---
title: Identify the principal reason for which a vessel constructed of stee… — Floating and sinking: the push of the… · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal reason for which a vessel constructed of steel remains afloat. Exam question 2 of lesson 11 «Floating and sinking: the push of the water» of the physics course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice w
---

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# Exam question 2 · Floating and sinking: the push of the water

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal reason for which a vessel constructed of steel remains afloat.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, vessel · **What happens:** identify, construct, remain · **To what, where:** principal reason, vessel

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 11 «Floating and sinking: the push of the water» 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/11-floating-and-sinking/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:11-floating-and-sinking:e2:1
# text = Identify the principal reason for which a vessel constructed of steel remains afloat.
1	Identify	identify	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	12	obl	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	vessel	vessel	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
9	constructed	construct	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	acl	_	_
10	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	steel	steel	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
12	remains	remain	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	acl	_	_
13	afloat	afloat	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **identify** | imperative | you *not said here* | the principal reason |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent reason=Theme |
| 2 | **construct** | participle |  | a vessel *not said here* |  |  |  | of steel | vn create-26.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **remain** | present | a vessel |  |  |  |  | for the principal reason; afloat *property* | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=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 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The engines exert a continual upward force

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:11-floating-and-sinking:e2:o1:1
# text = The engines exert a continual upward force
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	engines	engine	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	exert	exert	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
5	continual	continual	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
6	upward	upward	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	force	force	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **exert** | infinitive | the engines | a continual upward force |  |  |  |  | vn use-105.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent force=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Salt water exerts no downward force upon metal

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:11-floating-and-sinking:e2:o2:1
# text = Salt water exerts no downward force upon metal
1	Salt	salt	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	compound	_	_
2	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	exerts	exert	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	6	det	_	_
5	downward	downward	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	force	force	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
7	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	metal	metal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **exert** | present | Salt water | no downward force |  |  |  | upon metal | vn use-105.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent force=Theme |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Its hollow form displaces a weight of water exceeding its own

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:11-floating-and-sinking:e2:o3:1
# text = Its hollow form displaces a weight of water exceeding its own
1	Its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	3	nmod:poss	_	_
2	hollow	hollow	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	form	form	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	displaces	displace	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	weight	weight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
9	exceeding	exceed	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	4	advcl	_	_
10	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
11	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **displace** | present | Its hollow form | a weight of water |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **exceed** | gerund | Its hollow form *not said here* | form's own |  |  |  |  | vn exceed-90 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot own=Theme |
| 3 | **form** |  | Its *= it* |  |  |  |  |  | nom form «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Steel is of lesser density than water

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:11-floating-and-sinking:e2:o4:1
# text = Steel is of lesser density than water
1	Steel	steel	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	lesser	less	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	5	amod	_	_
5	density	density	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	than	than	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Steel |  |  |  |  | of lesser density; than water | tree rules |

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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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- ← previous: [Floating and sinking: the push of the…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/physics/11-floating-and-sinking/e1/)
- next →: [Floating and sinking: the push of the…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/physics/11-floating-and-sinking/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Floating and sinking: the push of the water](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/physics/11-floating-and-sinking/)