---
title: Why would it be easier to measure parallax from a planet with a much… — How we know: measuring the sky · tree and pragmatics
description: Why would it be easier to measure parallax from a planet with a much bigger orbit than Earth? Test 3 · ★★★ of lesson 28 «How we know: measuring the sky» 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 3 · ★★★ · How we know: measuring the sky

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why would it be easier to measure parallax from a planet with a much bigger orbit than Earth?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **What happens:** be, measure · **To what, where:** parallax, planet

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 3 · ★★★ of lesson 28 «How we know: measuring the sky» 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/28-how-we-know-measuring-the-sky/#t3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:28-how-we-know-measuring-the-sky:t3:1
# text = Why would it be easier to measure parallax from a planet with a much bigger orbit than Earth?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	5	advmod	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	expl	_	_
4	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	cop	_	_
5	easier	easy	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	measure	measure	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	xcomp	_	_
8	parallax	parallax	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
9	from	from	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	planet	planet	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
12	with	with	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
13	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
14	much	much	ADV	RB	_	15	advmod	_	_
15	bigger	big	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	16	amod	_	_
16	orbit	orbit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
17	than	than	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
18	Earth	Earth	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	16	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | would |  |  |  |  |  | easy *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **measure** | to-infinitive |  | parallax |  | a planet |  | with a bigger orbit than Earth | vn register-54.1-2-1 «NP V NP.value»: agent=Theme parallax=Value |

<!-- .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 -->
Looking from two places farther apart makes the shift bigger

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:28-how-we-know-measuring-the-sky:t3:o1:1
# text = Looking from two places farther apart makes the shift bigger
1	Looking	look	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	7	csubj	_	_
2	from	from	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	4	nummod	_	_
4	places	place	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	obl	_	_
5	farther	far	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	6	advmod	_	_
6	apart	apart	ADV	RB	_	1	advmod	_	_
7	makes	make	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	shift	shift	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
10	bigger	big	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	7	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **look** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | from two places; apart *property* | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent from place=Theme |
| 2 | **make** | present | Looking | the shift |  |  |  | big *property* | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset shift=Product |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Stars are closer to the bigger orbits, so they look larger

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:28-how-we-know-measuring-the-sky:t3:o2:1
# text = Stars are closer to the bigger orbits, so they look larger
1	Stars	star	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	closer	close	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	bigger	big	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	7	amod	_	_
7	orbits	orbit	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
9	so	so	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
10	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
11	look	look	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	parataxis	_	_
12	larger	large	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	11	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Stars |  |  |  |  | to the bigger orbits; close *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **look** | present | Stars *= star* |  |  |  |  | large *property* | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V ADJ»: agent=Stimulus |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Stars stand still for bigger planets, so they are easier to aim at

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:28-how-we-know-measuring-the-sky:t3:o3:1
# text = Stars stand still for bigger planets, so they are easier to aim at
1	Stars	star	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	stand	stand	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	still	still	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
4	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	bigger	big	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	6	amod	_	_
6	planets	planet	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
8	so	so	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
9	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
10	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	cop	_	_
11	easier	easy	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	2	conj	_	_
12	to	to	PART	TO	_	13	mark	_	_
13	aim	aim	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	11	xcomp	_	_
14	at	at	ADP	IN	_	13	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stand** | present | Stars |  |  |  | still | for bigger planets | vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer for planet=Attribute |
| 2 | **is** | present | Stars *= star* |  |  |  |  | easy *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **aim** | to-infinitive | Stars *= star* *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn wish-62 «NP V for NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The air is much clearer for planets with big orbits

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:28-how-we-know-measuring-the-sky:t3:o4:1
# text = The air is much clearer for planets with big orbits
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	air	air	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	much	much	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	clearer	clear	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	_
6	for	for	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	planets	planet	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
8	with	with	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	big	big	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	orbits	orbit	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the air |  |  |  |  | for planets; with big orbits; clear *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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