---
title: What would happen to compasses if the outer core stopped swirling? — Inside the Earth · tree and pragmatics
description: What would happen to compasses if the outer core stopped swirling? Test 4 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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# Test 4 · Inside the Earth

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What would happen to compasses if the outer core stopped swirling?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** outer core · **What happens:** happen, stop, swirl

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 4 of lesson 41 «Inside the Earth» 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/41-inside-the-earth/#t4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:41-inside-the-earth:t4:1
# text = What would happen to compasses if the outer core stopped swirling?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	happen	happen	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	compasses	compass	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
6	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	outer	outer	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	core	core	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
10	stopped	stop	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
11	swirling	swirl	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	10	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **happen** | would |  |  |  |  |  | to compasses | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **stop** *a condition, not said to happen* | past | the outer core |  |  |  |  |  | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Affector clause=Eventuality |
| 3 | **swirl** | gerund | the outer core *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn modes\_of\_being\_with\_motion-47.3 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

<!-- .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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The magnetic field would fade and compasses would stop working

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:41-inside-the-earth:t4:o1:1
# text = The magnetic field would fade and compasses would stop working
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	magnetic	magnetic	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	field	field	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
4	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
5	fade	fade	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
7	compasses	compass	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nsubj	_	_
8	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
9	stop	stop	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	conj	_	_
10	working	work	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	9	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fade** | would | the magnetic field |  |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |
| 2 | **stop** | would | compasses |  |  |  |  |  | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Affector clause=Eventuality |
| 3 | **work** | gerund | compasses *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn employment-95.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Compasses would all point to the Sun instead of to the north

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:41-inside-the-earth:t4:o2:1
# text = Compasses would all point to the Sun instead of to the north
1	Compasses	compass	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	all	all	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	point	point	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	Sun	Sun	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
8	instead	instead	ADV	RB	ExtPos=ADP	12	case	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	fixed	_	_
10	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	fixed	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	north	north	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **point** | would | Compasses |  | the Sun |  |  | instead the north; all *property* | vn wink-40.3.1 «NP V PP.recipient»: agent=Agent to sun=Recipient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nothing, compasses work by gravity alone, not by magnetism

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:41-inside-the-earth:t4:o3:1
# text = Nothing, compasses work by gravity alone, not by magnetism
1	Nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	3	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	compasses	compass	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	work	work	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	gravity	gravity	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
7	alone	alone	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
9	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	11	advmod	_	_
10	by	by	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	magnetism	magnetism	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	parataxis	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **work** | present | Nothing compasses |  |  |  |  | by gravity; alone *property* | vn employment-95.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Compasses would spin faster and faster

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:41-inside-the-earth:t4:o4:1
# text = Compasses would spin faster and faster
1	Compasses	compass	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	spin	spin	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	faster	fast	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	3	advmod	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	faster	fast	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	3	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **spin** | would | Compasses |  |  |  |  | fast *property* | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP.theme V»: agent=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: [Inside the Earth, test 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/geography/41-inside-the-earth/t3/)
- next →: [Inside the Earth, test 5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/geography/41-inside-the-earth/t5/)
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