---
title: A ship's captain sees a small iceberg ahead. Why must he steer far a… — Glaciers, ice ages and polar lands · tree and pragmatics
description: A ship's captain sees a small iceberg ahead. Why must he steer far around it? Test 9 · ★★ of lesson 65 «Glaciers, ice ages and polar lands» 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 9 · ★★ · Glaciers, ice ages and polar lands

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A ship's captain sees a small iceberg ahead. Why must he steer far around it?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** captain · **What happens:** see, steer · **To what, where:** small iceberg, ship

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 9 · ★★ of lesson 65 «Glaciers, ice ages and polar lands» 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/65-glaciers-ice-ages-polar-lands/#t9).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* A ship's captain sees a small iceberg ahead.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:65-glaciers-ice-ages-polar-lands:t9:1
# text = A ship's captain sees a small iceberg ahead.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	ship	ship	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	's	's	PART	POS	_	2	case	_	_
4	captain	captain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	sees	see	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	small	small	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	iceberg	iceberg	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
9	ahead	ahead	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **see** | present | a ship's captain | a small iceberg |  |  |  | ahead *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer iceberg=Stimulus |

<!-- .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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* Why must he steer far around it?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:65-glaciers-ice-ages-polar-lands:t9:2
# text = Why must he steer far around it?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	steer	steer	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	far	far	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	4	advmod	_	_
6	around	around	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **steer** | must | captain |  |  | ship |  | far *property* | vn accompany-51.7 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent around it=Destination |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Icebergs pull ships towards them like magnets

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:65-glaciers-ice-ages-polar-lands:t9:o1:1
# text = Icebergs pull ships towards them like magnets
1	Icebergs	iceberg	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	pull	pull	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	ships	ship	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
4	towards	towards	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obl	_	_
6	like	like	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	magnets	magnet	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pull** | present | Icebergs | ships |  |  |  | towards ships *= ship*; like magnets | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent ship=Theme towards they=Destination |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Most of the iceberg is hidden under the water

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:65-glaciers-ice-ages-polar-lands:t9:o2:1
# text = Most of the iceberg is hidden under the water
1	Most	most	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	6	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	iceberg	iceberg	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nmod	_	_
5	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux:pass	_	_
6	hidden	hide	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
7	under	under	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hide** | present · passive |  | Most of the iceberg |  | the water |  |  | vn concealment-16-1 «NP V NP PP.location»: subject=Patient under water=Location |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Icebergs give off a poisonous gas as they melt

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:65-glaciers-ice-ages-polar-lands:t9:o3:1
# text = Icebergs give off a poisonous gas as they melt
1	Icebergs	iceberg	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	give	give	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	off	off	ADP	RP	_	2	compound:prt	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	poisonous	poisonous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	gas	gas	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
7	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
8	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
9	melt	melt	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give off** | present | Icebergs | a poisonous gas |  |  |  |  | vn substance\_emission-43.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Source gas=Theme |
| 2 | **melt** | present | Icebergs *= iceberg* |  |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4-1 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Icebergs move much faster than ships can steer away

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:65-glaciers-ice-ages-polar-lands:t9:o4:1
# text = Icebergs move much faster than ships can steer away
1	Icebergs	iceberg	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	move	move	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	much	much	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	faster	fast	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	2	advmod	_	_
5	than	than	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
6	ships	ship	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
7	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
8	steer	steer	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	advcl	_	_
9	away	away	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **move** | present | Icebergs |  |  |  |  | fast *property* | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP.theme V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **steer away** | can | ships |  |  |  |  | away *property* | vn accompany-51.7 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

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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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