---
title: An astronaut on the Moon throws a ball as hard as on the Earth. Why… — Thinking like an astronomer · tree and pragmatics
description: An astronaut on the Moon throws a ball as hard as on the Earth. Why does it fly much farther? Test 8 · ★★★ of lesson 10 «Thinking like an astronomer» of the world 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 8 · ★★★ · Thinking like an astronomer

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
An astronaut on the Moon throws a ball as hard as on the Earth. Why does it fly much farther?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** astronaut · **What happens:** throw, fly · **To what, where:** ball

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 · ★★★ of lesson 10 «Thinking like an astronomer» of the world 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/world/10-reasoning-about-space/#t8).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* An astronaut on the Moon throws a ball as hard as on the Earth.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:10-reasoning-about-space:t8:1
# text = An astronaut on the Moon throws a ball as hard as on the Earth.
1	An	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	astronaut	astronaut	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
3	on	on	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	Moon	Moon	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	throws	throw	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	ball	ball	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
9	as	as	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
10	hard	hard	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	6	advmod	_	_
11	as	as	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
12	on	on	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	Earth	Earth	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **throw** | present | a astronaut on the Moon | a ball |  |  |  | as the Earth; hard *property* | vn throw-17.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent ball=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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* Why does it fly much farther?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:10-reasoning-about-space:t8:2
# text = Why does it fly much farther?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	fly	fly	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	much	much	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	farther	far	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	4	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fly** | present · do-support | astronaut |  |  |  |  | far *property* | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The weaker gravity pulls it down more slowly, and there is no air to slow it

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:10-reasoning-about-space:t8:o1:1
# text = The weaker gravity pulls it down more slowly, and there is no air to slow it
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	weaker	weak	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	3	amod	_	_
3	gravity	gravity	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	pulls	pull	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	obj	_	_
6	down	down	ADP	RP	_	4	compound:prt	_	_
7	more	more	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	8	advmod	_	_
8	slowly	slowly	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
11	there	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	12	expl	_	_
12	is	be	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
13	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	14	det	_	_
14	air	air	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
15	to	to	PART	TO	_	16	mark	_	_
16	slow	slow	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	14	acl	_	_
17	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	16	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pull down** | present | the weaker gravity | it |  |  |  | slowly *property* | vn push-12-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |
| 2 | **be** | present | no air |  |  | there |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **slow** | to-infinitive | no air *not said here* | air |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent it=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The Moon's air pushes it forward

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:10-reasoning-about-space:t8:o2:1
# text = The Moon's air pushes it forward
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	Moon	Moon	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	's	's	PART	POS	_	2	case	_	_
4	air	air	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	pushes	push	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	obj	_	_
7	forward	forward	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **push** | present | the Moon's air | Moon |  |  |  | forward *property* | vn carry-11.4-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The ball becomes lighter in mass on the Moon, so the same throw sends it farther

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:10-reasoning-about-space:t8:o3:1
# text = The ball becomes lighter in mass on the Moon, so the same throw sends it farther
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	ball	ball	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	becomes	become	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	lighter	light	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	3	xcomp	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	mass	mass	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
7	on	on	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	Moon	Moon	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
11	so	so	ADV	RB	_	15	advmod	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
13	same	same	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	throw	throw	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nsubj	_	_
15	sends	send	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
16	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	obj	_	_
17	farther	far	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	15	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **become** | present | the ball |  |  |  |  | light *property* | vn become-109.1-1-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Patient |
| 2 | **send** | present | the same throw | ball |  |  |  | far *property* | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The Moon spins faster under it

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:10-reasoning-about-space:t8:o4:1
# text = The Moon spins faster under it
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	Moon	Moon	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	spins	spin	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	faster	fast	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	3	advmod	_	_
5	under	under	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **spin** | present | the Moon |  |  | it |  | fast *property* | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V PP.trajectory»: agent=Theme under it=Trajectory |

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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.

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