---
title: Identify the principal reason for which the stars appear exceedingly… — The Sun as a star and the stars · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal reason for which the stars appear exceedingly small to an observer upon the Earth. Exam question 3 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 cho
---

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# Exam question 3 · The Sun as a star and the stars

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal reason for which the stars appear exceedingly small to an observer upon the Earth.

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

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 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/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:5-the-sun-and-the-stars:e3:1
# text = Identify the principal reason for which the stars appear exceedingly small to an observer upon the Earth.
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	9	obl	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	stars	star	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nsubj	_	_
9	appear	appear	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	acl:relcl	_	_
10	exceedingly	exceedingly	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
11	small	small	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	xcomp	_	_
12	to	to	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	observer	observer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	_
15	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	Earth	Earth	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	14	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	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 | **appear** | present | the stars |  |  |  |  | for the principal reason; small *property* | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

<!-- .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 -->
Their distance from the Earth is immense

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:5-the-sun-and-the-stars:e3:o1:1
# text = Their distance from the Earth is immense
1	Their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	distance	distance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
3	from	from	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	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
7	immense	immense	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Their distance from the Earth |  |  |  |  | immense *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Their actual dimensions are minute

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:5-the-sun-and-the-stars:e3:o2:1
# text = Their actual dimensions are minute
1	Their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	3	nmod:poss	_	_
2	actual	actual	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	dimensions	dimension	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
4	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
5	minute	minute	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | Their actual dimensions | minute |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They are partially obscured by the atmosphere

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:5-the-sun-and-the-stars:e3:o3:1
# text = They are partially obscured by the atmosphere
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
3	partially	partially	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	obscured	obscure	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	atmosphere	atmosphere	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **obscure** | present · passive | the atmosphere | They |  |  |  | partially *property* | vn remedy-45.7 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent subject=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They emit only feeble light

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:5-the-sun-and-the-stars:e3:o4:1
# text = They emit only feeble light
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	emit	emit	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	only	only	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	feeble	feeble	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	light	light	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **emit** | present | They | feeble light |  |  |  |  | vn substance\_emission-43.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Source light=Theme |

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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 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/5-the-sun-and-the-stars/e2/)
- next →: [The Sun as a star and the stars, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/5-the-sun-and-the-stars/e4/)
- ↑ 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/)