---
title: Identify the principal reason for which lightning is perceived befor… — Weather: pressure, wind, clouds and st… · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal reason for which lightning is perceived before thunder. Exam question 2 of lesson 15 «Weather: pressure, wind, clouds and storms» 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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# Exam question 2 · Weather: pressure, wind, clouds and storms

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal reason for which lightning is perceived before thunder.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** identify, perceive · **To what, where:** principal reason, lightning

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 15 «Weather: pressure, wind, clouds and storms» 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/15-weather/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:15-weather:e2:1
# text = Identify the principal reason for which lightning is perceived before thunder.
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	lightning	lightning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj:pass	_	_
8	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux:pass	_	_
9	perceived	perceive	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	acl:relcl	_	_
10	before	before	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	thunder	thunder	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	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 | **perceive** | present · passive |  | lightning |  |  | before thunder | for the principal reason | vn see-30.1-1 «NP V S»: subject=Stimulus |

<!-- .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 -->
Sound is obstructed by the clouds

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:15-weather:e2:o1:1
# text = Sound is obstructed by the clouds
1	Sound	sound	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	obstructed	obstruct	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	clouds	cloud	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **obstruct** | present · passive | the clouds | Sound |  |  |  |  | vn discourage-64.5-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Causer subject=Eventuality |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The eyes respond faster than the ears

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:15-weather:e2:o2:1
# text = The eyes respond faster than the ears
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	eyes	eye	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	respond	respond	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	faster	fast	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	3	advmod	_	_
5	than	than	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	ears	ear	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **respond** *speech: other* | present | the eyes |  |  |  |  | fast *property* | vn respond-113 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Thunder is produced some time after lightning

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:15-weather:e2:o3:1
# text = Thunder is produced some time after lightning
1	Thunder	thunder	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	produced	produce	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	5	det	_	_
5	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl:unmarked	_	_
6	after	after	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	lightning	lightning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **produce** | present · passive |  | Thunder |  |  | after lightning; time |  | vn create-26.4 «NP V NP»: subject=Result |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Light travels considerably faster than sound

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:15-weather:e2:o4:1
# text = Light travels considerably faster than sound
1	Light	light	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	travels	travel	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	considerably	considerably	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	faster	fast	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	2	advmod	_	_
5	than	than	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	sound	sound	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **travel** | present | Light |  |  |  |  | fast *property* | vn run-51.3.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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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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- ← previous: [Weather: pressure, wind, clouds and st…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/15-weather/e1/)
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