---
title: Identify the principal reason for which a tightrope performer carrie… — Balance: the centre of gravity · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal reason for which a tightrope performer carries an elongated pole. Exam question 2 of lesson 8 «Balance: the centre of gravity» 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 2 · Balance: the centre of gravity

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal reason for which a tightrope performer carries an elongated pole.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, tightrope performer · **What happens:** identify, carry, elongate · **To what, where:** principal reason, elongated pole

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 8 «Balance: the centre of gravity» 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/8-balance-the-centre-of-gravity/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:8-balance-the-centre-of-gravity:e2:1
# text = Identify the principal reason for which a tightrope performer carries an elongated pole.
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	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	10	obl	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	tightrope	tightrope	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	performer	performer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
10	carries	carry	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	acl	_	_
11	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
12	elongated	elongate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	13	amod	_	_
13	pole	pole	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	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 reason |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent reason=Theme |
| 2 | **carry** | present | a tightrope performer | a elongated pole |  |  |  | for the principal reason | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent pole=Theme |
| 3 | **elongate** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | 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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The pole resists rapid rotation and so affords time for correction

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:8-balance-the-centre-of-gravity:e2:o1:1
# text = The pole resists rapid rotation and so affords time for correction
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	pole	pole	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	resists	resist	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	rapid	rapid	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	rotation	rotation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
7	so	so	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	affords	afford	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
9	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
10	for	for	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	correction	correction	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **resist** | present | the pole | rapid rotation |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **afford** | present | the pole *not said here* |  |  |  | time | for correction | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The pole diminishes the weight of the performer

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:8-balance-the-centre-of-gravity:e2:o2:1
# text = The pole diminishes the weight of the performer
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	pole	pole	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	diminishes	diminish	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	weight	weight	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	performer	performer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **diminish** | present | the pole | the weight of the performer |  |  |  |  | vn caused\_calibratable\_cos-45.6.2-1 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Causer weight=Patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The pole conducts the performer's weight to the ground

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:8-balance-the-centre-of-gravity:e2:o3:1
# text = The pole conducts the performer's weight to the ground
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	pole	pole	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	conducts	conduct	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	performer	performer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	's	's	PART	POS	_	5	case	_	_
7	weight	weight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
8	to	to	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	ground	ground	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **conduct** | present | the pole | the performer's weight |  | the ground |  |  | vn accompany-51.7 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent weight=Theme to ground=Destination |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The pole is employed to propel the performer forwards

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:8-balance-the-centre-of-gravity:e2:o4:1
# text = The pole is employed to propel the performer forwards
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	pole	pole	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	employed	employ	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	propel	propel	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	performer	performer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
9	forwards	forwards	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **employ** | present · passive |  | the pole |  |  |  |  | vn hire-13.5.3 «NP V NP to be NP»: subject=Theme clause=Attribute |
| 2 | **propel** | to-infinitive |  | the performer |  |  |  | forwards *property* | 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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