---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the… — Correlation is not cause: ice cream an… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the inference that hospitals cause illness because their occupants are frequently ill? Exam question 3 of lesson 180 «Correlation is not cause: ice cream and sunburn» of the world course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tre
---

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# Exam question 3 · Correlation is not cause: ice cream and sunburn

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the inference that hospitals cause illness because their occupants are frequently ill?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** inference, occupants · **What happens:** follow, characteris, cause, be · **To what, where:** inference, illness

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 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/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:180-correlation-is-not-cause-ice-cream-and-sunburn:e3:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the inference that hospitals cause illness because their occupants are frequently ill?
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	det	_	_
10	inference	inference	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	13	nsubj	_	_
12	hospitals	hospital	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	nsubj	_	_
13	cause	cause	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	acl:relcl	_	_
14	illness	illness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obj	_	_
15	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	20	mark	_	_
16	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	17	nmod:poss	_	_
17	occupants	occupant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	20	nsubj	_	_
18	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	20	cop	_	_
19	frequently	frequently	ADV	RB	_	20	advmod	_	_
20	ill	ill	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	?	?	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 |  | the inference |  |  |  | of the following statements; accurately *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **cause** | present | the inference | illness |  |  |  |  | vn engender-27.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Precondition illness=Patient |
| 4 | **is** | present | hospitals's occupants |  |  |  |  | frequently, ill *property* | tree rules |

<!-- .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 is consistent with the established facts

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:180-correlation-is-not-cause-ice-cream-and-sunburn:e3:o1:1
# text = It is consistent with the established facts
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	consistent	consistent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	with	with	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	established	establish	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	amod	_	_
7	facts	fact	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | It |  |  |  |  | with the established facts; consistent *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **establish** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn indicate-78-1-1 «NP V NP to be NP»: agent=Pivot |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It inverts cause and effect, since ill persons attend hospitals

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:180-correlation-is-not-cause-ice-cream-and-sunburn:e3:o2:1
# text = It inverts cause and effect, since ill persons attend hospitals
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	inverts	invert	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	cause	cause	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	effect	effect	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
7	since	since	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
8	ill	ill	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	persons	person	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nsubj	_	_
10	attend	attend	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
11	hospitals	hospital	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **invert** | present | It | cause and effect |  |  |  |  | vn remedy-45.7 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent cause=Patient |
| 2 | **attend** | present | ill persons | hospitals |  |  |  |  | vn attend-107.4-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme hospital=Goal |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is an instance of the fence-post error

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:180-correlation-is-not-cause-ice-cream-and-sunburn:e3:o3:1
# text = It is an instance of the fence-post error
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	instance	instance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
7	fence	fence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	post	post	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	error	error	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | It | a instance |  |  |  | of the post error | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is a sound inference from the observation of hospital patients

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:180-correlation-is-not-cause-ice-cream-and-sunburn:e3:o4:1
# text = It is a sound inference from the observation of hospital patients
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	sound	sound	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	inference	inference	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	from	from	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	observation	observation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	hospital	hospital	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	compound	_	_
11	patients	patient	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | It | a sound inference |  | the observation of hospital patients |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **observe** |  |  | hospital patients |  |  |  |  | nom observation «act transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- 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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