---
title: It is given that the Sun stands behind an observer and rain falls be… — Mirrors, shadows and colours · tree and pragmatics
description: It is given that the Sun stands behind an observer and rain falls before him. Ascertain the phenomenon which may thereby be observed. Exam question 3 of lesson 84 «Mirrors, shadows and colours» of the world course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and 
---

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# Exam question 3 · Mirrors, shadows and colours

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is given that the Sun stands behind an observer and rain falls before him. Ascertain the phenomenon which may thereby be observed.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Sun, rain, you · **What happens:** give, stand, fall, ascertain, observe · **To what, where:** It, observer, phenomenon

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 84 «Mirrors, shadows and colours» 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/84-mirrors-shadows-colours/#e3).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* It is given that the Sun stands behind an observer and rain falls before him.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:84-mirrors-shadows-colours:e3:1
# text = It is given that the Sun stands behind an observer and rain falls before him.
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	given	give	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	Sun	Sun	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	stands	stand	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
8	behind	behind	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	observer	observer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
12	rain	rain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	_
13	falls	fall	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	conj	_	_
14	before	before	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give** | present · passive |  | It |  |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 2 | **stand** | present | the Sun |  |  | a observer |  |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent behind observer=Location |
| 3 | **fall** | present | rain |  |  |  | before Sun |  | vn occur-48.3 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme before he=Location |

<!-- .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:* Ascertain the phenomenon which may thereby be observed.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:84-mirrors-shadows-colours:e3:2
# text = Ascertain the phenomenon which may thereby be observed.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	phenomenon	phenomenon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	nsubj:pass	_	_
5	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
6	thereby	thereby	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
7	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	aux:pass	_	_
8	observed	observe	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* | the phenomenon |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent phenomenon=Topic |
| 2 | **observe** | may · passive |  | the phenomenon |  |  |  | thereby *property* | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: subject=Topic |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A mirage

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:84-mirrors-shadows-colours:e3:o1:1
# text = A mirage
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	mirage	mirage	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A shooting star

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:84-mirrors-shadows-colours:e3:o2:1
# text = A shooting star
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	shooting	shooting	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	star	star	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A rainbow

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:84-mirrors-shadows-colours:e3:o3:1
# text = A rainbow
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	rainbow	rainbow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
An eclipse

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:84-mirrors-shadows-colours:e3:o4:1
# text = An eclipse
1	An	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	eclipse	eclipse	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

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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: [Mirrors, shadows and colours, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/84-mirrors-shadows-colours/e2/)
- next →: [Mirrors, shadows and colours, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/84-mirrors-shadows-colours/e4/)
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