---
title: The Himalayas still grow a few millimetres a year. Which kind of pla… — Plate tectonics · tree and pragmatics
description: The Himalayas still grow a few millimetres a year. Which kind of plate edge explains this? Test 4 · ★ 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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# Test 4 · ★ · Plate tectonics

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The Himalayas still grow a few millimetres a year. Which kind of plate edge explains this?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** Himalayas, kind · **What happens:** grow, explain · **To what, where:** few millimetres, this

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 4 · ★ of lesson 42 «Plate tectonics» 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/42-plate-tectonics/#t4).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* The Himalayas still grow a few millimetres a year.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:42-plate-tectonics:t4:1
# text = The Himalayas still grow a few millimetres a year.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	Himalayas	Himalaya	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	still	still	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	grow	grow	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	few	few	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	millimetres	millimetre	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	year	year	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl:unmarked	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **grow** | present | the Himalayas | a few millimetres |  |  | still; year |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location millimetre=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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* Which kind of plate edge explains this?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:42-plate-tectonics:t4:2
# text = Which kind of plate edge explains this?
1	Which	which	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	2	det	_	_
2	kind	kind	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	plate	plate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	edge	edge	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	explains	explain	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	this	this	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	6	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **explain** *speech: assert* | present | which kind of plate edge | this |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent this=Topic |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Two plates pulling apart and making new sea floor

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:42-plate-tectonics:t4:o1:1
# text = Two plates pulling apart and making new sea floor
1	Two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	2	nummod	_	_
2	plates	plate	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
3	pulling	pull	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	acl	_	_
4	apart	apart	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	making	make	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	3	conj	_	_
7	new	new	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
8	sea	sea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	floor	floor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pull apart** | gerund | Two plates *not said here* |  |  |  |  | apart *property* | vn slide-11.2 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **make** | gerund | Two plates *not said here* | new sea floor |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset floor=Product |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
An ocean plate sinking under a continent

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:42-plate-tectonics:t4:o2:1
# text = An ocean plate sinking under a continent
1	An	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	ocean	ocean	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	plate	plate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	sinking	sink	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	3	acl	_	_
5	under	under	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	continent	continent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sink** | gerund | a ocean plate *not said here* |  |  | a continent |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Two continents colliding and crumpling the crust upwards

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:42-plate-tectonics:t4:o3:1
# text = Two continents colliding and crumpling the crust upwards
1	Two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	2	nummod	_	_
2	continents	continent	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
3	colliding	collide	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	acl	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	crumpling	crumple	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	3	conj	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	crust	crust	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	upwards	upwards	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **collide** | gerund | Two continents *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn bump-18.4-1 «NP V together»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **crumple** | gerund | Two continents *not said here* | the crust |  |  |  | upwards *property* | vn bend-45.2 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent crust=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Two plates sliding past sideways

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:42-plate-tectonics:t4:o4:1
# text = Two plates sliding past sideways
1	Two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	2	nummod	_	_
2	plates	plate	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
3	sliding	slide	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	acl	_	_
4	past	past	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	sideways	sideways	ADV	RB	_	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **slide** | gerund | Two plates *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme past sideways=Trajectory |

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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: [Plate tectonics, test 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/geography/42-plate-tectonics/t3/)
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