---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the… — Pendulums, Greenwich and railway time,… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the means whereby a mobile telephone ascertains the time? Exam question 4 of lesson 123 «Pendulums, Greenwich and railway time, atomic clocks and phones» of the world course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmat
---

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# Exam question 4 · Pendulums, Greenwich and railway time, atomic clocks and p…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the means whereby a mobile telephone ascertains the time?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** the, mobile telephone · **What happens:** follow, characteris, mean, ascertain

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 123 «Pendulums, Greenwich and railway time, atomic clocks and phones» of the world 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/world/123-pendulums-greenwich-atomic-clocks/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:123-pendulums-greenwich-atomic-clocks:e4:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the means whereby a mobile telephone ascertains the time?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	nsubj	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	following	follow	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	amod	_	_
5	statements	statement	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	_
6	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	7	advmod	_	_
7	accurately	accurately	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	characterises	characteris	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	nsubj	_	_
10	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	ccomp	_	_
11	whereby	whereby	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	15	advmod	_	_
12	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
13	mobile	mobile	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	telephone	telephone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nsubj	_	_
15	ascertains	ascertain	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	advcl	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **follow** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **characteris** | present |  |  |  |  |  | of the following statements; accurately *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **mean** | present | the |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **ascertain** | present | a mobile telephone |  |  |  | time | whereby *property* | vn discover-84 «NP V how 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 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It derives the time from the position of the Sun

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:123-pendulums-greenwich-atomic-clocks:e4:o1:1
# text = It derives the time from the position of the Sun
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	derives	derive	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	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	from	from	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	position	position	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	Sun	Sun	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **derive** | present | It |  |  | the position of the Sun | time |  | vn create-26.4 «NP V NP PP.material»: agent=Agent from position=Material |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It receives signals from the network or from satellites carrying atomic clocks

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:123-pendulums-greenwich-atomic-clocks:e4:o2:1
# text = It receives signals from the network or from satellites carrying atomic clocks
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	receives	receive	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	signals	signal	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
4	from	from	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	network	network	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
7	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
8	from	from	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	satellites	satellite	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	conj	_	_
10	carrying	carry	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	9	acl	_	_
11	atomic	atomic	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	clocks	clock	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **receive** | present | It | signals |  | the network or satellites |  |  | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP PP.source»: agent=Agent signal=Theme from network=Source |
| 2 | **carry** | gerund | satellites *not said here* | atomic clocks |  |  |  |  | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent clock=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It relies exclusively on manual setting by its owner

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:123-pendulums-greenwich-atomic-clocks:e4:o3:1
# text = It relies exclusively on manual setting by its owner
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	relies	rely	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	exclusively	exclusively	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
4	on	on	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	manual	manual	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	setting	setting	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
7	by	by	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
9	owner	owner	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **rely** | present | It |  |  |  |  | by setting's owner; on manual setting; exclusively *property* | vn rely-70 «NP V PP.theme S\_ING»: agent=Agent on setting=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It measures the swings of an internal pendulum

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:123-pendulums-greenwich-atomic-clocks:e4:o4:1
# text = It measures the swings of an internal pendulum
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	measures	measure	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	swings	swing	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	internal	internal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	pendulum	pendulum	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **measure** | present | It | the swings of a internal pendulum |  |  |  |  | vn register-54.1-2-1 «NP V NP.value»: agent=Theme swing=Value |
| 2 | **swing** |  | a internal pendulum |  |  |  |  |  | nom swing «state intransitive»: of=agent |

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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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