---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the… — Transport: from horses to planes · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the operation of a steam engine? Exam question 1 of lesson 99 «Transport: from horses to planes» 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
---

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# Exam question 1 · Transport: from horses to planes

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the operation of a steam engine?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **What happens:** follow, characteris, operate · **To what, where:** operation, steam engine

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 99 «Transport: from horses to planes» 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/99-transport-horses-to-planes/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:99-transport-horses-to-planes:e1:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the operation of a steam engine?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	nsubj	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	following	follow	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	amod	_	_
5	statements	statement	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	_
6	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	7	advmod	_	_
7	accurately	accurately	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	characterises	characteris	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	operation	operation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
12	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
13	steam	steam	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	compound	_	_
14	engine	engine	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **follow** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **characteris** | present |  | the operation of a steam engine |  |  |  | of the following statements; accurately *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **operate** |  |  | a steam engine |  |  |  |  | nom operation «state transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- .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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Fuel boils water, and the steam pushes the engine's parts

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:99-transport-horses-to-planes:e1:o1:1
# text = Fuel boils water, and the steam pushes the engine's parts
1	Fuel	fuel	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	boils	boil	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	steam	steam	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
8	pushes	push	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	parataxis	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	engine	engine	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	's	's	PART	POS	_	10	case	_	_
12	parts	part	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **boil** | present | Fuel | water |  |  |  |  | vn cooking-45.3 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent water=Patient |
| 2 | **push** | present | the steam | the engine's parts |  |  |  |  | vn carry-11.4-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent part=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Petrol explodes inside a cylinder

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:99-transport-horses-to-planes:e1:o2:1
# text = Petrol explodes inside a cylinder
1	Petrol	petrol	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	explodes	explode	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	inside	inside	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	cylinder	cylinder	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **explode** | present | Petrol |  |  | a cylinder |  |  | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme inside cylinder=Location |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The wind pushes sails attached to the engine

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:99-transport-horses-to-planes:e1:o3:1
# text = The wind pushes sails attached to the engine
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	wind	wind	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	pushes	push	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	sails	sail	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
5	attached	attach	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	acl	_	_
6	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	engine	engine	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **push** | present | the wind | sails |  | the engine |  |  | vn funnel-9.3-1-1 «NP V NP PP.trajectory»: agent=Agent sail=Theme to engine=Trajectory |
| 2 | **attach** | participle |  | sails *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn shake-22.3-2-1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Electricity from a battery turns a motor

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:99-transport-horses-to-planes:e1:o4:1
# text = Electricity from a battery turns a motor
1	Electricity	electricity	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
2	from	from	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	battery	battery	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nmod	_	_
5	turns	turn	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	motor	motor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **turn** | present | Electricity from a battery | a motor |  |  |  |  | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent motor=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.

<!-- /div -->

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