---
title: Ascertain the approximate duration required for the formation of a f… — Soil · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the approximate duration required for the formation of a few centimetres of soil. Exam question 4 of lesson 56 «Soil» 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 · Soil

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the approximate duration required for the formation of a few centimetres of soil.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** ascertain, require · **To what, where:** approximate duration

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 56 «Soil» 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/56-soil/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:56-soil:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the approximate duration required for the formation of a few centimetres of soil.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	approximate	approximate	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	duration	duration	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	required	require	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	acl	_	_
6	for	for	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	formation	formation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
11	few	few	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	centimetres	centimetre	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nmod	_	_
13	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	soil	soil	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	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 approximate duration |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent duration=Topic |
| 2 | **require** | participle |  | the approximate duration *not said here* |  |  |  | for the formation of a few centimetres of soil | vn require-103-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=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 -->
A single season of cultivation

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:56-soil:e4:o1:1
# text = A single season of cultivation
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	single	single	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	season	season	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	cultivation	cultivation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Several million years

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:56-soil:e4:o2:1
# text = Several million years
1	Several	several	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	million	million	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	3	nummod	_	_
3	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Several days following a period of heavy rainfall

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:56-soil:e4:o3:1
# text = Several days following a period of heavy rainfall
1	Several	several	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	days	day	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
3	following	follow	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	acl	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	period	period	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	heavy	heavy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	rainfall	rainfall	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **follow** | gerund | Several days *not said here* | a period of heavy rainfall |  |  |  |  | vn chase-51.6 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent period=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Several hundred to one thousand years

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:56-soil:e4:o4:1
# text = Several hundred to one thousand years
1	Several	several	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
2	hundred	hundred	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	5	compound	_	_
3	to	to	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	2	nmod	_	_
5	thousand	thousand	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	6	nummod	_	_
6	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

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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: [Soil, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/geography/56-soil/e3/)
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