---
title: Identify the principal reason for which sea level stood approximatel… — Glaciers and ice ages · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal reason for which sea level stood approximately 120 metres lower during the most recent glacial period. Exam question 2 of lesson 54 «Glaciers and ice ages» of the geography course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each opt
---

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# Exam question 2 · Glaciers and ice ages

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal reason for which sea level stood approximately 120 metres lower during the most recent glacial period.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, sea level · **What happens:** identify, stand · **To what, where:** principal reason

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 54 «Glaciers and ice ages» 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/54-glaciers-and-ice-ages/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:54-glaciers-and-ice-ages:e2:1
# text = Identify the principal reason for which sea level stood approximately 120 metres lower during the most recent glacial period.
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	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	9	obl	_	_
7	sea	sea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	level	level	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
9	stood	stand	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	acl	_	_
10	approximately	approximately	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
11	120	120	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	12	nummod	_	_
12	metres	metre	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	obl:unmarked	_	_
13	lower	low	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	9	xcomp	_	_
14	during	during	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
16	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	17	advmod	_	_
17	recent	recent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	19	amod	_	_
18	glacial	glacial	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	19	amod	_	_
19	period	period	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	.	.	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 reason |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent reason=Theme |
| 2 | **stand** | past | sea level |  |  |  | during the recent glacial period | for the principal reason; low *property* | vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer for which=Attribute |

<!-- .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 oceans evaporated entirely into space

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:54-glaciers-and-ice-ages:e2:o1:1
# text = The oceans evaporated entirely into space
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	oceans	ocean	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	evaporated	evaporate	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	entirely	entirely	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
5	into	into	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	space	space	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **evaporate** | past | the oceans |  |  | space |  | entirely *property* | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The Moon ceased to exert any pull

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:54-glaciers-and-ice-ages:e2:o2:1
# text = The Moon ceased to exert any pull
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	Moon	Moon	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	ceased	cease	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	exert	exert	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
6	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	7	det	_	_
7	pull	pull	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cease** | past | the Moon |  |  |  |  |  | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Affector clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **exert** | to-infinitive | the Moon *not said here* | any pull |  |  |  |  | vn use-105.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent pull=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The sea floor was elevated by volcanoes

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:54-glaciers-and-ice-ages:e2:o3:1
# text = The sea floor was elevated by volcanoes
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	sea	sea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	floor	floor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
5	elevated	elevate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	by	by	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	volcanoes	volcano	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **elevate** | past · passive | volcanoes | the sea floor |  |  |  |  | vn put\_direction-9.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Vast quantities of water were retained as ice upon the land

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:54-glaciers-and-ice-ages:e2:o4:1
# text = Vast quantities of water were retained as ice upon the land
1	Vast	vast	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	quantities	quantity	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
5	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux:pass	_	_
6	retained	retain	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
7	as	as	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	ice	ice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
9	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	land	land	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **retain** | past · passive |  | Vast quantities of water |  |  |  | as ice; upon the land | 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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