---
title: Identify the principal force to which the motion of the lithospheric… — Plate tectonics · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal force to which the motion of the lithospheric plates is attributed. Exam question 1 of lesson 42 «Plate tectonics» 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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# Exam question 1 · Plate tectonics

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal force to which the motion of the lithospheric plates is attributed.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, lithospheric plates · **What happens:** identify, attribute, motion · **To what, where:** principal force, motion

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 42 «Plate tectonics» 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/42-plate-tectonics/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:42-plate-tectonics:e1:1
# text = Identify the principal force to which the motion of the lithospheric plates is attributed.
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	force	force	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	to	to	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	14	obl	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	motion	motion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nsubj:pass	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
11	lithospheric	lithospheric	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	plates	plate	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nmod	_	_
13	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	aux:pass	_	_
14	attributed	attribute	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	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 force |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent force=Theme |
| 2 | **attribute** | present · passive |  | the motion of the lithospheric plates |  |  |  | to the principal force | tree rules |
| 3 | **motion** |  | the lithospheric plates |  |  |  |  |  | nom motion «communication intransitive»: of=agent |

<!-- .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 descent of cold, dense oceanic lithosphere into the mantle, termed slab pull

<!-- fold The tree, 13 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:42-plate-tectonics:e1:o1:1
# text = The descent of cold, dense oceanic lithosphere into the mantle, termed slab pull
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	descent	descent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
4	cold	cold	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
6	dense	dense	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
7	oceanic	oceanic	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	lithosphere	lithosphere	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
9	into	into	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	mantle	mantle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
13	termed	term	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	15	amod	_	_
14	slab	slab	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	compound	_	_
15	pull	pull	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **term** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn dub-29.3.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **descend** |  | cold dense oceanic lithosphere into the mantle |  |  |  |  |  | nom descent «event intransitive»: of=agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The flow of rivers across the margins of the continents

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:42-plate-tectonics:e1:o2:1
# text = The flow of rivers across the margins of the continents
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	flow	flow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	rivers	river	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
5	across	across	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	margins	margin	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	continents	continent	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **flow** |  | rivers |  |  | the margins of the continents |  |  | nom flow «event intransitive»: of=agent across=place |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The gravitational attraction exerted upon the continents by the Moon and the Sun together

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:42-plate-tectonics:e1:o3:1
# text = The gravitational attraction exerted upon the continents by the Moon and the Sun together
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	gravitational	gravitational	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	attraction	attraction	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	exerted	exert	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl	_	_
5	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	continents	continent	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
8	by	by	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	Moon	Moon	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	Sun	Sun	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	conj	_	_
14	together	together	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **exert** | participle |  | the gravitational attraction *not said here* |  |  |  | upon the continents by the Moon and the Sun; together *property* | vn use-105.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The pressure of prevailing winds upon the continental surfaces

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:42-plate-tectonics:e1:o4:1
# text = The pressure of prevailing winds upon the continental surfaces
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	pressure	pressure	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	4	mark	_	_
4	prevailing	prevail	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	acl	_	_
5	winds	wind	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
6	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	continental	continental	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	surfaces	surface	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **prevail** | gerund | the pressure *not said here* | winds |  |  |  | upon the continental surfaces | tree rules |

<!-- 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: [Plate tectonics, test 10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/geography/42-plate-tectonics/t10/)
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