---
title: Why does floating plastic collect in the middle of the North Pacific? — Winds, monsoons and ocean currents · tree and pragmatics
description: Why does floating plastic collect in the middle of the North Pacific? Test 8 · ★★★ of lesson 22 «Winds, monsoons and ocean currents» 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 right.
---

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# Test 8 · ★★★ · Winds, monsoons and ocean currents

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why does floating plastic collect in the middle of the North Pacific?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **What happens:** float · **To what, where:** plastic collect, middle

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 · ★★★ of lesson 22 «Winds, monsoons and ocean currents» 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/22-winds-monsoons-and-ocean-currents/#t8).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:22-winds-monsoons-and-ocean-currents:t8:1
# text = Why does floating plastic collect in the middle of the North Pacific?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	3	advmod	_	_
2	does	do	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	plastic	plastic	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	collect	collect	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	middle	middle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
11	North	North	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	12	compound	_	_
12	Pacific	Pacific	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **float** | present · do-support |  | plastic collect |  | the middle of the North Pacific |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V NP PP.trajectory»: agent=Agent collect=Theme in middle=Trajectory |

<!-- .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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The gyre's currents circle around and trap it in the centre

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:22-winds-monsoons-and-ocean-currents:t8:o1:1
# text = The gyre's currents circle around and trap it in the centre
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	gyre	gyre	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	's	's	PART	POS	_	2	case	_	_
4	currents	current	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
5	circle	circle	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	around	around	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	trap	trap	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	conj	_	_
9	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	obj	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	centre	centre	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **circle around** | present | the gyre's currents |  |  |  |  | around *property* | vn contiguous\_location-47.8 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **trap** | infinitive | the gyre's currents *not said here* | gyre |  | the centre |  |  | vn pocket-9.10 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent it=Theme in centre=Destination |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The plastic sinks and then rises in one spot

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:22-winds-monsoons-and-ocean-currents:t8:o2:1
# text = The plastic sinks and then rises in one spot
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	plastic	plastic	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	sinks	sink	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
5	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	6	advmod	_	_
6	rises	rise	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	9	nummod	_	_
9	spot	spot	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **rise** | present |  |  |  | one spot | then |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent in spot=Location |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The wind always blows towards the middle of every ocean

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:22-winds-monsoons-and-ocean-currents:t8:o3:1
# text = The wind always blows towards the middle of every ocean
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	wind	wind	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	4	advmod	_	_
4	blows	blow	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	towards	towards	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	middle	middle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	10	det	_	_
10	ocean	ocean	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **blow** | present | the wind |  |  |  |  | towards the middle of every ocean; always *property* | vn crane-40.3.2 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent towards middle=Recipient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ships dump all their rubbish in one place on purpose

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:22-winds-monsoons-and-ocean-currents:t8:o4:1
# text = Ships dump all their rubbish in one place on purpose
1	Ships	ship	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	dump	dump	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	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	rubbish	rubbish	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	8	nummod	_	_
8	place	place	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
9	on	on	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	purpose	purpose	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **dump** | present | Ships | Ships's rubbish |  | one place |  | on purpose | vn funnel-9.3-1-1 «NP V NP PP.trajectory»: agent=Agent rubbish=Theme in place=Trajectory |

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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: [Winds, monsoons and ocean currents, test 7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/geography/22-winds-monsoons-and-ocean-currents/t7/)
- next →: [Winds, monsoons and ocean currents, test 9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/geography/22-winds-monsoons-and-ocean-currents/t9/)
- ↑ back to [Winds, monsoons and ocean currents](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/geography/22-winds-monsoons-and-ocean-currents/)