---
title: Identify the principal cause of the phases of the Moon. — The Moon and its phases · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal cause of the phases of the Moon. Exam question 2 of lesson 3 «The Moon and its phases» 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 wrong.
---

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# Exam question 2 · The Moon and its phases

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal cause of the phases of the Moon.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** identify, cause · **To what, where:** principal cause, phases

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This is exam question 2 of lesson 3 «The Moon and its phases» 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/3-the-moon-and-its-phases/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:3-the-moon-and-its-phases:e2:1
# text = Identify the principal cause of the phases of the Moon.
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	cause	cause	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	phases	phase	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nmod	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	Moon	Moon	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	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 cause of the phases of the Moon |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent cause=Theme |
| 2 | **cause** |  |  | the phases of the Moon |  |  |  |  | nom cause «event transitive»: of=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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The interposition of clouds between Earth and Moon

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:3-the-moon-and-its-phases:e2:o1:1
# text = The interposition of clouds between Earth and Moon
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	interposition	interposition	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	clouds	cloud	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
5	between	between	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	Earth	Earth	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	Moon	Moon	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **interpose** |  |  | clouds between Earth and Moon |  |  |  |  | nom interposition «act transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The shadow of the Earth falling upon the Moon

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:3-the-moon-and-its-phases:e2:o2:1
# text = The shadow of the Earth falling upon the Moon
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	shadow	shadow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	Earth	Earth	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	falling	fall	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	acl	_	_
7	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	Moon	Moon	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fall** | gerund | the shadow of the Earth *not said here* |  |  | the Moon |  |  | vn occur-48.3 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme upon moon=Location |
| 2 | **shadow** |  |  | the Earth |  |  |  |  | nom shadow «state transitive»: of=patient |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The varying portion of its sunlit half visible from the Earth

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:3-the-moon-and-its-phases:e2:o3:1
# text = The varying portion of its sunlit half visible from the Earth
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	varying	vary	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	3	amod	_	_
3	portion	portion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
6	sunlit	sunlit	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	half	half	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing|NumForm=Word|NumType=Frac	3	nmod	_	_
8	visible	visible	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
9	from	from	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	Earth	Earth	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **vary** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn caused\_calibratable\_cos-45.6.2-1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The alteration of the Moon's actual shape

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:3-the-moon-and-its-phases:e2:o4:1
# text = The alteration of the Moon's actual shape
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	alteration	alteration	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	Moon	Moon	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	's	's	PART	POS	_	5	case	_	_
7	actual	actual	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	shape	shape	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **alter** |  |  | the Moon's actual shape |  |  |  |  | nom alteration «event transitive»: of=patient |

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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.

<!-- /div -->

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- ← previous: [The Moon and its phases, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/3-the-moon-and-its-phases/e1/)
- next →: [The Moon and its phases, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/3-the-moon-and-its-phases/e3/)
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