---
title: Identify the principal means by which the composition of the Earth's… — Inside the Earth · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal means by which the composition of the Earth's interior has been ascertained. Exam question 2 of lesson 41 «Inside the Earth» 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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# Exam question 2 · Inside the Earth

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal means by which the composition of the Earth's interior has been ascertained.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, principal · **What happens:** identify, mean, ascertain · **To what, where:** composition · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is exam question 2 of lesson 41 «Inside the Earth» 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/41-inside-the-earth/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:41-inside-the-earth:e2:1
# text = Identify the principal means by which the composition of the Earth's interior has been ascertained.
1	Identify	identify	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	principal	principal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	ccomp	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	16	obl	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	composition	composition	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nsubj:pass	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	Earth	Earth	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	13	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	's	's	PART	POS	_	11	case	_	_
13	interior	interior	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	_
14	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	16	aux	_	_
15	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	16	aux:pass	_	_
16	ascertained	ascertain	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **identify** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 2 | **mean** | present | the principal |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **ascertain** | present · perfect · passive |  | the composition of the Earth's interior |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: subject=Topic |

<!-- .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 -->
Observation of the interior through volcanic craters

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:41-inside-the-earth:e2:o1:1
# text = Observation of the interior through volcanic craters
1	Observation	observation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	interior	interior	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nmod	_	_
5	through	through	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	volcanic	volcanic	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	craters	crater	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **observe** |  |  | the interior |  | volcanic craters |  |  | nom observation «act transitive»: of=patient through=place |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Photographic examination of the planet from orbit

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:41-inside-the-earth:e2:o2:1
# text = Photographic examination of the planet from orbit
1	Photographic	Photographic	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	compound	_	_
2	examination	examination	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	planet	planet	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	from	from	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	orbit	orbit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **examine** |  |  | the planet from orbit |  |  |  |  | nom examination «act transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Direct sampling of the core by means of deep boreholes drilled for the purpose

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:41-inside-the-earth:e2:o3:1
# text = Direct sampling of the core by means of deep boreholes drilled for the purpose
1	Direct	direct	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	sampling	sampling	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	core	core	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	by	by	ADP	IN	_	5	nmod	_	_
7	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	deep	deep	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	boreholes	borehole	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obl	_	_
11	drilled	drill	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	10	acl	_	_
12	for	for	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	purpose	purpose	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | Direct sampling of the core |  |  |  |  | of deep boreholes | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **drill** | participle |  | deep boreholes *not said here* |  |  |  | for the purpose | vn carve-21.2-3 «NP V ADVP-Middle»: agent=Patient |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Analysis of the propagation of seismic waves through the planet

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:41-inside-the-earth:e2:o4:1
# text = Analysis of the propagation of seismic waves through the planet
1	Analysis	Analysis	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	propagation	propagation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nmod	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	seismic	seismic	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	waves	wave	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nmod	_	_
8	through	through	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	planet	planet	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **propagate** |  |  | seismic waves through the planet |  |  |  |  | nom propagation «communication transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- div src -->

**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 -->

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- ← previous: [Inside the Earth, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/geography/41-inside-the-earth/e1/)
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