---
title: Identify the principal reason for which numerous boundaries upon the… — Borders: why they are where they are · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal reason for which numerous boundaries upon the African continent are rectilinear. Exam question 1 of lesson 31 «Borders: why they are where they are» of the geography course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mo
---

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# Exam question 1 · Borders: why they are where they are

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal reason for which numerous boundaries upon the African continent are rectilinear.

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

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This is exam question 1 of lesson 31 «Borders: why they are where they are» 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/31-borders-why-they-are-where-they-are/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:31-borders-why-they-are-where-they-are:e1:1
# text = Identify the principal reason for which numerous boundaries upon the African continent are rectilinear.
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	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	8	det	_	_
7	numerous	numerous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	boundaries	boundary	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	nsubj	_	_
9	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
11	African	African	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	continent	continent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	_
13	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	cop	_	_
14	rectilinear	rectilinear	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	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 | **is** | present | which numerous boundaries upon the African continent |  |  |  |  | rectilinear *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 -->
They correspond to Roman fortifications

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:31-borders-why-they-are-where-they-are:e1:o1:1
# text = They correspond to Roman fortifications
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	correspond	correspond	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	Roman	roman	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	fortifications	fortification	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **correspond** | present | They |  |  |  |  | to Roman fortifications | vn correspond-36.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They conform to the courses of ancient straight rivers

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:31-borders-why-they-are-where-they-are:e1:o2:1
# text = They conform to the courses of ancient straight rivers
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	conform	conform	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	courses	course	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	ancient	ancient	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
8	straight	straight	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	rivers	river	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **conform** | present | They |  |  |  |  | to the courses of ancient straight rivers *goal* | vn adjust-26.9 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent to course=Goal |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They were delineated upon maps by external colonial powers

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:31-borders-why-they-are-where-they-are:e1:o3:1
# text = They were delineated upon maps by external colonial powers
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	delineated	delineate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	maps	map	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
6	by	by	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	external	external	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
8	colonial	colonial	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	powers	power	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **delineate** | past · passive | external colonial powers | They |  |  |  | upon maps | vn remedy-45.7 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent subject=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They were selected by African rulers for reasons of equity

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:31-borders-why-they-are-where-they-are:e1:o4:1
# text = They were selected by African rulers for reasons of equity
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	selected	select	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	African	African	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	rulers	ruler	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
7	for	for	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	reasons	reason	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl:agent	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	equity	equity	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **select** | past · passive | reasons of equity | They |  |  |  | by African rulers | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Theme |

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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: [Borders: why they are where they are, test 11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/geography/31-borders-why-they-are-where-they-are/t11/)
- next →: [Borders: why they are where they are, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/geography/31-borders-why-they-are-where-they-are/e2/)
- ↑ back to [Borders: why they are where they are](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/geography/31-borders-why-they-are-where-they-are/)