---
title: Ascertain the origin of the meteor shower designated the Perseids. — Pluto, the Kuiper belt, the Oort cloud… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the origin of the meteor shower designated the Perseids. Exam question 4 of lesson 15 «Pluto, the Kuiper belt, the Oort cloud and comets» 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.
---

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# Exam question 4 · Pluto, the Kuiper belt, the Oort cloud and comets

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the origin of the meteor shower designated the Perseids.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, origin · **What happens:** ascertain, designate · **To what, where:** Perseids

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 15 «Pluto, the Kuiper belt, the Oort cloud and comets» 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/15-pluto-the-kuiper-belt-the-oort-cloud-and-comets/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:15-pluto-the-kuiper-belt-the-oort-cloud-and-comets:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the origin of the meteor shower designated the Perseids.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	origin	origin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	meteor	meteor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	shower	shower	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
8	designated	designate	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	1	parataxis	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	Perseids	perseid	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **designate** | past | the origin of the meteor shower | the Perseids |  |  |  |  | vn appoint-29.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent perseid=Theme |

<!-- .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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The eruption of terrestrial volcanoes during the month of August

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:15-pluto-the-kuiper-belt-the-oort-cloud-and-comets:e4:o1:1
# text = The eruption of terrestrial volcanoes during the month of August
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	eruption	eruption	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	terrestrial	terrestrial	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	volcanoes	volcano	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
6	during	during	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	month	month	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	August	August	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **erupt** |  | terrestrial volcanoes during the month of August |  |  |  |  |  | nom eruption «event intransitive»: of=agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The collapse of distant stars within the constellation Perseus

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:15-pluto-the-kuiper-belt-the-oort-cloud-and-comets:e4:o2:1
# text = The collapse of distant stars within the constellation Perseus
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	collapse	collapse	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	distant	distant	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	stars	star	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
6	within	within	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	constellation	constellation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
9	Perseus	Perseus	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	appos	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **collapse** |  | distant stars |  |  |  |  | within the constellation | nom collapse «state intransitive»: of=agent within=obl |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The gradual fragmentation of the Moon under terrestrial tides

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:15-pluto-the-kuiper-belt-the-oort-cloud-and-comets:e4:o3:1
# text = The gradual fragmentation of the Moon under terrestrial tides
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	gradual	gradual	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	fragmentation	fragmentation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	Moon	Moon	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
7	under	under	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	terrestrial	terrestrial	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	tides	tide	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fragment** |  |  | the Moon |  | terrestrial tides |  |  | nom fragmentation «act transitive»: of=patient under=place |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The passage of the Earth through dust shed by a comet

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:15-pluto-the-kuiper-belt-the-oort-cloud-and-comets:e4:o4:1
# text = The passage of the Earth through dust shed by a comet
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	passage	passage	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	Earth	Earth	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	through	through	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	dust	dust	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
8	shed	shed	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
9	by	by	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	comet	comet	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **shed** | participle |  | the passage of the Earth through dust *not said here* |  |  |  | by a comet | vn substance\_emission-43.4-1 «NP V»: agent=Source |
| 2 | **pass** |  | the Earth |  |  | dust |  |  | nom passage «act intransitive»: of=agent through=place |

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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: [Pluto, the Kuiper belt, the Oort cloud…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/space/15-pluto-the-kuiper-belt-the-oort-cloud-and-comets/e3/)
- next →: [Meteors, meteorites and shooting stars, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/space/16-meteors-meteorites-and-shooting-stars/t1/)
- ↑ back to [Pluto, the Kuiper belt, the Oort cloud and comets](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/space/15-pluto-the-kuiper-belt-the-oort-cloud-and-comets/)