---
title: Ascertain the reason for which the human body is not crushed by atmo… — The air presses on everything · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the reason for which the human body is not crushed by atmospheric pressure. Exam question 4 of lesson 14 «The air presses on everything» 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 right.
---

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# Exam question 4 · The air presses on everything

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the reason for which the human body is not crushed by atmospheric pressure.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, atmospheric pressure · **What happens:** ascertain, not crush · **To what, where:** reason, human body

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 14 «The air presses on everything» 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/14-the-air-presses-on-everything/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:14-the-air-presses-on-everything:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the reason for which the human body is not crushed by atmospheric pressure.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	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	11	obl	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	human	human	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	body	body	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj:pass	_	_
9	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	aux:pass	_	_
10	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	11	advmod	_	_
11	crushed	crush	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl:relcl	_	_
12	by	by	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	atmospheric	atmospheric	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	compound	_	_
14	pressure	pressure	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* | the reason |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent reason=Topic |
| 2 | **not** **crush** | present · passive | atmospheric pressure | the human body |  |  |  | for the reason | vn carve-21.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=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 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Internal pressures counterbalance the external pressure

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:14-the-air-presses-on-everything:e4:o1:1
# text = Internal pressures counterbalance the external pressure
1	Internal	internal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	pressures	pressure	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	counterbalance	counterbalance	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	external	external	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	pressure	pressure	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **counterbalance** | present | Internal pressures | the external pressure |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The skin is impermeable to pressure

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:14-the-air-presses-on-everything:e4:o2:1
# text = The skin is impermeable to pressure
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	skin	skin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	impermeable	impermeable	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	pressure	pressure	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the skin | pressure |  |  |  | impermeable *property* | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The atmosphere exerts no pressure whatsoever upon living tissue

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:14-the-air-presses-on-everything:e4:o3:1
# text = The atmosphere exerts no pressure whatsoever upon living tissue
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	atmosphere	atmosphere	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	5	det	_	_
5	pressure	pressure	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	whatsoever	whatsoever	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
7	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	living	living	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	tissue	tissue	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **exert** | present | the atmosphere | no pressure |  |  |  | upon living tissue; whatsoever *property* | vn use-105.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent pressure=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Atmospheric pressure acts exclusively at night

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:14-the-air-presses-on-everything:e4:o4:1
# text = Atmospheric pressure acts exclusively at night
1	Atmospheric	Atmospheric	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	compound	_	_
2	pressure	pressure	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	acts	act	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	exclusively	exclusively	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	night	night	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **act** | present | Atmospheric pressure |  |  |  | night | exclusively *property* | vn act-114-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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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.

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- ← previous: [The air presses on everything, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/physics/14-the-air-presses-on-everything/e3/)
- next →: [Wind and weather, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/physics/15-wind-and-weather/t1/)
- ↑ back to [The air presses on everything](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/physics/14-the-air-presses-on-everything/)