---
title: Why does a plane high in the sky look like it is crawling, though it… — Speed: fast and slow · tree and pragmatics
description: Why does a plane high in the sky look like it is crawling, though it goes about 900 kilometres an hour? Test 2 of lesson 36 «Speed: fast and slow» 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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# Test 2 · Speed: fast and slow

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why does a plane high in the sky look like it is crawling, though it goes about 900 kilometres an hour?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** plane · **What happens:** look, crawl, go about · **To what, where:** 900 kilometres

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 2 of lesson 36 «Speed: fast and slow» of the physics course of Mova's primary school. 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/36-speed-fast-and-slow/#t2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:36-speed-fast-and-slow:t2:1
# text = Why does a plane high in the sky look like it is crawling, though it goes about 900 kilometres an hour?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	9	advmod	_	_
2	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	plane	plane	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
5	high	high	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	sky	sky	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
9	look	look	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
10	like	like	SCONJ	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
11	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
12	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	_
13	crawling	crawl	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	9	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
15	though	though	SCONJ	IN	_	17	mark	_	_
16	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	17	nsubj	_	_
17	goes	go	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	parataxis	_	_
18	about	about	ADV	RB	_	19	advmod	_	_
19	900	900	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	20	nummod	_	_
20	kilometres	kilometre	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	17	obl:unmarked	_	_
21	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	22	det	_	_
22	hour	hour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	nmod:unmarked	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	9	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **look** | present · do-support | a plane |  |  |  |  |  | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Stimulus |
| 2 | **crawl** | present · progressive | plane |  |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **go about** | present | plane | 900 kilometres  a hour |  |  |  |  | vn confront-98 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is so far away that it seems to move slowly

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:36-speed-fast-and-slow:t2:o1:1
# text = It is so far away that it seems to move slowly
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	so	so	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
4	far	far	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	5	advmod	_	_
5	away	away	ADV	RB	_	0	root	_	_
6	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
7	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
8	seems	seem	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	advcl	_	_
9	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
10	move	move	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	xcomp	_	_
11	slowly	slowly	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | It |  |  |  |  | away, far *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **seem** | present | it |  |  |  |  |  | vn seem-109-1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Theme clause=Attribute |
| 3 | **move** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | slowly *property* | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP.theme V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It really does fly slowly when it is up that high

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:36-speed-fast-and-slow:t2:o2:1
# text = It really does fly slowly when it is up that high
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	really	really	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
3	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	fly	fly	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	slowly	slowly	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
6	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	11	advmod	_	_
7	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
8	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	cop	_	_
9	up	up	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	11	nsubj	_	_
11	high	high	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fly** | present · do-support | It |  |  |  |  | slowly *property* | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **is** | present | it |  |  |  |  | high *property* | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The clouds and the thin air hold it back up there

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:36-speed-fast-and-slow:t2:o3:1
# text = The clouds and the thin air hold it back up there
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	clouds	cloud	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
3	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	thin	thin	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	air	air	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	conj	_	_
7	hold	hold	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	obj	_	_
9	back	back	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
10	up	up	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
11	there	there	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	7	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hold** | present | the clouds and the thin air | air |  | there |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is actually going backwards against the strong wind

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:36-speed-fast-and-slow:t2:o4:1
# text = It is actually going backwards against the strong wind
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	aux	_	_
3	actually	actually	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	going	go	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
5	backwards	backwards	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
6	against	against	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	strong	strong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	wind	wind	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **go** | present · progressive | It |  |  | the strong wind |  | actually, backwards *property* | vn occur-48.3-2 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme against wind=Location |

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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: [Speed: fast and slow, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/physics/36-speed-fast-and-slow/t1/)
- next →: [Speed: fast and slow, test 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/physics/36-speed-fast-and-slow/t3/)
- ↑ back to [Speed: fast and slow](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/physics/36-speed-fast-and-slow/)