---
title: Identify the principal reason for which a balloon diminishes in size… — Toys and Lego · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal reason for which a balloon diminishes in size over several days. Exam question 2 of lesson 7 «Toys and Lego» 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 wrong.
---

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# Exam question 2 · Toys and Lego

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal reason for which a balloon diminishes in size over several days.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, balloon · **What happens:** identify, diminish · **To what, where:** principal reason, size

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 7 «Toys and Lego» 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/7-toys-and-lego/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:technology:7-toys-and-lego:e2:1
# text = Identify the principal reason for which a balloon diminishes in size over several days.
1	Identify	identify	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	9	obl	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	balloon	balloon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
9	diminishes	diminish	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	parataxis	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	size	size	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
12	over	over	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	several	several	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	days	day	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **identify** | imperative | you *not said here* | the principal reason |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent reason=Theme |
| 2 | **diminish** | present | a balloon |  |  | size | day | for the principal reason | vn caused\_calibratable\_cos-45.6.2-1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Patient |

<!-- .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 -->
The balloon is consumed by bacteria

```conllu
# sent_id = question:technology:7-toys-and-lego:e2:o1:1
# text = The balloon is consumed by bacteria
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	balloon	balloon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	consumed	consume	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	bacteria	bacterium	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl:agent	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **consume** | present · passive | bacteria | the balloon |  |  |  |  | vn consume-66 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Asset |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The air within is converted into water

```conllu
# sent_id = question:technology:7-toys-and-lego:e2:o2:1
# text = The air within is converted into water
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	air	air	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	within	within	ADP	IN	_	2	nmod	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
5	converted	convert	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	into	into	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **convert** | present · passive |  | the air |  |  |  | into water *result* | vn turn-26.6.1-1 «NP V NP.patient PP.result»: subject=Patient into water=Result |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The gas within escapes gradually through the rubber

```conllu
# sent_id = question:technology:7-toys-and-lego:e2:o3:1
# text = The gas within escapes gradually through the rubber
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	gas	gas	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	within	within	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	escapes	escape	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
5	gradually	gradually	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
6	through	through	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	rubber	rubber	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
```

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

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The rubber absorbs moisture from the air and thickens accordingly

```conllu
# sent_id = question:technology:7-toys-and-lego:e2:o4:1
# text = The rubber absorbs moisture from the air and thickens accordingly
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	rubber	rubber	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	absorbs	absorb	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	moisture	moisture	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
5	from	from	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	air	air	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	thickens	thicken	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
10	accordingly	accordingly	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **absorb** | present | the rubber | moisture |  | the air |  |  | vn absorb-39.8 «NP V NP PP.source»: agent=Goal moisture=Theme from air=Source |
| 2 | **thicken** | present | the rubber *not said here* |  |  |  |  | accordingly *property* | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

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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: [Toys and Lego, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/technology/7-toys-and-lego/e1/)
- next →: [Toys and Lego, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/technology/7-toys-and-lego/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Toys and Lego](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/technology/7-toys-and-lego/)