---
title: Ascertain the distinction between an atheist and an agnostic. — Buddhism, humanism and respect for eve… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the distinction between an atheist and an agnostic. Exam question 4 of lesson 33 «Buddhism, humanism and respect for every belief» of the religion ethics 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 4 · Buddhism, humanism and respect for every belief

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the distinction between an atheist and an agnostic.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** ascertain · **To what, where:** distinction

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 33 «Buddhism, humanism and respect for every belief» of the religion ethics 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/religion-ethics/33-buddhism-humanism-and-respect/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:33-buddhism-humanism-and-respect:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the distinction between an atheist and an agnostic.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	distinction	distinction	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	between	between	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	atheist	atheist	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
8	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	agnostic	agnostic	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	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 distinction |  |  |  | between a atheist and a agnostic | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent distinction=Topic |

<!-- .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 -->
The former holds that God exists; the latter that God does not

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:33-buddhism-humanism-and-respect:e4:o1:1
# text = The former holds that God exists; the latter that God does not
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	former	former	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	nsubj	_	_
3	holds	hold	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
5	God	God	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	exists	exist	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	9	punct	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	latter	latter	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	conj	_	_
10	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	12	obj	_	_
11	God	God	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
12	does	do	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	acl:relcl	_	_
13	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	12	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hold** | present | the former |  |  |  |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **exist** | present | God |  |  |  |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **not** **do** | present | God | the latter |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent that=Eventuality |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The former holds there is no God; the latter that it cannot be known

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:33-buddhism-humanism-and-respect:e4:o2:1
# text = The former holds there is no God; the latter that it cannot be known
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	former	former	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	nsubj	_	_
3	holds	hold	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	there	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	5	expl	_	_
5	is	be	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	ccomp	_	_
6	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	7	det	_	_
7	God	God	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	10	punct	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	latter	latter	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	conj	_	_
11	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	16	mark	_	_
12	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	16	nsubj:pass	_	_
13	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	16	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	16	advmod	_	_
15	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	16	aux:pass	_	_
16	known	know	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	10	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hold** | present | the former |  |  |  |  |  | vn conjecture-29.5 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 2 | **be** | present | no God |  |  | there |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **not** **know** | can · passive |  | it |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: subject=Stimulus |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The former worships nature; the latter worships reason

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:33-buddhism-humanism-and-respect:e4:o3:1
# text = The former worships nature; the latter worships reason
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
2	former	former	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
3	worships	worship	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	compound	_	_
4	nature	nature	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	9	punct	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	latter	latter	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	worships	worship	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	compound	_	_
9	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	conj	_	_
```

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

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
There is no distinction whatsoever between the two terms

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:33-buddhism-humanism-and-respect:e4:o4:1
# text = There is no distinction whatsoever between the two terms
1	There	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	2	expl	_	_
2	is	be	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	4	det	_	_
4	distinction	distinction	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
5	whatsoever	whatsoever	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
6	between	between	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	9	nummod	_	_
9	terms	term	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **be** | present | no distinction |  |  | there |  | whatsoever *property* | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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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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