---
title: Why does the height of Mont Blanc change slightly from year to year? — Mountains and highlands · tree and pragmatics
description: Why does the height of Mont Blanc change slightly from year to year? Test 8 · ★ 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 was wrong.
---

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# Test 8 · ★ · Mountains and highlands

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why does the height of Mont Blanc change slightly from year to year?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** height · **What happens:** change

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 · ★ of lesson 17 «Mountains and highlands» 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/17-mountains-and-highlands/#t8).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:17-mountains-and-highlands:t8:1
# text = Why does the height of Mont Blanc change slightly from year to year?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	8	advmod	_	_
2	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	height	height	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	Mont	Mont	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
7	Blanc	Blanc	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	flat	_	_
8	change	change	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	slightly	slightly	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
10	from	from	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	year	year	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
12	to	to	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	year	year	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **change** | present · do-support | the height of Mont |  |  |  | year | slightly *property* | vn dress-41.1.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=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 -->
People keep cutting off the top

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:17-mountains-and-highlands:t8:o1:1
# text = People keep cutting off the top
1	People	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	keep	keep	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	cutting	cut	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	xcomp	_	_
4	off	off	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	top	top	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **keep** | present | People |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **cut off** | gerund | People *not said here* | the top |  |  |  |  | vn stop-55.4-1 «NP V NP.eventuality»: agent=Affector top=Eventuality |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is a volcano that erupts every year and adds new rock to its top

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:17-mountains-and-highlands:t8:o2:1
# text = It is a volcano that erupts every year and adds new rock to its top
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	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	volcano	volcano	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	6	nsubj	_	_
6	erupts	erupt	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	acl:relcl	_	_
7	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	8	det	_	_
8	year	year	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl:unmarked	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
10	adds	add	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	conj	_	_
11	new	new	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	rock	rock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	_
13	to	to	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	15	nmod:poss	_	_
15	top	top	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | It | a volcano |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **erupt** | present | a volcano |  |  |  | year |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **add** *speech: assert* | present | a volcano *not said here* | new rock |  |  |  | to rock's top | vn mix-22.1-2 «NP V NP PP.co-patient»: agent=Agent rock=Patient to top=Co-Patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The mountain sinks every winter

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:17-mountains-and-highlands:t8:o3:1
# text = The mountain sinks every winter
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	mountain	mountain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	sinks	sink	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	5	det	_	_
5	winter	winter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sink** | present | the mountain |  |  |  | winter |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Its summit is covered by an ice cap that grows and shrinks

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:17-mountains-and-highlands:t8:o4:1
# text = Its summit is covered by an ice cap that grows and shrinks
1	Its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	summit	summit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	covered	cover	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	ice	ice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	cap	cap	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
9	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	10	nsubj	_	_
10	grows	grow	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	acl:relcl	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
12	shrinks	shrink	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cover** | present · passive |  | Its summit |  |  |  | by a ice cap | vn fill-9.8-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Destination |
| 2 | **grow** | present | a ice cap |  |  |  |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **shrink** | present | a ice cap *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn bend-45.2 «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.

<!-- /div -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [Mountains and highlands, test 7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/geography/17-mountains-and-highlands/t7/)
- next →: [Mountains and highlands, test 9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/geography/17-mountains-and-highlands/t9/)
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