---
title: Ascertain the nature of the phenomenon commonly termed heat lightning. — Weather, lightning and storms · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the nature of the phenomenon commonly termed heat lightning. Exam question 4 of lesson 15 «Weather, lightning and storms» of the myths course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was right.
---

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# Exam question 4 · Weather, lightning and storms

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the nature of the phenomenon commonly termed heat lightning.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, phenomenon · **What happens:** ascertain, term · **To what, where:** nature, heat lightning

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 15 «Weather, lightning and storms» of the myths 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/myths/15-weather-lightning-and-storms/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:15-weather-lightning-and-storms:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the nature of the phenomenon commonly termed heat lightning.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	nature	nature	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	phenomenon	phenomenon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
7	commonly	commonly	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	termed	term	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	acl	_	_
9	heat	heat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	lightning	lightning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	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 nature of the phenomenon |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent nature=Topic |
| 2 | **term** | participle | the phenomenon *not said here* | heat lightning |  |  |  | commonly *property* | vn dub-29.3.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent lightning=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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Lightning devoid of electrical charge

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:15-weather-lightning-and-storms:e4:o1:1
# text = Lightning devoid of electrical charge
1	Lightning	lightning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
2	devoid	devoid	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	1	amod	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	electrical	electrical	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	charge	charge	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Sunlight reflected from clouds after sunset

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:15-weather-lightning-and-storms:e4:o2:1
# text = Sunlight reflected from clouds after sunset
1	Sunlight	Sunlight	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	reflected	reflect	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	from	from	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	clouds	cloud	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
5	after	after	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	sunset	sunset	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **reflect** | past | Sunlight |  |  | clouds | sunset |  | vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A distinct form of lightning produced by heat alone

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:15-weather-lightning-and-storms:e4:o3:1
# text = A distinct form of lightning produced by heat alone
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	distinct	distinct	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	form	form	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	lightning	lightning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
6	produced	produce	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl	_	_
7	by	by	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	heat	heat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
9	alone	alone	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **produce** | participle |  | a distinct form of lightning *not said here* |  |  |  | by heat; alone *property* | vn create-26.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **form** |  |  | lightning |  |  |  |  | nom form «communication transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ordinary lightning at a distance too great for its thunder to be heard

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:15-weather-lightning-and-storms:e4:o4:1
# text = Ordinary lightning at a distance too great for its thunder to be heard
1	Ordinary	ordinary	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	lightning	lightning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
3	at	at	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	distance	distance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
6	too	too	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	great	great	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
8	for	for	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
10	thunder	thunder	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
11	to	to	PART	TO	_	13	mark	_	_
12	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	13	aux:pass	_	_
13	heard	hear	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	10	acl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hear** | to-infinitive · passive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V PP.stimulus» |
| 2 | **thunder** |  | lightning |  |  |  |  |  | nom thunder «event intransitive»: poss=agent |

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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.

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- ← previous: [Weather, lightning and storms, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/myths/15-weather-lightning-and-storms/e3/)
- next →: [Water, deserts and the shape of the land, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/myths/16-water-deserts-and-the-shape-of-the-land/t1/)
- ↑ back to [Weather, lightning and storms](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/myths/15-weather-lightning-and-storms/)