---
title: Ascertain the approximate interval required for light emitted by the… — Distances and light years · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the approximate interval required for light emitted by the Sun to reach the Earth. Exam question 2 of lesson 22 «Distances and light years» 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 · Distances and light years

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the approximate interval required for light emitted by the Sun to reach the Earth.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** ascertain, require, emit, reach · **To what, where:** approximate interval, Earth

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 22 «Distances and light years» 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/22-distances-and-light-years/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:22-distances-and-light-years:e2:1
# text = Ascertain the approximate interval required for light emitted by the Sun to reach the Earth.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	approximate	approximate	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	interval	interval	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	required	require	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	acl	_	_
6	for	for	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	light	light	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
8	emitted	emit	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	acl	_	_
9	by	by	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	Sun	Sun	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	obl:agent	_	_
12	to	to	PART	TO	_	13	mark	_	_
13	reach	reach	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	advcl	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	Earth	Earth	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	13	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* | the approximate interval |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent interval=Topic |
| 2 | **require** | participle |  | the approximate interval *not said here* |  |  |  | for light | vn require-103-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **emit** | participle |  | the approximate interval *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn substance\_emission-43.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Source |
| 4 | **reach** | to-infinitive |  | the Earth |  |  |  |  | vn body\_motion-49.2-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Agent earth=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 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
About twenty-four hours

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:22-distances-and-light-years:e2:o1:1
# text = About twenty-four hours
1	About	about	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
2	twenty	twenty	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	4	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	four	four	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	5	nummod	_	_
5	hours	hour	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
About four years and two months

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:22-distances-and-light-years:e2:o2:1
# text = About four years and two months
1	About	about	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
2	four	four	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	3	nummod	_	_
3	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
5	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	6	nummod	_	_
6	months	month	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
About eight minutes and twenty seconds

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:22-distances-and-light-years:e2:o3:1
# text = About eight minutes and twenty seconds
1	About	about	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
2	eight	eight	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	3	nummod	_	_
3	minutes	minute	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
5	twenty	twenty	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	6	nummod	_	_
6	seconds	second	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
About one and three-tenths seconds

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:22-distances-and-light-years:e2:o4:1
# text = About one and three-tenths seconds
1	About	about	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
2	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	0	root	_	_
3	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
4	three	three	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	6	nummod	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	tenths	tenth	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	compound	_	_
7	seconds	second	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

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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: [Distances and light years, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/space/22-distances-and-light-years/e1/)
- next →: [Distances and light years, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/space/22-distances-and-light-years/e3/)
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