---
title: Ascertain the reason for which a bird perched upon a single conducto… — Electricity and safety · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the reason for which a bird perched upon a single conductor sustains no injury. Exam question 3 of lesson 28 «Electricity and safety» 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 3 · Electricity and safety

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the reason for which a bird perched upon a single conductor sustains no injury.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, bird · **What happens:** ascertain, perch, sustain · **To what, where:** reason, bird, single conductor, injury

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 28 «Electricity and safety» 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/28-electricity-and-safety/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:28-electricity-and-safety:e3:1
# text = Ascertain the reason for which a bird perched upon a single conductor sustains no injury.
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	13	obl	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	bird	bird	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	_
8	perched	perch	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	acl	_	_
9	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
11	single	single	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	conductor	conductor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
13	sustains	sustain	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	acl:relcl	_	_
14	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	15	det	_	_
15	injury	injury	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	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 | **perch** | participle |  | a bird *not said here* |  | a single conductor |  |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent upon conductor=Location |
| 3 | **sustain** | present | a bird | no injury |  |  |  | for the reason | vn sustain-55.6 «NP V NP PP.instrument»: agent=Agent injury=Theme |

<!-- .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 -->
Its plumage absorbs the entirety of the current flowing in the line

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:28-electricity-and-safety:e3:o1:1
# text = Its plumage absorbs the entirety of the current flowing in the line
1	Its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	plumage	plumage	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	absorbs	absorb	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	entirety	entirety	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	current	current	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
9	flowing	flow	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	8	acl	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	line	line	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **absorb** | present | Its plumage | the entirety of the current |  |  |  |  | vn absorb-39.8 «NP V NP»: agent=Goal entirety=Theme |
| 2 | **flow** | gerund | the current *not said here* |  |  | the line |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in line=Location |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Birds are wholly immune to electric shock

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:28-electricity-and-safety:e3:o2:1
# text = Birds are wholly immune to electric shock
1	Birds	bird	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	wholly	wholly	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	immune	immune	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	electric	electric	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	shock	shock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Birds |  |  |  |  | to electric shock; immune, wholly *property* | tree rules |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No path exists through its body to a point of differing potential

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:28-electricity-and-safety:e3:o3:1
# text = No path exists through its body to a point of differing potential
1	No	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	2	det	_	_
2	path	path	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	exists	exist	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	through	through	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	body	body	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
7	to	to	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	point	point	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
10	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
11	differing	differ	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	9	acl	_	_
12	potential	potential	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **exist** | present | no path |  |  | path's body |  | to a point | vn exist-47.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme through body=Location |
| 2 | **differ** | gerund | a point *not said here* |  |  |  |  | potential *property* | vn correspond-36.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The current is suspended whenever a bird alights

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:28-electricity-and-safety:e3:o4:1
# text = The current is suspended whenever a bird alights
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	current	current	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	suspended	suspend	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	whenever	whenever	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	8	advmod	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	bird	bird	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
8	alights	alight	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **suspend** | present · passive |  | the current |  |  |  |  | vn fire-10.10 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 2 | **alight** | present | a bird |  |  |  |  | whenever *property* | tree rules |

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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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