---
title: State the approximate duration required for the light of the Sun to… — The Sun as a star and the stars · tree and pragmatics
description: State the approximate duration required for the light of the Sun to reach the Earth. Exam question 2 of lesson 5 «The Sun as a star and the stars» 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 Sun as a star and the stars

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
State the approximate duration required for the light of the Sun to reach the Earth.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** require, reach, light · **To what, where:** State, Earth, Sun

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This is exam question 2 of lesson 5 «The Sun as a star and the stars» 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/5-the-sun-and-the-stars/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:5-the-sun-and-the-stars:e2:1
# text = State the approximate duration required for the light of the Sun to reach the Earth.
1	State	state	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	approximate	approximate	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	duration	duration	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
5	required	require	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	for	for	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	light	light	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	Sun	Sun	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	_
12	to	to	PART	TO	_	13	mark	_	_
13	reach	reach	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	advcl	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	Earth	Earth	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	13	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **require** | participle · passive |  | State |  |  |  | for the light of the Sun | vn require-103-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Precondition |
| 2 | **reach** | to-infinitive |  | the Earth |  |  |  |  | vn body\_motion-49.2-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Agent earth=Theme |
| 3 | **light** |  |  | the Sun |  |  |  |  | nom light «phenomenon 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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Approximately eight hours

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:5-the-sun-and-the-stars:e2:o1:1
# text = Approximately eight hours
1	Approximately	approximately	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
2	eight	eight	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	3	nummod	_	_
3	hours	hour	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Approximately eight seconds

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:5-the-sun-and-the-stars:e2:o2:1
# text = Approximately eight seconds
1	Approximately	approximately	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
2	eight	eight	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	3	nummod	_	_
3	seconds	second	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Approximately eight days

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:5-the-sun-and-the-stars:e2:o3:1
# text = Approximately eight days
1	Approximately	approximately	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
2	eight	eight	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	3	nummod	_	_
3	days	day	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Approximately eight minutes

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:5-the-sun-and-the-stars:e2:o4:1
# text = Approximately eight minutes
1	Approximately	approximately	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
2	eight	eight	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	3	nummod	_	_
3	minutes	minute	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .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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- ← previous: [The Sun as a star and the stars, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/5-the-sun-and-the-stars/e1/)
- next →: [The Sun as a star and the stars, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/5-the-sun-and-the-stars/e3/)
- ↑ back to [The Sun as a star and the stars](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/5-the-sun-and-the-stars/)