	from	from	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	Sun	Sun	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
13	whose	whose	PRON	WP$	Poss=Yes|PronType=Rel	14	nmod:poss	_	_
14	heat	heat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nsubj	_	_
15	diminishes	diminish	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
16	with	with	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
17	altitude	altitude	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **situate** | present · passive |  | the summits |  |  |  | at a greater distance from the Sun | vn put-9.1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: subject=Theme at distance=Destination |
| 2 | **diminish** | present | heat |  |  |  |  | with altitude | vn caused\_calibratable\_cos-45.6.2-1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The summits receive no sunlight whatsoever

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:17-mountains-and-highlands:e2:o2:1
# text = The summits receive no sunlight whatsoever
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	summits	summit	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	receive	receive	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	5	det	_	_
5	sunlight	sunlight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	whatsoever	whatsoever	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **receive** | present | the summits | no sunlight |  |  |  | whatsoever *property* | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent sunlight=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Snow at the summit generates cold of itself

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:17-mountains-and-highlands:e2:o3:1
# text = Snow at the summit generates cold of itself
1	Snow	snow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
2	at	at	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	summit	summit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nmod	_	_
5	generates	generate	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	cold	cold	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	xcomp	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	itself	itself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **generate** | present | Snow at the summit |  |  |  |  | cold *property* | vn grow-26.2.1 «NP.patient V PP.product»: agent=Patient |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The air cools by about six and a half degrees Celsius for every thousand metres of ascent

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:17-mountains-and-highlands:e2:o4:1
# text = The air cools by about six and a half degrees Celsius for every thousand metres of ascent
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	air	air	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	cools	cool	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
5	about	about	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	six	six	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	10	nummod	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	half	half	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing|NumForm=Word|NumType=Frac	10	compound	_	_
10	degrees	degree	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
11	Celsius	Celsius	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	nmod:unmarked	_	_
12	for	for	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
13	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	14	det	_	_
14	thousand	thousand	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	15	nummod	_	_
15	metres	metre	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
16	of	of	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
17	ascent	ascent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cool** | present | the air |  |  |  |  | by six half degrees  Celsius; for thousand metres of ascent | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

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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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