---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the… — Colds, coughs and the weather · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the cause of the common cold? Exam question 1 of lesson 4 «Colds, coughs and the weather» 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 1 · Colds, coughs and the weather

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

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **What happens:** follow, characteris, cause · **To what, where:** cause, common cold

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 4 «Colds, coughs and the weather» 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/4-colds-coughs-and-the-weather/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:4-colds-coughs-and-the-weather:e1:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the cause of the common cold?
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	10	det	_	_
10	cause	cause	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
13	common	common	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	cold	cold	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	?	?	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 cause of the common cold |  |  |  | of the following statements; accurately *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **cause** |  |  | the common cold |  |  |  |  | nom cause «event transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- .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 -->
It is caused by insufficient consumption of vitamin C

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:4-colds-coughs-and-the-weather:e1:o1:1
# text = It is caused by insufficient consumption of vitamin C
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	caused	cause	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	insufficient	insufficient	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	consumption	consumption	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	vitamin	vitamin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	C	c	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cause** | present · passive | insufficient consumption of vitamin C | It |  |  |  |  | vn engender-27.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Precondition subject=Patient |
| 2 | **consume** |  |  | vitamin C |  |  |  |  | nom consumption «act transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is caused by exposure of the body to low temperatures

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:4-colds-coughs-and-the-weather:e1:o2:1
# text = It is caused by exposure of the body to low temperatures
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	caused	cause	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	exposure	exposure	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl:agent	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	body	body	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
9	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
10	low	low	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	temperatures	temperature	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cause** | present · passive | exposure of the body | It |  |  |  |  | vn engender-27.1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Causer subject=Theme temperature=Eventuality |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is caused by going out of doors with damp hair

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:4-colds-coughs-and-the-weather:e1:o3:1
# text = It is caused by going out of doors with damp hair
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	caused	cause	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	by	by	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
5	going	go	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	3	advcl	_	_
6	out	out	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	doors	door	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
9	with	with	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	damp	damp	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	hair	hair	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cause** | present · passive |  | It |  |  |  |  | vn engender-27.1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient |
| 2 | **go out** | gerund |  | doors |  |  |  | with damp hair | tree rules |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is caused by viruses transmitted between persons

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:4-colds-coughs-and-the-weather:e1:o4:1
# text = It is caused by viruses transmitted between persons
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	caused	cause	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	viruses	virus	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
6	transmitted	transmit	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	acl	_	_
7	between	between	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	persons	person	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cause** | present · passive | viruses | It |  |  |  |  | vn engender-27.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Precondition subject=Patient |
| 2 | **transmit** | participle |  | viruses *not said here* |  |  |  | between persons | vn send-11.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

<!-- 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 -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [Colds, coughs and the weather, test 11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/myths/4-colds-coughs-and-the-weather/t11/)
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