---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the… — Why things fall: the apple and the pul… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the motion of bodies released in the absence of air? Exam question 2 of lesson 1 «Why things fall: the apple and the pull of the Earth» of the physics course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the quest
---

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# Exam question 2 · Why things fall: the apple and the pull of the Earth

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the motion of bodies released in the absence of air?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** bodies · **What happens:** follow, characteris, release, motion, absent · **To what, where:** motion, bodies, absence, air

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 1 «Why things fall: the apple and the pull of the Earth» of the physics 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/physics/1-why-things-fall/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:1-why-things-fall:e2:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the motion of bodies released in the absence of air?
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	motion	motion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	bodies	body	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nmod	_	_
13	released	release	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	12	acl	_	_
14	in	in	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	absence	absence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	_
17	of	of	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
18	air	air	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	?	?	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 motion of bodies |  |  |  | of the following statements; accurately *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **release** | participle |  | bodies *not said here* |  | the absence of air |  |  | vn free-10.6.3-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Causer |
| 4 | **motion** |  | bodies |  |  |  |  |  | nom motion «communication intransitive»: of=agent |
| 5 | **absent** |  |  | air |  |  |  |  | nom absence «state 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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
All bodies descend at an identical rate irrespective of weight

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:1-why-things-fall:e2:o1:1
# text = All bodies descend at an identical rate irrespective of weight
1	All	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	2	det	_	_
2	bodies	body	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	descend	descend	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	at	at	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	identical	identical	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	rate	rate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
8	irrespective	irrespective	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	weight	weight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **descend** | present | all bodies |  |  | a identical rate |  | of weight | vn meander-47.7-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme of weight=Location |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Bodies descend at a constant speed from release

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:1-why-things-fall:e2:o2:1
# text = Bodies descend at a constant speed from release
1	Bodies	body	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	descend	descend	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	at	at	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	constant	constant	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	speed	speed	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
7	from	from	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	release	release	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **descend** | present | Bodies |  |  | a constant speed |  | from release | vn meander-47.7-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme from release=Location |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Lighter bodies remain suspended indefinitely

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:1-why-things-fall:e2:o3:1
# text = Lighter bodies remain suspended indefinitely
1	Lighter	light	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	2	amod	_	_
2	bodies	body	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	remain	remain	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	suspended	suspend	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	xcomp	_	_
5	indefinitely	indefinitely	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **remain** | present | Lighter bodies |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **suspend** | participle | Lighter bodies *not said here* |  |  |  |  | indefinitely *property* | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Heavier bodies descend at a proportionally greater rate

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:1-why-things-fall:e2:o4:1
# text = Heavier bodies descend at a proportionally greater rate
1	Heavier	heavy	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	2	amod	_	_
2	bodies	body	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	descend	descend	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	at	at	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
6	proportionally	proportionally	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	greater	great	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	8	amod	_	_
8	rate	rate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **descend** | present | Heavier bodies |  |  | a greater rate |  |  | vn meander-47.7-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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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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