---
title: Determine the reason for which a steel paper clip, gently placed, re… — Floating in the real world: ice, subma… · tree and pragmatics
description: Determine the reason for which a steel paper clip, gently placed, remains upon the surface of water. Exam question 4 of lesson 12 «Floating in the real world: ice, submarines and balloons» of the physics course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of 
---

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# Exam question 4 · Floating in the real world: ice, submarines and balloons

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Determine the reason for which a steel paper clip, gently placed, remains upon the surface of water.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, paper clip · **What happens:** determine, place, remain · **To what, where:** reason, paper clip, surface

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 12 «Floating in the real world: ice, submarines and balloons» 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/12-ice-submarines-and-balloons/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:12-ice-submarines-and-balloons:e4:1
# text = Determine the reason for which a steel paper clip, gently placed, remains upon the surface of water.
1	Determine	determine	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	for	for	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	14	obl	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
7	steel	steel	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	paper	paper	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	clip	clip	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
11	gently	gently	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
12	placed	place	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	9	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
14	remains	remain	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	acl	_	_
15	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	surface	surface	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	_
18	of	of	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
19	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **determine** | imperative | you *not said here* | the reason |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent reason=Topic |
| 2 | **place** | participle |  | a paper clip *not said here* |  |  |  | gently *property* | vn put-9.1-2 «NP V PP.destination NP»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **remain** | present | a paper clip |  |  | the surface of water |  | for the reason | vn exist-47.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme upon surface=Location |

<!-- .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 -->
It is attracted upwards by the air

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:12-ice-submarines-and-balloons:e4:o1:1
# text = It is attracted upwards by the air
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	attracted	attract	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	upwards	upwards	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	air	air	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **attract** | present · passive | the air | It |  |  |  | upwards *property* | vn lure-59.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Patient |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is supported by the surface layer of the water

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:12-ice-submarines-and-balloons:e4:o2:1
# text = It is supported by the surface layer of the water
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	supported	support	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	surface	surface	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	layer	layer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl:agent	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **support** | present · passive | the surface layer of the water | It |  |  |  |  | vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer subject=Stimulus |

### Option 3 {#o3}

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

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:12-ice-submarines-and-balloons:e4:o3:1
# text = It is of lesser density than water
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	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 | It |  |  |  |  | of lesser density; than water | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is buoyed up by the hollow interior of the steel wire

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:12-ice-submarines-and-balloons:e4:o4:1
# text = It is buoyed up by the hollow interior of the steel wire
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	buoyed	buoy	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	up	up	ADP	RP	_	3	compound:prt	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	hollow	hollow	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	interior	interior	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
11	steel	steel	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	compound	_	_
12	wire	wire	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **buoy up** | present · passive | the hollow interior of the steel wire | It |  |  |  |  | vn support-15.3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot subject=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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- ← previous: [Floating in the real world: ice, subma…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/physics/12-ice-submarines-and-balloons/e3/)
- next →: [Water safety and the ocean, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/physics/13-water-safety-and-the-ocean/t1/)
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