---
title: If astronomers spotted an asteroid heading for Earth years ahead, wh… — Asteroids and the asteroid belt · tree and pragmatics
description: If astronomers spotted an asteroid heading for Earth years ahead, what could be tried? Test 6 · ★★ of lesson 9 «Asteroids and the asteroid belt» 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 6 · ★★ · Asteroids and the asteroid belt

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
If astronomers spotted an asteroid heading for Earth years ahead, what could be tried?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** astronomers, asteroid · **What happens:** spot, head, try · **To what, where:** asteroid

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 6 · ★★ of lesson 9 «Asteroids and the asteroid belt» 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/9-asteroids-and-the-asteroid-belt/#t6).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:9-asteroids-and-the-asteroid-belt:t6:1
# text = If astronomers spotted an asteroid heading for Earth years ahead, what could be tried?
1	If	if	SCONJ	IN	_	3	mark	_	_
2	astronomers	astronomer	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	spotted	spot	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	asteroid	asteroid	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	heading	head	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	acl	_	_
7	for	for	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	Earth	Earth	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obl	_	_
10	ahead	ahead	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
12	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	15	obj	_	_
13	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	15	aux	_	_
14	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	15	aux:pass	_	_
15	tried	try	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	5	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **spot** | past | astronomers | a asteroid |  |  |  |  | vn fill-9.8-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme asteroid=Destination |
| 2 | **head** | gerund | a asteroid *not said here* |  |  |  | year | ahead *property* | vn conduct-111.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **try** | could · passive |  | a asteroid |  |  |  |  | vn try-61.1 «NP V NP»: what=Eventuality |

<!-- .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 -->
Waiting for the Moon to catch it

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:9-asteroids-and-the-asteroid-belt:t6:o1:1
# text = Waiting for the Moon to catch it
1	Waiting	wait	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	for	for	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	Moon	Moon	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	catch	catch	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	1	advcl	_	_
7	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **wait** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | for the Moon | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **catch** | to-infinitive |  | Moon |  |  |  |  | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Hitting it with a spacecraft to nudge its orbit, as DART tested

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:9-asteroids-and-the-asteroid-belt:t6:o2:1
# text = Hitting it with a spacecraft to nudge its orbit, as DART tested
1	Hitting	hit	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	13	csubj:pass	_	_
2	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	1	obj	_	_
3	with	with	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	spacecraft	spacecraft	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	nudge	nudge	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	1	advcl	_	_
8	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
9	orbit	orbit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
11	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
12	DART	DART	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	13	compound	_	_
13	tested	test	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hit** | gerund |  | it |  |  |  | with a spacecraft | vn hit-18.1-1 «NP V NP PP.instrument»: agent=Agent it=Patient with spacecraft=Instrument |
| 2 | **nudge** | to-infinitive |  | spacecraft's orbit |  |  |  |  | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent orbit=Theme |
| 3 | **test** | participle | Hitting |  |  |  |  |  | vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Shouting a warning so it turns away

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:9-asteroids-and-the-asteroid-belt:t6:o3:1
# text = Shouting a warning so it turns away
1	Shouting	shout	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	6	csubj	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	warning	warning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	so	so	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
6	turns	turn	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	away	away	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **shout** *speech: express* | gerund |  | a warning |  |  |  |  | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent warning=Topic |
| 2 | **turn away** | present | warning |  |  |  |  | away *property* | vn banish-10.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nothing can ever be done

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:9-asteroids-and-the-asteroid-belt:t6:o4:1
# text = Nothing can ever be done
1	Nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
3	ever	ever	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	5	advmod	_	_
4	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	aux:pass	_	_
5	done	do	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | can · passive |  | Nothing |  |  | ever |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Eventuality |

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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: [Asteroids and the asteroid belt, test 5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/space/9-asteroids-and-the-asteroid-belt/t5/)
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- ↑ back to [Asteroids and the asteroid belt](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/space/9-asteroids-and-the-asteroid-belt/)