---
title: why's plastic in the sea such a big deal — Caring for the environment · tree and pragmatics
description: why's plastic in the sea such a big deal Test 9 of lesson 57 «Caring for the environment» 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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[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/57-environment/t9/)

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# Test 9 · Caring for the environment

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
why's plastic in the sea such a big deal

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** plastic · **What happens:** be

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 9 of lesson 57 «Caring for the environment» 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/57-environment/#t9).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:57-environment:t9:1
# text = why's plastic in the sea such a big deal
1	why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	cop	_	_
3	plastic	plastic	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	sea	sea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
7	such	such	DET	PDT	PronType=Ind	10	det:predet	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	big	big	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	deal	deal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	advcl:relcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | plastic in the sea |  |  |  |  | why *property* | 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 -->
Plastic makes the water too salty

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:57-environment:t9:o1:1
# text = Plastic makes the water too salty
1	Plastic	plastic	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	makes	make	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	too	too	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	salty	salty	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	xcomp	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Sea animals swallow it or get tangled, and it lasts for hundreds of years

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:57-environment:t9:o2:1
# text = Sea animals swallow it or get tangled, and it lasts for hundreds of years
1	Sea	sea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	compound	_	_
2	animals	animal	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	swallow	swallow	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	obj	_	_
5	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	get	get	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	conj	_	_
7	tangled	tangle	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
10	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
11	lasts	last	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
12	for	for	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	hundreds	hundred	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	obl	_	_
14	of	of	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **swallow** | present | Sea animals | it |  |  |  |  | vn gobble-39.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Patient |
| 2 | **get** | infinitive | Sea animals *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 3 | **tangle** | participle | Sea animals *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **last** | present | it |  |  |  |  | for hundreds of years | vn cost-54.2 «NP V NP.value»: agent=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Plastic melts into food for fish

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:57-environment:t9:o3:1
# text = Plastic melts into food for fish
1	Plastic	plastic	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	melts	melt	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	into	into	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	fish	fish	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **melt** | present | Plastic |  |  | food |  | for fish | vn knead-26.5 «NP.material V PP.product»: agent=Material into food=Product |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It only looks ugly on beaches

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:57-environment:t9:o4:1
# text = It only looks ugly on beaches
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	only	only	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	looks	look	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	ugly	ugly	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	xcomp	_	_
5	on	on	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	beaches	beach	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **look** | present | It |  |  |  |  | on beaches; ugly *property* | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent on beach=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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