---
title: Why can't the jigsaw fit of South America and Africa be perfect alon… — Moving continents: from Pangaea to today · tree and pragmatics
description: Why can't the jigsaw fit of South America and Africa be perfect along today's beaches? Test 5 · ★★★ of lesson 43 «Moving continents: from Pangaea to today» 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 
---

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# Test 5 · ★★★ · Moving continents: from Pangaea to today

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why can't the jigsaw fit of South America and Africa be perfect along today's beaches?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** jigsaw fit · **What happens:** not be

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 5 · ★★★ of lesson 43 «Moving continents: from Pangaea to today» 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/43-moving-continents-from-pangaea-to-today/#t5).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:43-moving-continents-from-pangaea-to-today:t5:1
# text = Why can't the jigsaw fit of South America and Africa be perfect along today's beaches?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	13	advmod	_	_
2	ca	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	13	advmod	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	jigsaw	jigsaw	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	fit	fit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	South	South	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	America	America	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
11	Africa	Africa	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	conj	_	_
12	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	13	cop	_	_
13	perfect	perfect	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
14	along	along	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
15	today	today	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	's	's	PART	POS	_	15	case	_	_
17	beaches	beach	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	13	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **is** | can | the jigsaw fit of South America and Africa |  |  |  |  | along today's beaches; perfect *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 -->
The pieces were never joined at all

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:43-moving-continents-from-pangaea-to-today:t5:o1:1
# text = The pieces were never joined at all
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	pieces	piece	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
4	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
5	joined	join	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	at	at	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **join** | past · passive |  | the pieces |  | all |  |  | vn mix-22.1-2-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Someone measured the maps wrongly

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:43-moving-continents-from-pangaea-to-today:t5:o2:1
# text = Someone measured the maps wrongly
1	Someone	someone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	2	nsubj	_	_
2	measured	measure	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	maps	map	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	wrongly	wrongly	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **measure** | past | Someone | the maps |  |  |  | wrongly *property* | vn register-54.1-2-1 «NP V NP.value»: agent=Theme map=Value |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The continents shrank in the cold of the last Ice Age, so they no longer quite meet

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:43-moving-continents-from-pangaea-to-today:t5:o3:1
# text = The continents shrank in the cold of the last Ice Age, so they no longer quite meet
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	continents	continent	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	shrank	shrink	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	cold	cold	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
9	last	last	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
10	Ice	Ice	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	compound	_	_
11	Age	Age	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
13	so	so	ADV	RB	_	18	advmod	_	_
14	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	nsubj	_	_
15	no	no	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	_
16	longer	long	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	18	advmod	_	_
17	quite	quite	ADV	RB	_	18	advmod	_	_
18	meet	meet	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **shrink** | past | the continents |  |  | the cold of the last Ice Age |  |  | vn bend-45.2 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |
| 2 | **meet** | present | continents *= continent* |  |  |  |  | long *property* | vn meet-36.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Coasts have been worn and flooded; the shelves under the sea fit better

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:43-moving-continents-from-pangaea-to-today:t5:o4:1
# text = Coasts have been worn and flooded; the shelves under the sea fit better
1	Coasts	coast	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	have	have	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	worn	wear	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	flooded	flood	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	9	punct	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	shelves	shelf	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	nsubj	_	_
10	under	under	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	sea	sea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	_
13	fit	fit	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	acl:relcl	_	_
14	better	well	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	13	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **wear** | present · perfect · passive |  | Coasts |  |  |  |  | vn wipe\_manner-10.4.1-1 «NP V NP.source»: subject=Source |
| 2 | **flood** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |
| 3 | **fit** | present | the shelves under the sea |  |  |  |  | well *property* | vn adjust-26.9 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent |

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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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