---
title: Ascertain the reason for which salt is distributed upon roads prior… — Roads and road signs · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the reason for which salt is distributed upon roads prior to an anticipated frost. Exam question 3 of lesson 31 «Roads and road signs» of the technology 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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# Exam question 3 · Roads and road signs

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the reason for which salt is distributed upon roads prior to an anticipated frost.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** ascertain, distribute, anticipate · **To what, where:** reason, salt

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 31 «Roads and road signs» of the technology 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/technology/31-roads-and-road-signs/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:technology:31-roads-and-road-signs:e3:1
# text = Ascertain the reason for which salt is distributed upon roads prior to an anticipated frost.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	for	for	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	obl	_	_
6	salt	salt	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj:pass	_	_
7	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux:pass	_	_
8	distributed	distribute	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl:relcl	_	_
9	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	roads	road	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	_
11	prior	prior	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|ExtPos=ADP	15	case	_	_
12	to	to	ADP	IN	_	11	fixed	_	_
13	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
14	anticipated	anticipate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	15	amod	_	_
15	frost	frost	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	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 reason |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent reason=Topic |
| 2 | **distribute** | present · passive |  | salt |  |  |  | for the reason; upon roads; prior a anticipated frost | vn contribute-13.2-1 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: subject=Theme |
| 3 | **anticipate** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn conjecture-29.5-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .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 -->
Salt increases the adhesion of tyres to ice

```conllu
# sent_id = question:technology:31-roads-and-road-signs:e3:o1:1
# text = Salt increases the adhesion of tyres to ice
1	Salt	salt	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	increases	increase	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	adhesion	adhesion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	tyres	tyre	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nmod	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	ice	ice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **increase** | present | Salt | the adhesion of tyres |  |  |  |  | vn caused\_calibratable\_cos-45.6.2-1 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Causer adhesion=Patient |
| 2 | **adhere** |  | tyres |  |  |  |  |  | nom adhesion «state intransitive»: of=agent |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Water containing salt freezes at a lower temperature than pure water

```conllu
# sent_id = question:technology:31-roads-and-road-signs:e3:o2:1
# text = Water containing salt freezes at a lower temperature than pure water
1	Water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
2	containing	contain	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	1	acl	_	_
3	salt	salt	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
4	freezes	freeze	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	lower	low	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	8	amod	_	_
8	temperature	temperature	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
9	than	than	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	pure	pure	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **contain** | gerund | Water *not said here* | salt |  |  |  |  | vn comprise-107.2-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot salt=Theme |
| 2 | **freeze** | present | Water |  |  | a lower temperature than pure water |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4-1 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Salt generates heat by slow combustion upon the surface of the road during the night

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:technology:31-roads-and-road-signs:e3:o3:1
# text = Salt generates heat by slow combustion upon the surface of the road during the night
1	Salt	salt	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	generates	generate	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	heat	heat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	slow	slow	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	combustion	combustion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
7	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	surface	surface	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
10	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	road	road	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	_
13	during	during	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	night	night	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **generate** | present | Salt | heat |  |  | night | by slow combustion upon the surface of the road | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent heat=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Salt absorbs the entirety of the moisture present

```conllu
# sent_id = question:technology:31-roads-and-road-signs:e3:o4:1
# text = Salt absorbs the entirety of the moisture present
1	Salt	salt	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	absorbs	absorb	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	entirety	entirety	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	moisture	moisture	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	present	present	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **absorb** | present | Salt | the entirety of the moisture present |  |  |  |  | vn absorb-39.8 «NP V NP»: agent=Goal entirety=Theme |

<!-- div src -->

**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: [Roads and road signs, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/technology/31-roads-and-road-signs/e2/)
- next →: [Roads and road signs, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/technology/31-roads-and-road-signs/e4/)
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