---
title: State the reason for which the planet Saturn would, in principle, fl… — Saturn and its rings · tree and pragmatics
description: State the reason for which the planet Saturn would, in principle, float upon water. Exam question 2 of lesson 12 «Saturn and its rings» 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 wrong.
---

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# Exam question 2 · Saturn and its rings

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
State the reason for which the planet Saturn would, in principle, float upon water.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** float · **To what, where:** water

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 12 «Saturn and its rings» of the space 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/space/12-saturn-and-its-rings/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:12-saturn-and-its-rings:e2:1
# text = State the reason for which the planet Saturn would, in principle, float upon water.
1	State	state	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
4	for	for	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	9	obl	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	planet	planet	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
8	Saturn	Saturn	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	appos	_	_
9	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	12	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
11	in	in	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	principle	principle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
14	float	float	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	12	parataxis	_	_
15	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	12	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **float** | infinitive |  |  |  | water |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme upon water=Trajectory |

<!-- .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 -->
It is supported by its rings

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:12-saturn-and-its-rings:e2:o1:1
# text = It is supported by its rings
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	supported	support	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	rings	ring	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **support** | present · passive |  | It |  |  |  | by its rings | vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP»: subject=Stimulus |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is hollow and contains air

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:12-saturn-and-its-rings:e2:o2:1
# text = It is hollow and contains air
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	hollow	hollow	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	contains	contain	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
6	air	air	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | It |  |  |  |  | hollow *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **contain** | present |  | air |  |  |  |  | vn comprise-107.2-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot air=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is composed chiefly of wood-like matter

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:12-saturn-and-its-rings:e2:o3:1
# text = It is composed chiefly of wood-like matter
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	cop	_	_
3	composed	compose	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	amod	_	_
4	chiefly	chiefly	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
6	wood	wood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	like	like	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	matter	matter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **compose** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn create-26.4-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is a** | present | It | composed chiefly |  |  |  | of like matter | tree rules |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Its mean density is lower than that of water

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:12-saturn-and-its-rings:e2:o4:1
# text = Its mean density is lower than that of water
1	Its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	3	nmod:poss	_	_
2	mean	mean	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	density	density	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
5	lower	low	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	_
6	than	than	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	5	obl	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Its mean density |  |  |  |  | than that; of water; low *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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- ← previous: [Saturn and its rings, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/space/12-saturn-and-its-rings/e1/)
- next →: [Saturn and its rings, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/space/12-saturn-and-its-rings/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Saturn and its rings](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/space/12-saturn-and-its-rings/)