---
title: Why can't we just take photos of most exoplanets? — Exoplanets and the search for life · tree and pragmatics
description: Why can't we just take photos of most exoplanets? Test 2 · ★ of lesson 26 «Exoplanets and the search for life» 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 2 · ★ · Exoplanets and the search for life

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why can't we just take photos of most exoplanets?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** we · **What happens:** not take · **To what, where:** photos

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 2 · ★ of lesson 26 «Exoplanets and the search for life» 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/26-exoplanets-and-the-search-for-life/#t2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:26-exoplanets-and-the-search-for-life:t2:1
# text = Why can't we just take photos of most exoplanets?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	6	advmod	_	_
2	ca	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	6	advmod	_	_
4	we	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
5	just	just	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	take	take	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	photos	photo	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obj	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	most	most	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	10	amod	_	_
10	exoplanets	exoplanet	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **take** | can | we | photos of most exoplanets |  |  |  |  | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent photo=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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They are tiny and faint beside their bright stars

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:26-exoplanets-and-the-search-for-life:t2:o1:1
# text = They are tiny and faint beside their bright stars
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	tiny	tiny	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	faint	faint	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	conj	_	_
6	beside	beside	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
8	bright	bright	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	stars	star	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | They |  |  | their bright stars |  | tiny *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **be** |  | They *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They are hidden behind black holes that swallow their light

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:26-exoplanets-and-the-search-for-life:t2:o2:1
# text = They are hidden behind black holes that swallow their light
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	hidden	hide	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	behind	behind	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	black	black	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	holes	hole	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
7	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	nsubj	_	_
8	swallow	swallow	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	acl:relcl	_	_
9	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
10	light	light	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hide** | present · passive |  | They |  | black holes |  |  | vn concealment-16-1 «NP V NP PP.location»: subject=Patient behind hole=Location |
| 2 | **swallow** | present | black holes | holes's light |  |  |  |  | vn gobble-39.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent light=Patient |
| 3 | **light** |  | holes *= hole* |  |  |  |  |  | nom light «phenomenon transitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They only come out in the daytime, when the sky is too bright

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:26-exoplanets-and-the-search-for-life:t2:o3:1
# text = They only come out in the daytime, when the sky is too bright
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	only	only	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	come	come	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	out	out	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	daytime	daytime	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
9	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	14	advmod	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	sky	sky	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nsubj	_	_
12	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	cop	_	_
13	too	too	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
14	bright	bright	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **come out** | present | They |  |  | the daytime |  | out *property* | vn become-109.1 «NP V ADJ»: agent=Patient |
| 2 | **is** | present | the sky |  |  |  |  | bright *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They are invisible to all telescopes, even the biggest ones

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:26-exoplanets-and-the-search-for-life:t2:o4:1
# text = They are invisible to all telescopes, even the biggest ones
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	invisible	invisible	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	6	det	_	_
6	telescopes	telescope	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
8	even	even	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	biggest	big	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	11	amod	_	_
11	ones	one	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | They |  |  |  |  | to all telescopes; invisible *property* | tree rules |

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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: [Exoplanets and the search for life, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/space/26-exoplanets-and-the-search-for-life/t1/)
- next →: [Exoplanets and the search for life, test 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/space/26-exoplanets-and-the-search-for-life/t3/)
- ↑ back to [Exoplanets and the search for life](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/space/26-exoplanets-and-the-search-for-life/)