---
title: State the principal reason for which the outer planets attained a co… — How the Solar System was born · tree and pragmatics
description: State the principal reason for which the outer planets attained a considerably greater size than the inner planets. Exam question 2 of lesson 2 «How the Solar System was born» of the space course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mo
---

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# Exam question 2 · How the Solar System was born

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
State the principal reason for which the outer planets attained a considerably greater size than the inner planets.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** outer planets · **What happens:** attain · **To what, where:** greater size

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 2 «How the Solar System was born» 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/2-how-the-solar-system-was-born/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:2-how-the-solar-system-was-born:e2:1
# text = State the principal reason for which the outer planets attained a considerably greater size than the inner planets.
1	State	state	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	10	obl	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	outer	outer	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	planets	planet	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nsubj	_	_
10	attained	attain	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	acl:relcl	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
12	considerably	considerably	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
13	greater	great	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	14	amod	_	_
14	size	size	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	_
15	than	than	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
17	inner	inner	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	amod	_	_
18	planets	planet	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **attain** | past | the outer planets | a greater size |  |  |  | for the State principal reason; than the inner planets | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP PP.beneficiary»: agent=Agent size=Theme for which=Beneficiary |

<!-- .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 outer planets were subject to a weaker solar wind

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:2-how-the-solar-system-was-born:e2:o1:1
# text = The outer planets were subject to a weaker solar wind
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	outer	outer	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	planets	planet	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
4	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
5	subject	subject	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
6	to	to	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
8	weaker	weak	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	10	amod	_	_
9	solar	solar	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	wind	wind	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | the outer planets |  |  |  |  | to a weaker solar wind; subject *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The outer planets consumed the inner planets' atmospheres

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:2-how-the-solar-system-was-born:e2:o2:1
# text = The outer planets consumed the inner planets' atmospheres
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	outer	outer	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	planets	planet	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	consumed	consume	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	inner	inner	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	planets	planet	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	'	's	PART	POS	_	7	case	_	_
9	atmospheres	atmosphere	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **consume** | past | the outer planets | the inner planets's atmospheres |  |  |  |  | vn consume-66 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent atmosphere=Asset |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Beyond the frost line ices were able to condense in addition to rock

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:2-how-the-solar-system-was-born:e2:o3:1
# text = Beyond the frost line ices were able to condense in addition to rock
1	Beyond	beyond	ADP	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
3	frost	frost	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
4	line	line	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	ices	ice	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
6	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
7	able	able	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	condense	condense	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	xcomp	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	addition	addition	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
12	to	to	PART	TO	_	13	mark	_	_
13	rock	rock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | the line ices |  |  |  |  | able *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **condense** | to-infinitive | the line ices *not said here* | rock |  | addition |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The outer planets were formed considerably earlier in time than the inner

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:2-how-the-solar-system-was-born:e2:o4:1
# text = The outer planets were formed considerably earlier in time than the inner
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	outer	outer	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	planets	planet	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
5	formed	form	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	considerably	considerably	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	earlier	early	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	5	advmod	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
10	than	than	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	inner	inner	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **form** | past · passive |  | the outer planets |  |  | time | than the inner; early *property* | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: subject=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.

<!-- /div -->

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- ← previous: [How the Solar System was born, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/space/2-how-the-solar-system-was-born/e1/)
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