---
title: Why do sunspots look black if they are still thousands of degrees hot? — The Sun, our star · tree and pragmatics
description: Why do sunspots look black if they are still thousands of degrees hot? Test 4 of lesson 1 «The Sun, our star» of the space course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was right.
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/space/1-the-sun-our-star/t4/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [Space](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/space/) / [The Sun, our star](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/space/1-the-sun-our-star/) / t4

# Test 4 · The Sun, our star

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why do sunspots look black if they are still thousands of degrees hot?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** sunspots · **What happens:** look, be

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 4 of lesson 1 «The Sun, our star» of the space 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/space/1-the-sun-our-star/#t4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:1-the-sun-our-star:t4:1
# text = Why do sunspots look black if they are still thousands of degrees hot?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	sunspots	sunspot	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	look	look	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	black	black	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	xcomp	_	_
6	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
7	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
8	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	cop	_	_
9	still	still	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
10	thousands	thousand	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	nsubj	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	degrees	degree	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nmod	_	_
13	hot	hot	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **look** | present · do-support | sunspots |  |  |  |  | black *property* | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V ADJ»: agent=Stimulus |
| 2 | **is** *a condition, not said to happen* | present | sunspots *= sunspot* |  |  |  | still | hot *property* | 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 rest of the Sun around them is even brighter

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:1-the-sun-our-star:t4:o1:1
# text = The rest of the Sun around them is even brighter
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	rest	rest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	Sun	Sun	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	around	around	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nmod	_	_
8	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	cop	_	_
9	even	even	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
10	brighter	bright	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the rest of the Sun around them |  |  |  |  | bright *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They are covered in thick black smoke and ash from fires

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:1-the-sun-our-star:t4:o2:1
# text = They are covered in thick black smoke and ash from fires
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	covered	cover	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	thick	thick	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
6	black	black	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	smoke	smoke	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	ash	ash	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	conj	_	_
10	from	from	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	fires	fire	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cover** | present · passive |  | They |  |  |  | from fires; in thick black smoke and ash | vn fill-9.8-1 «NP V NP PP.theme»: subject=Destination in smoke=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They are cold, dead parts of the Sun

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:1-the-sun-our-star:t4:o3:1
# text = They are cold, dead parts of the Sun
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	cold	cold	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
5	dead	dead	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	parts	part	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	Sun	Sun	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | They |  |  |  |  | dead parts of the Sun *obl*; cold *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They are holes showing empty space behind

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:1-the-sun-our-star:t4:o4:1
# text = They are holes showing empty space behind
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	holes	hole	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
4	showing	show	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	3	acl	_	_
5	empty	empty	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	space	space	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	behind	behind	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | They | holes |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **show** | gerund | holes *not said here* | empty space |  |  |  | behind *property* | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent space=Recipient |

<!-- 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 -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [The Sun, our star, test 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/space/1-the-sun-our-star/t3/)
- next →: [The Sun, our star, test 5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/space/1-the-sun-our-star/t5/)
- ↑ back to [The Sun, our star](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/space/1-the-sun-our-star/)