---
title: The new kid says rules at school are pointless. What is a good answer? — Neighbours, the council, rules and fai… · tree and pragmatics
description: The new kid says rules at school are pointless. What is a good answer? Test 10 · ★ of lesson 33 «Neighbours, the council, rules and fairness» of the adult life 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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# Test 10 · ★ · Neighbours, the council, rules and fairness

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The new kid says rules at school are pointless. What is a good answer?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** new kid, rules · **What happens:** say, be · **To what, where:** good answer · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 10 · ★ of lesson 33 «Neighbours, the council, rules and fairness» of the adult life 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/adult-life/33-neighbours-the-council-rules-and-fairness/#t10).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* The new kid says rules at school are pointless.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:33-neighbours-the-council-rules-and-fairness:t10:1
# text = The new kid says rules at school are pointless.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	new	new	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	kid	kid	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	rules	rule	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nsubj	_	_
6	at	at	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	school	school	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
8	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
9	pointless	pointless	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | the new kid |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is** | present | rules at school |  |  |  |  | pointless *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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* What is a good answer?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:33-neighbours-the-council-rules-and-fairness:t10:2
# text = What is a good answer?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	5	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	good	good	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	answer	answer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present |  | a good answer |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They help everyone live and learn together safely

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:33-neighbours-the-council-rules-and-fairness:t10:o1:1
# text = They help everyone live and learn together safely
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	help	help	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	everyone	everyone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Tot	2	obj	_	_
4	live	live	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	learn	learn	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	conj	_	_
7	together	together	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
8	safely	safely	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **help** | present | They | everyone |  |  |  |  | vn help-72.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent everyone=Beneficiary clause=Theme |
| 2 | **live** | infinitive | everyone *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn exist-47.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **learn** | infinitive | everyone *not said here* |  |  |  |  | safely, together *property* | vn learn-14-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They only matter when the head is watching

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:33-neighbours-the-council-rules-and-fairness:t10:o2:1
# text = They only matter when the head is watching
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	only	only	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	matter	matter	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	8	advmod	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	head	head	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
7	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
8	watching	watch	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	3	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **matter** | present | They |  |  |  |  |  | vn matter-91 «NP V»: agent=Stimulus |
| 2 | **watch** | present · progressive | the head |  |  |  |  |  | vn search-35.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They are there to make teachers feel powerful and important

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:33-neighbours-the-council-rules-and-fairness:t10:o3:1
# text = They are there to make teachers feel powerful and important
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	there	there	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	make	make	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	advcl	_	_
6	teachers	teacher	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
7	feel	feel	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	xcomp	_	_
8	powerful	powerful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	xcomp	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
10	important	important	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | They |  |  |  |  | there *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **make** | to-infinitive | They *not said here* | teachers |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **feel** | infinitive | teachers *not said here* |  |  |  |  | powerful *property* | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V ADJ»: agent=Stimulus |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They are pointless, so you can ignore them

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:33-neighbours-the-council-rules-and-fairness:t10:o4:1
# text = They are pointless, so you can ignore them
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	pointless	pointless	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
5	so	so	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
6	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
7	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
8	ignore	ignore	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	conj	_	_
9	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | They |  |  |  |  | pointless *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **ignore** | can | you | them *= they* |  |  |  |  | vn neglect-75.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=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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- ← previous: [Neighbours, the council, rules and fai…, test 9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/adult-life/33-neighbours-the-council-rules-and-fairness/t9/)
- next →: [Neighbours, the council, rules and fai…, test 11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/adult-life/33-neighbours-the-council-rules-and-fairness/t11/)
- ↑ back to [Neighbours, the council, rules and fairness](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/adult-life/33-neighbours-the-council-rules-and-fairness/)