---
title: Why is it a problem when a flood carries away a field's topsoil? — Soil and what lives in it · tree and pragmatics
description: Why is it a problem when a flood carries away a field's topsoil? Test 5 of lesson 63 «Soil and what lives in it» 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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# Test 5 · Soil and what lives in it

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why is it a problem when a flood carries away a field's topsoil?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** it, flood · **What happens:** be, carry away · **To what, where:** problem, topsoil

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 5 of lesson 63 «Soil and what lives in it» 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/63-soil-and-what-lives-in-it/#t5).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:63-soil-and-what-lives-in-it:t5:1
# text = Why is it a problem when a flood carries away a field's topsoil?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	5	advmod	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	problem	problem	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	9	advmod	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	flood	flood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
9	carries	carry	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	acl:relcl	_	_
10	away	away	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	field	field	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	's	's	PART	POS	_	12	case	_	_
14	topsoil	topsoil	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | it | a problem |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **carry away** | present | a flood | a field's topsoil |  |  |  | away *property* | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent topsoil=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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Plants grow only in the rock below

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:63-soil-and-what-lives-in-it:t5:o1:1
# text = Plants grow only in the rock below
1	Plants	plant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	grow	grow	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	only	only	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	rock	rock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
7	below	below	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **grow** | present | Plants |  |  | the rock |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in rock=Location |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It took hundreds of years to form and holds most of the nutrients

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:63-soil-and-what-lives-in-it:t5:o2:1
# text = It took hundreds of years to form and holds most of the nutrients
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	took	take	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	hundreds	hundred	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nmod	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	form	form	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	advcl	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	holds	hold	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
10	most	most	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	9	obj	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	nutrients	nutrient	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **take** | past | It | hundreds of years |  |  |  |  | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent hundred=Theme |
| 2 | **form** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **hold** | present |  | most of the nutrients |  |  |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent most=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Topsoil is easy to make again in a week

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:63-soil-and-what-lives-in-it:t5:o3:1
# text = Topsoil is easy to make again in a week
1	Topsoil	topsoil	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	easy	easy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	make	make	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	csubj	_	_
6	again	again	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	week	week	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Topsoil |  |  |  |  | easy *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **make** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  | again; week |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The subsoil below is much richer anyway

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:63-soil-and-what-lives-in-it:t5:o4:1
# text = The subsoil below is much richer anyway
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	subsoil	subsoil	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
3	below	below	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
5	much	much	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	richer	rich	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	_
7	anyway	anyway	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the subsoil |  |  |  |  | anyway, rich *property* | tree rules |

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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.

<!-- /div -->

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- ← previous: [Soil and what lives in it, test 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/63-soil-and-what-lives-in-it/t4/)
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- ↑ back to [Soil and what lives in it](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/63-soil-and-what-lives-in-it/)