---
title: Identify the principal reason for which the majority of the world's… — Population and cities · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal reason for which the majority of the world's great cities arose at particular locations. Exam question 1 of lesson 24 «Population and cities» of the geography course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's ch
---

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# Exam question 1 · Population and cities

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal reason for which the majority of the world's great cities arose at particular locations.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, majority · **What happens:** identify, arise · **To what, where:** principal reason, particular locations

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 24 «Population and cities» 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/24-population-and-cities/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:24-population-and-cities:e1:1
# text = Identify the principal reason for which the majority of the world's great cities arose at particular locations.
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	_	6	case	_	_
6	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	15	obl	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	majority	majority	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nsubj	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	world	world	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	's	's	PART	POS	_	11	case	_	_
13	great	great	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	cities	city	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nmod	_	_
15	arose	arise	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	acl:relcl	_	_
16	at	at	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	particular	particular	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	amod	_	_
18	locations	location	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	15	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	.	.	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 |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent reason=Theme |
| 2 | **arise** | past | the majority of the world's great cities |  |  | particular locations |  | for the principal reason | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme at location=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 -->
Such locations were selected at random by the rulers of the period, without regard to geography

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:24-population-and-cities:e1:o1:1
# text = Such locations were selected at random by the rulers of the period, without regard to geography
1	Such	such	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	locations	location	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	selected	select	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	random	random	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
7	by	by	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	rulers	ruler	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
10	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	period	period	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
14	without	without	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	regard	regard	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
16	to	to	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
17	geography	geography	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **select** | past · passive |  | Such locations |  | random |  | by the rulers of the period; without regard to geography | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Such locations were invariably elevated mountain summits

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:24-population-and-cities:e1:o2:1
# text = Such locations were invariably elevated mountain summits
1	Such	such	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	locations	location	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
4	invariably	invariably	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	elevated	elevate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	mountain	mountain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	summits	summit	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **elevate** | past · passive |  | Such locations |  |  |  | invariably *property* | vn put\_direction-9.4 «NP V NP ADVP»: subject=Theme summit=Destination |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Such locations afforded river crossings, sheltered harbours or the convergence of trade routes

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:24-population-and-cities:e1:o3:1
# text = Such locations afforded river crossings, sheltered harbours or the convergence of trade routes
1	Such	such	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	locations	location	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
3	afforded	afford	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	amod	_	_
4	river	river	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	crossings	crossing	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
7	sheltered	shelter	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	amod	_	_
8	harbours	harbour	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	conj	_	_
9	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	convergence	convergence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	conj	_	_
12	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	trade	trade	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	compound	_	_
14	routes	route	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **afford** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **shelter** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **converge** |  | trade routes |  |  |  |  |  | nom convergence «event intransitive»: of=agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Such locations were distant from all sources of water

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:24-population-and-cities:e1:o4:1
# text = Such locations were distant from all sources of water
1	Such	such	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	locations	location	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	distant	distant	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	from	from	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	7	det	_	_
7	sources	source	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | Such locations |  |  | all sources of water |  | distant *property* | tree rules |

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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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