---
title: Identify the principal reason for which the simultaneous increase of… — Correlation is not cause: ice cream an… · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal reason for which the simultaneous increase of ice-cream sales and of sunburn does not demonstrate that the former causes the latter. Exam question 1 of lesson 180 «Correlation is not cause: ice cream and sunburn» of the world course of Mova's primary school, with the dependenc
---

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# Exam question 1 · Correlation is not cause: ice cream and sunburn

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal reason for which the simultaneous increase of ice-cream sales and of sunburn does not demonstrate that the former causes the latter.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, simultaneous increase, former · **What happens:** identify, not demonstrate, cause · **To what, where:** principal reason, latter

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 180 «Correlation is not cause: ice cream and sunburn» 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/180-correlation-is-not-cause-ice-cream-and-sunburn/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:180-correlation-is-not-cause-ice-cream-and-sunburn:e1:1
# text = Identify the principal reason for which the simultaneous increase of ice-cream sales and of sunburn does not demonstrate that the former causes the latter.
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	20	obl	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	simultaneous	simultaneous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	increase	increase	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	nsubj	_	_
10	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
11	ice	ice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	cream	cream	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	compound	_	_
14	sales	sale	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nmod	_	_
15	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	17	cc	_	_
16	of	of	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
17	sunburn	sunburn	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	conj	_	_
18	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	20	aux	_	_
19	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	20	advmod	_	_
20	demonstrate	demonstrate	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	acl:relcl	_	_
21	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	24	mark	_	_
22	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	23	det	_	_
23	former	former	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	24	nsubj	_	_
24	causes	cause	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	20	advcl	_	_
25	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	26	det	_	_
26	latter	latter	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	24	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
27	.	.	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 | **not** **demonstrate** | present · do-support | the simultaneous increase of cream sales and sunburn |  |  |  |  | for the principal reason | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **cause** | present | the former | the latter |  |  |  |  | vn engender-27.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Precondition latter=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 two quantities never increase together

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:180-correlation-is-not-cause-ice-cream-and-sunburn:e1:o1:1
# text = The two quantities never increase together
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	3	nummod	_	_
3	quantities	quantity	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
4	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
5	increase	increase	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	together	together	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **increase** | present | the two quantities |  |  |  |  | together *property* | vn caused\_calibratable\_cos-45.6.2-1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ice cream invariably protects the skin of those who consume it from sunburn

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:180-correlation-is-not-cause-ice-cream-and-sunburn:e1:o2:1
# text = Ice cream invariably protects the skin of those who consume it from sunburn
1	Ice	ice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	compound	_	_
2	cream	cream	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	invariably	invariably	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	protects	protect	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	skin	skin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	those	that	PRON	DT	Number=Plur|PronType=Dem	6	nmod	_	_
9	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	10	nsubj	_	_
10	consume	consume	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	acl:relcl	_	_
11	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	obj	_	_
12	from	from	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	sunburn	sunburn	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **protect** | present | Ice cream | the skin of those |  |  |  | from sunburn; invariably *property* | vn defend-72.3 «NP V NP PP.theme»: agent=Agent skin=Beneficiary from sunburn=Theme |
| 2 | **consume** | present |  | skin |  |  |  |  | vn consume-66 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Asset |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Both are caused by a third factor, namely hot and sunny weather

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:180-correlation-is-not-cause-ice-cream-and-sunburn:e1:o3:1
# text = Both are caused by a third factor, namely hot and sunny weather
1	Both	both	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	caused	cause	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	third	third	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	7	amod	_	_
7	factor	factor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
9	namely	namely	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
10	hot	hot	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	conj	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
12	sunny	sunny	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	weather	weather	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cause** | present · passive | a third factor | Both |  |  |  |  | vn engender-27.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Precondition subject=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Sunburn is the cause of ice-cream consumption

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:180-correlation-is-not-cause-ice-cream-and-sunburn:e1:o4:1
# text = Sunburn is the cause of ice-cream consumption
1	Sunburn	sunburn	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	cause	cause	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
6	ice	ice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	cream	cream	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	consumption	consumption	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | Sunburn | the cause |  |  |  | of cream consumption | tree rules |

<!-- 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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