---
title: Ascertain the conditions under which a delta is formed at the mouth… — Rivers shaping the land · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the conditions under which a delta is formed at the mouth of a river. Exam question 4 of lesson 53 «Rivers shaping the land» 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 4 · Rivers shaping the land

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the conditions under which a delta is formed at the mouth of a river.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** ascertain, form · **To what, where:** conditions, delta

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 53 «Rivers shaping the land» 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/53-rivers-shaping-the-land/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:53-rivers-shaping-the-land:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the conditions under which a delta is formed at the mouth of a river.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	conditions	condition	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	obj	_	_
4	under	under	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	9	obl	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	delta	delta	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
8	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux:pass	_	_
9	formed	form	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl:relcl	_	_
10	at	at	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	mouth	mouth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
13	of	of	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	river	river	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* | the conditions |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent condition=Topic |
| 2 | **form** | present · passive |  | a delta |  | the conditions |  | at the mouth of a river | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: subject=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 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The river flows uphill towards its mouth

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:53-rivers-shaping-the-land:e4:o1:1
# text = The river flows uphill towards its mouth
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	river	river	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	flows	flow	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	uphill	uphill	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
5	towards	towards	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	mouth	mouth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **flow** | present | the river |  |  |  |  | towards river's mouth; uphill *property* | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Sediment is deposited faster than the sea is able to remove it

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:53-rivers-shaping-the-land:e4:o2:1
# text = Sediment is deposited faster than the sea is able to remove it
1	Sediment	sediment	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	deposited	deposit	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	faster	fast	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	9	advmod	_	_
5	than	than	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	sea	sea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
8	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
9	able	able	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	advcl	_	_
10	to	to	PART	TO	_	11	mark	_	_
11	remove	remove	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	xcomp	_	_
12	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **deposit** | present · passive |  | Sediment |  |  |  |  | vn put-9.1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 2 | **is** | present | the sea |  |  |  |  | able, fast *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **remove** | to-infinitive | the sea *not said here* | sea |  |  |  |  | vn fire-10.10 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The sea deposits sediment into the source of the river from its mouth

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:53-rivers-shaping-the-land:e4:o3:1
# text = The sea deposits sediment into the source of the river from its mouth
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	sea	sea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	deposits	deposit	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	sediment	sediment	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	into	into	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	source	source	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	river	river	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
11	from	from	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	13	nmod:poss	_	_
13	mouth	mouth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sediment** | present | the sea deposits |  |  | the source of the river |  | from river's mouth | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The river is entirely frozen throughout the year

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:53-rivers-shaping-the-land:e4:o4:1
# text = The river is entirely frozen throughout the year
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	river	river	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
4	entirely	entirely	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	frozen	freeze	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	throughout	throughout	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	year	year	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **freeze** | present · passive |  | the river |  |  | year | entirely *property* | vn other\_cos-45.4-1 «NP V NP ADJ»: subject=Result |

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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.

<!-- /div -->

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- ← previous: [Rivers shaping the land, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/geography/53-rivers-shaping-the-land/e3/)
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