---
title: Why can you see far more stars in the countryside than in the city? — Stars: what they are · tree and pragmatics
description: Why can you see far more stars in the countryside than in the city? Test 4 · ★ of lesson 17 «Stars: what they are» 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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# Test 4 · ★ · Stars: what they are

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why can you see far more stars in the countryside than in the city?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** see · **To what, where:** more stars, countryside

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This is test 4 · ★ of lesson 17 «Stars: what they are» 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/17-stars-what-they-are/#t4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:17-stars-what-they-are:t4:1
# text = Why can you see far more stars in the countryside than in the city?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	far	far	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	6	advmod	_	_
6	more	more	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	7	amod	_	_
7	stars	star	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	countryside	countryside	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
11	than	than	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
12	in	in	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	city	city	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **see** | can | you | more stars |  | the countryside |  | than the city | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer star=Stimulus |

<!-- .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 -->
There really are more stars above the countryside than towns

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:17-stars-what-they-are:t4:o1:1
# text = There really are more stars above the countryside than towns
1	There	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	3	expl	_	_
2	really	really	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	are	be	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	more	more	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	5	amod	_	_
5	stars	star	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
6	above	above	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	countryside	countryside	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
9	than	than	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	towns	town	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **does** | present | more stars |  |  | the countryside than towns; there |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme above countryside=Location |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Town lights make the sky too bright to see faint stars

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:17-stars-what-they-are:t4:o2:1
# text = Town lights make the sky too bright to see faint stars
1	Town	town	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	compound	_	_
2	lights	light	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	make	make	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	sky	sky	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	too	too	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	bright	bright	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	xcomp	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	advcl	_	_
10	faint	faint	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	stars	star	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | present | Town lights | the sky |  |  |  | bright *property* | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset sky=Product |
| 2 | **see** | to-infinitive | Town lights *not said here* | faint stars |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer star=Stimulus |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
City air has no stars in it

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:17-stars-what-they-are:t4:o3:1
# text = City air has no stars in it
1	City	City	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	compound	_	_
2	air	air	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	5	det	_	_
5	stars	star	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | City air | no stars |  | it |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent star=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Stars avoid shining on cities

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:17-stars-what-they-are:t4:o4:1
# text = Stars avoid shining on cities
1	Stars	star	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	avoid	avoid	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	shining	shine	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	xcomp	_	_
4	on	on	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	cities	city	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **avoid** | present | Stars |  |  |  |  |  | vn avoid-52 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 2 | **shine** | gerund | Stars *not said here* |  |  | cities |  |  | vn light\_emission-43.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme on city=Location |

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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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- ← previous: [Stars: what they are, test 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/space/17-stars-what-they-are/t3/)
- next →: [Stars: what they are, test 5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/space/17-stars-what-they-are/t5/)
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