---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the… — Mirrors, rainbows and the blue sky · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the formation of a rainbow? Exam question 2 of lesson 21 «Mirrors, rainbows and the blue sky» 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 
---

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# Exam question 2 · Mirrors, rainbows and the blue sky

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the formation of a rainbow?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** follow, characteris · **To what, where:** formation

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 21 «Mirrors, rainbows and the blue sky» 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/21-mirrors-rainbows-and-the-blue-sky/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:21-mirrors-rainbows-and-the-blue-sky:e2:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the formation of a rainbow?
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	formation	formation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	rainbow	rainbow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	?	?	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 formation of a rainbow |  |  |  | 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 -->
Rainbows are formed solely by moonlight

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:21-mirrors-rainbows-and-the-blue-sky:e2:o1:1
# text = Rainbows are formed solely by moonlight
1	Rainbows	rainbow	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	formed	form	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	solely	solely	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	moonlight	moonlight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **form** | present · passive | moonlight | Rainbows |  |  |  | solely *property* | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location subject=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The Sun emits seven discrete beams of colour

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:21-mirrors-rainbows-and-the-blue-sky:e2:o2:1
# text = The Sun emits seven discrete beams of colour
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	Sun	Sun	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	emits	emit	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	seven	seven	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	6	nummod	_	_
5	discrete	discrete	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	beams	beam	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	colour	colour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **emit** | present | the Sun | seven discrete beams of colour |  |  |  |  | vn substance\_emission-43.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Source beam=Theme |
| 2 | **beam** |  |  | colour |  |  |  |  | nom beam «communication transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Coloured vapours are suspended within the clouds

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:21-mirrors-rainbows-and-the-blue-sky:e2:o3:1
# text = Coloured vapours are suspended within the clouds
1	Coloured	coloured	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	vapours	vapour	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	suspended	suspend	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	within	within	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	clouds	cloud	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **suspend** | present · passive |  | Coloured vapours |  |  |  | within the clouds | vn fire-10.10 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Sunlight is refracted, dispersed and reflected by droplets of water

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:21-mirrors-rainbows-and-the-blue-sky:e2:o4:1
# text = Sunlight is refracted, dispersed and reflected by droplets of water
1	Sunlight	sunlight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	refracted	refract	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
5	dispersed	disperse	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	conj	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	reflected	reflect	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	conj	_	_
8	by	by	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	droplets	droplet	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obl	_	_
10	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **refract** | present · passive |  | Sunlight |  |  |  |  | vn remedy-45.7 «NP V NP.patient»: subject=Patient |
| 2 | **disperse** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |
| 3 | **reflect** | participle |  |  |  |  |  | by droplets of water | vn focus-87.1-1 «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.

<!-- /div -->

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