---
title: Identify the principal reason for which the needle of a compass poin… — Maps, plans and the compass · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal reason for which the needle of a compass points north. Exam question 2 of lesson 41 «Maps, plans and the compass» 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 2 · Maps, plans and the compass

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal reason for which the needle of a compass points north.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, needle · **What happens:** identify, point · **To what, where:** principal reason

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This is exam question 2 of lesson 41 «Maps, plans and the compass» 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/41-maps-and-compass/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:41-maps-and-compass:e2:1
# text = Identify the principal reason for which the needle of a compass points north.
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	12	obl	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	needle	needle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	compass	compass	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	_
12	points	point	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	acl	_	_
13	north	north	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	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 | **point** | present | the needle of a compass |  |  |  |  | for the principal reason; north *property* | vn wink-40.3.1 «NP V»: 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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The needle is heavier at its northern end

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:41-maps-and-compass:e2:o1:1
# text = The needle is heavier at its northern end
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	needle	needle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	heavier	heavy	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
7	northern	northern	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	end	end	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the needle |  |  |  | at needle's northern end | heavy *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The wind turns the needle northward

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:41-maps-and-compass:e2:o2:1
# text = The wind turns the needle northward
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	wind	wind	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	turns	turn	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	needle	needle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	northward	northward	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **turn** | present | the wind | the needle |  |  |  | northward *property* | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent needle=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The needle is drawn towards the Sun

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:41-maps-and-compass:e2:o3:1
# text = The needle is drawn towards the Sun
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	needle	needle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	drawn	draw	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	towards	towards	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	Sun	Sun	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **draw** | present · passive |  | the needle |  |  |  | towards the Sun | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP PP.destination»: subject=Theme towards sun=Destination |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The needle is a magnet and the Earth acts as a giant magnet

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:41-maps-and-compass:e2:o4:1
# text = The needle is a magnet and the Earth acts as a giant magnet
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	needle	needle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	magnet	magnet	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	Earth	Earth	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
9	acts	act	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
10	as	as	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
12	giant	giant	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	magnet	magnet	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | the needle | a magnet |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **act** | present | the Earth |  |  |  |  | as a giant magnet | vn masquerade-29.6-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Agent as magnet=Attribute |

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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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