---
title: Determine the reason for which a dam is constructed with greater thi… — Water safety and the ocean · tree and pragmatics
description: Determine the reason for which a dam is constructed with greater thickness at its base. Exam question 4 of lesson 13 «Water safety and the ocean» 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 was wrong.
---

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# Exam question 4 · Water safety and the ocean

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Determine the reason for which a dam is constructed with greater thickness at its base.

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

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 13 «Water safety and the ocean» 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/13-water-safety-and-the-ocean/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:13-water-safety-and-the-ocean:e4:1
# text = Determine the reason for which a dam is constructed with greater thickness at its base.
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	9	obl	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	dam	dam	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj:pass	_	_
8	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux:pass	_	_
9	constructed	construct	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl:relcl	_	_
10	with	with	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	greater	great	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	12	amod	_	_
12	thickness	thickness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
13	at	at	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	15	nmod:poss	_	_
15	base	base	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	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 | **construct** | present · passive |  | a dam |  | dam's base |  | for the reason; with greater thickness | vn create-26.4 «NP V NP PP.beneficiary»: subject=Result for which=Beneficiary |

<!-- .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 upper portion of the dam bears the greatest pressure

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:13-water-safety-and-the-ocean:e4:o1:1
# text = The upper portion of the dam bears the greatest pressure
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	upper	upper	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	portion	portion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	dam	dam	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	bears	bear	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nmod	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	greatest	great	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	10	amod	_	_
10	pressure	pressure	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Fish require a thick wall for shelter

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:13-water-safety-and-the-ocean:e4:o2:1
# text = Fish require a thick wall for shelter
1	Fish	fish	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	require	require	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	thick	thick	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	wall	wall	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	for	for	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	shelter	shelter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **require** | present | Fish | a thick wall |  |  |  | for shelter | vn require-103-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme wall=Precondition |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The pressure of the water increases with depth

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:13-water-safety-and-the-ocean:e4:o3:1
# text = The pressure of the water increases with depth
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	pressure	pressure	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	increases	increase	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	with	with	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	depth	depth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **increase** | present | the pressure of the water |  |  |  |  | with depth | vn caused\_calibratable\_cos-45.6.2-1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Patient |
| 2 | **press** |  |  | the water |  |  |  |  | nom pressure «phenomenon transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The base must support a carriageway

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:13-water-safety-and-the-ocean:e4:o4:1
# text = The base must support a carriageway
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	base	base	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	support	support	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	carriageway	carriageway	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **support** | must | the base | a carriageway |  |  |  |  | vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer carriageway=Stimulus |

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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: [Water safety and the ocean, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/physics/13-water-safety-and-the-ocean/e3/)
- next →: [The air presses on everything, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/physics/14-the-air-presses-on-everything/t1/)
- ↑ back to [Water safety and the ocean](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/physics/13-water-safety-and-the-ocean/)