---
title: Identify the principal cause of the seasons upon the Earth. — Seasons and tides · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal cause of the seasons upon the Earth. Exam question 1 of lesson 40 «Seasons and tides» 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 1 · Seasons and tides

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal cause of the seasons upon the Earth.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** identify, cause · **To what, where:** principal cause, seasons

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This is exam question 1 of lesson 40 «Seasons and tides» 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/40-seasons-and-tides/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:40-seasons-and-tides:e1:1
# text = Identify the principal cause of the seasons upon the Earth.
1	Identify	identify	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	cause	cause	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	seasons	season	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nmod	_	_
8	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	Earth	Earth	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **identify** | imperative | you *not said here* | the principal cause of the seasons upon the Earth |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent cause=Theme |
| 2 | **cause** |  |  | the seasons upon the Earth |  |  |  |  | nom cause «event transitive»: of=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 -->
The inclination of the Earth's axis

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:40-seasons-and-tides:e1:o1:1
# text = The inclination of the Earth's axis
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	inclination	inclination	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	Earth	Earth	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	's	's	PART	POS	_	5	case	_	_
7	axis	axis	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **incline** |  | the Earth's axis |  |  |  |  |  | nom inclination «cognition intransitive»: of=agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The interposition of clouds during the winter months

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:40-seasons-and-tides:e1:o2:1
# text = The interposition of clouds during the winter months
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	interposition	interposition	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	clouds	cloud	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
5	during	during	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	winter	winter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	months	month	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **interpose** |  |  | clouds |  |  | during the winter months |  | nom interposition «act transitive»: of=patient during=obl |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The variation in the heat emitted by the Sun

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:40-seasons-and-tides:e1:o3:1
# text = The variation in the heat emitted by the Sun
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	variation	variation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	heat	heat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	emitted	emit	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
7	by	by	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	Sun	Sun	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	obl:agent	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **emit** | participle |  | the variation in the heat *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn substance\_emission-43.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Source |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The variation in the distance between the Earth and the Sun

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:40-seasons-and-tides:e1:o4:1
# text = The variation in the distance between the Earth and the Sun
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	variation	variation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	distance	distance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	between	between	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	Earth	Earth	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	Sun	Sun	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

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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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- ← previous: [Seasons and tides, test 11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/physics/40-seasons-and-tides/t11/)
- next →: [Seasons and tides, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/physics/40-seasons-and-tides/e2/)
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