---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the… — What sound is: wobbles in the air · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the phenomenon of sound? Exam question 1 of lesson 17 «What sound is: wobbles in the air» 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 wron
---

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# Exam question 1 · What sound is: wobbles in the air

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the phenomenon of sound?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** follow, characteris · **To what, where:** phenomenon

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 17 «What sound is: wobbles in the air» 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/17-what-sound-is-wobbles-in-the-air/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:17-what-sound-is-wobbles-in-the-air:e1:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the phenomenon of sound?
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	phenomenon	phenomenon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	sound	sound	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	?	?	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 phenomenon of sound |  |  |  | of the following statements; accurately *property* | tree rules |

<!-- .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 a stream of particles emitted by the source

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:17-what-sound-is-wobbles-in-the-air:e1:o1:1
# text = It is a stream of particles emitted by the source
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	stream	stream	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	particles	particle	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nmod	_	_
7	emitted	emit	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	acl	_	_
8	by	by	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	source	source	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl:agent	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | It | a stream |  |  |  | of particles | tree rules |
| 2 | **emit** | participle |  | particles *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn substance\_emission-43.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Source |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is a property solely of the human ear

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:17-what-sound-is-wobbles-in-the-air:e1:o2:1
# text = It is a property solely of the human ear
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	property	property	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	solely	solely	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	human	human	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	ear	ear	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | It | a property |  |  |  | of the human ear; solely *property* | tree rules |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is a vibration transmitted through a material medium

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:17-what-sound-is-wobbles-in-the-air:e1:o3:1
# text = It is a vibration transmitted through a material medium
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	vibration	vibration	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	transmitted	transmit	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	acl	_	_
6	through	through	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	material	material	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	medium	medium	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | It | a vibration |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **transmit** | participle |  | a vibration *not said here* |  | a material medium |  |  | vn send-11.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is a form of light perceptible to the ear

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:17-what-sound-is-wobbles-in-the-air:e1:o4:1
# text = It is a form of light perceptible to the ear
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	form	form	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	light	light	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	perceptible	perceptible	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
8	to	to	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	ear	ear	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | It | a form |  |  |  | of light perceptible to the ear | tree rules |

<!-- div src -->

**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: [What sound is: wobbles in the air, test 11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/physics/17-what-sound-is-wobbles-in-the-air/t11/)
- next →: [What sound is: wobbles in the air, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/physics/17-what-sound-is-wobbles-in-the-air/e2/)
- ↑ back to [What sound is: wobbles in the air](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/physics/17-what-sound-is-wobbles-in-the-air/)