---
title: my sister says Antarctica can't be a desert cos it's all ice. true? — Thinking like a geographer: rivers, mo… · tree and pragmatics
description: my sister says Antarctica can't be a desert cos it's all ice. true? Test 12 · ★★★ of lesson 50 «Thinking like a geographer: rivers, mountains and deserts» 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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# Test 12 · ★★★ · Thinking like a geographer: rivers, mountains and deserts

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
my sister says Antarctica can't be a desert cos it's all ice. true?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** sister, Antarctica, desert · **What happens:** say, not be, be · **To what, where:** desert · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 12 · ★★★ of lesson 50 «Thinking like a geographer: rivers, mountains and deserts» of the world course of Mova's primary school. 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/50-why-the-earth-is-so/#t12).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:50-why-the-earth-is-so:t12:1
# text = my sister says Antarctica can't be a desert cos it's all ice. true?
1	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	sister	sister	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	Antarctica	Antarctica	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
5	ca	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	9	advmod	_	_
7	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	cop	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	desert	desert	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	ccomp	_	_
10	cos	cos	SCONJ	IN	_	14	case	_	_
11	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	cop	_	_
13	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	14	det	_	_
14	ice	ice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	9	punct	_	_
16	true	true	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | my sister |  |  |  |  | true *property* | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **not** **is a** | can | Antarctica | a desert |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **is** | present | desert |  |  |  |  | cos all ice | tree rules |

<!-- .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 -->
No, it is a desert only in summer

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:50-why-the-earth-is-so:t12:o1:1
# text = No, it is a desert only in summer
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	6	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	desert	desert	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
7	only	only	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	summer	summer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl:unmarked	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, ice makes it the wettest place

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:50-why-the-earth-is-so:t12:o2:1
# text = Yes, ice makes it the wettest place
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	ice	ice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	makes	make	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	obj	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	wettest	wet	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	8	amod	_	_
8	place	place	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | present | ice | it |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset it=Product |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No, a desert is a place with very little rain or snow, so it is one

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:50-why-the-earth-is-so:t12:o3:1
# text = No, a desert is a place with very little rain or snow, so it is one
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	7	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	desert	desert	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
5	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	place	place	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
8	with	with	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
9	very	very	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
10	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	rain	rain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
12	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
13	snow	snow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
15	so	so	ADV	RB	_	18	advmod	_	_
16	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	nsubj	_	_
17	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	18	cop	_	_
18	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	7	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | a desert | a place |  |  |  | with little rain or snow | tree rules |
| 2 | **is a** | present | desert | one |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, deserts must be hot and sandy

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:50-why-the-earth-is-so:t12:o4:1
# text = Yes, deserts must be hot and sandy
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	6	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	deserts	desert	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
4	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
5	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	cop	_	_
6	hot	hot	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	sandy	sandy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | must | deserts |  |  |  |  | hot *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **be** |  | deserts *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

<!-- div src -->

**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 -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [Thinking like a geographer: rivers, mo…, test 11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/50-why-the-earth-is-so/t11/)
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