---
title: Identify the principal cause of damage to the enamel of the teeth. — Teeth and their care · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal cause of damage to the enamel of the teeth. Exam question 4 of lesson 35 «Teeth and their care» 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 4 · Teeth and their care

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal cause of damage to the enamel of the teeth.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** identify, cause · **To what, where:** principal cause, damage

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This is exam question 4 of lesson 35 «Teeth and their care» 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/35-teeth-and-care/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:35-teeth-and-care:e4:1
# text = Identify the principal cause of damage to the enamel of the teeth.
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	_	6	case	_	_
6	damage	damage	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
7	to	to	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	enamel	enamel	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
10	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	teeth	tooth	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	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 damage to the enamel of the teeth |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent cause=Theme |
| 2 | **cause** |  |  | damage to the enamel of the teeth |  |  |  |  | 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 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Acid produced from sugar by germs in the mouth

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:35-teeth-and-care:e4:o1:1
# text = Acid produced from sugar by germs in the mouth
1	Acid	acid	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
2	produced	produce	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	1	acl	_	_
3	from	from	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	sugar	sugar	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	germs	germ	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	mouth	mouth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **produce** | participle |  | Acid *not said here* |  | sugar |  | by germs in the mouth | vn create-26.4 «NP V NP PP.material»: agent=Agent from sugar=Material |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The chewing of raw vegetables

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:35-teeth-and-care:e4:o2:1
# text = The chewing of raw vegetables
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	chewing	chewing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	raw	raw	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	vegetables	vegetable	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **chew** |  |  | raw vegetables |  |  |  |  | nom chewing «act transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The drinking of plain water

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:35-teeth-and-care:e4:o3:1
# text = The drinking of plain water
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	drinking	drinking	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	plain	plain	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **drink** |  |  | plain water |  |  |  |  | nom drinking «act transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Excessive brushing with fluoride

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:35-teeth-and-care:e4:o4:1
# text = Excessive brushing with fluoride
1	Excessive	Excessive	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
2	brushing	brush	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	1	acl	_	_
3	with	with	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	fluoride	fluoride	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **brush** | gerund | Excessive *not said here* |  |  |  |  | with fluoride | vn floss-41.2.1 «NP V PP.instrument»: agent=Agent with fluoride=Instrument |

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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: [Teeth and their care, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/35-teeth-and-care/e3/)
- next →: [Healthy food, water and vitamins, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/36-healthy-food/t1/)
- ↑ back to [Teeth and their care](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/35-teeth-and-care/)