---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises earw… — Sore throats, ears and eyes · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises earwax? Exam question 2 of lesson 9 «Sore throats, ears and eyes» of the medicine 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 2 · Sore throats, ears and eyes

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises earwax?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** follow, characteris · **To what, where:** earwax

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 9 «Sore throats, ears and eyes» of the medicine 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/medicine/9-sore-throats-ears-and-eyes/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:medicine:9-sore-throats-ears-and-eyes:e2:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises earwax?
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	earwax	earwax	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	?	?	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 |  | earwax |  |  |  | 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 -->
A sign of infection of the middle ear

```conllu
# sent_id = question:medicine:9-sore-throats-ears-and-eyes:e2:o1:1
# text = A sign of infection of the middle ear
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	sign	sign	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	infection	infection	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	middle	middle	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	ear	ear	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sign** |  |  | infection of the middle ear |  |  |  |  | nom sign «communication transitive»: of=patient |
| 2 | **infect** |  |  | the middle ear |  |  |  |  | nom infection «state transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A substance to be removed daily with cotton buds

```conllu
# sent_id = question:medicine:9-sore-throats-ears-and-eyes:e2:o2:1
# text = A substance to be removed daily with cotton buds
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	substance	substance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
4	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	aux:pass	_	_
5	removed	remove	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
6	daily	daily	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
7	with	with	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	cotton	cotton	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	buds	bud	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **remove** | to-infinitive · passive |  |  |  |  |  | with cotton buds; daily *property* | vn fire-10.10 «NP V NP» |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Accumulated dirt indicating poor hygiene of the ear

```conllu
# sent_id = question:medicine:9-sore-throats-ears-and-eyes:e2:o3:1
# text = Accumulated dirt indicating poor hygiene of the ear
1	Accumulated	accumulate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	amod	_	_
2	dirt	dirt	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	indicating	indicate	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	acl	_	_
4	poor	poor	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	hygiene	hygiene	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	ear	ear	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **accumulate** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn herd-47.5.2 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **indicate** | gerund | Accumulated dirt *not said here* | poor hygiene of the ear |  |  |  |  | vn indicate-78-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot hygiene=Topic |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A secretion which cleans and protects the ear canal

```conllu
# sent_id = question:medicine:9-sore-throats-ears-and-eyes:e2:o4:1
# text = A secretion which cleans and protects the ear canal
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	secretion	secretion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
3	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	4	nsubj	_	_
4	cleans	clean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	acl:relcl	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	4	cc	_	_
6	protects	protect	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	ear	ear	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	canal	canal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **clean** | present | a secretion |  |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |
| 2 | **protect** | present | a secretion | the ear canal |  |  |  |  | vn defend-72.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent canal=Beneficiary |

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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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