---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the… — The United States · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the relative ages of the principal mountain ranges of the United States? Exam question 3 of lesson 9 «The United States» of the geography course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of ea
---

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# Exam question 3 · The United States

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the relative ages of the principal mountain ranges of the United States?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** follow, characteris · **To what, where:** relative ages

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 9 «The United States» 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/9-the-united-states/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:9-the-united-states:e3:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the relative ages of the principal mountain ranges of the United States?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	nsubj	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	following	follow	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	amod	_	_
5	statements	statement	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	_
6	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	7	advmod	_	_
7	accurately	accurately	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	characterises	characteris	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	relative	relative	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	ages	age	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obj	_	_
12	of	of	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
14	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	amod	_	_
15	mountain	mountain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	compound	_	_
16	ranges	range	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	nmod	_	_
17	of	of	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
18	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
19	United	United	ADJ	NNP	Degree=Pos	20	amod	_	_
20	States	State	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	16	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **follow** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **characteris** | present |  | the relative ages of the principal mountain ranges of the United States |  |  |  | of the following statements; accurately *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 -->
Both ranges were formed in the twentieth century

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:9-the-united-states:e3:o1:1
# text = Both ranges were formed in the twentieth century
1	Both	both	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	2	det	_	_
2	ranges	range	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	formed	form	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	twentieth	twentieth	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	century	century	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **form** | past · passive |  | both ranges |  |  | century |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: subject=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The Appalachians are older and more eroded than the Rockies

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:9-the-united-states:e3:o2:1
# text = The Appalachians are older and more eroded than the Rockies
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	Appalachians	Appalachian	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	older	old	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
6	more	more	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	7	advmod	_	_
7	eroded	erode	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
8	than	than	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	Rockies	Rocky	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the Appalachians |  |  |  |  | old *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **erode** | past | the Appalachians *not said here* |  |  |  |  | than the Rockies | vn entity\_specific\_cos-45.5 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The Rockies are older and more eroded than the Appalachians

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:9-the-united-states:e3:o3:1
# text = The Rockies are older and more eroded than the Appalachians
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	Rockies	Rocky	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	older	old	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
6	more	more	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	7	advmod	_	_
7	eroded	erode	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
8	than	than	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	Appalachians	Appalachian	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the Rockies |  |  |  |  | old *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **erode** | past | the Rockies *not said here* |  |  |  |  | than the Appalachians | vn entity\_specific\_cos-45.5 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Both ranges are of identical age

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:9-the-united-states:e3:o4:1
# text = Both ranges are of identical age
1	Both	both	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	2	det	_	_
2	ranges	range	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	identical	identical	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	age	age	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | both ranges |  |  |  | of identical age |  | 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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