---
title: Ascertain the factor which principally explains the association betw… — Correlation is not cause: ice cream an… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the factor which principally explains the association between national chocolate consumption and the number of Nobel Prizes awarded. Exam question 4 of lesson 180 «Correlation is not cause: ice cream and sunburn» of the world course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pr
---

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# Exam question 4 · Correlation is not cause: ice cream and sunburn

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the factor which principally explains the association between national chocolate consumption and the number of Nobel Prizes awarded.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, factor · **What happens:** ascertain, explain, award · **To what, where:** factor, association, Nobel Prizes

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This is exam question 4 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/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:180-correlation-is-not-cause-ice-cream-and-sunburn:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the factor which principally explains the association between national chocolate consumption and the number of Nobel Prizes awarded.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	factor	factor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	6	nsubj	_	_
5	principally	principally	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	explains	explain	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	acl:relcl	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	association	association	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
9	between	between	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
10	national	national	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
11	chocolate	chocolate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	compound	_	_
12	consumption	consumption	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	_
13	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	number	number	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	conj	_	_
16	of	of	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	Nobel	Nobel	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	18	compound	_	_
18	Prizes	Prize	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	15	nmod	_	_
19	awarded	award	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	18	acl	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* | the factor |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent factor=Topic |
| 2 | **explain** *speech: assert* | present | the factor | the association |  |  |  | between national chocolate consumption and the number of Nobel Prizes; principally *property* | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent association=Topic |
| 3 | **award** | participle |  | Nobel Prizes *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn future\_having-13.3 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: 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 -->
The judges' preference for chocolate

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:180-correlation-is-not-cause-ice-cream-and-sunburn:e4:o1:1
# text = The judges' preference for chocolate
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	judges	judge	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	'	's	PART	POS	_	2	case	_	_
4	preference	preference	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	chocolate	chocolate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **prefer** |  | the judges |  |  |  |  | for chocolate | nom preference «feeling transitive»: poss=agent for=obl |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The wealth of the countries concerned

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:180-correlation-is-not-cause-ice-cream-and-sunburn:e4:o2:1
# text = The wealth of the countries concerned
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	wealth	wealth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	countries	country	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
6	concerned	concerned	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The colour of the prize medal

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:180-correlation-is-not-cause-ice-cream-and-sunburn:e4:o3:1
# text = The colour of the prize medal
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	colour	colour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	prize	prize	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	medal	medal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The nutritional properties of chocolate

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:180-correlation-is-not-cause-ice-cream-and-sunburn:e4:o4:1
# text = The nutritional properties of chocolate
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	nutritional	nutritional	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	properties	property	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	chocolate	chocolate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

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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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