---
title: Gossip at the gate: «They haven't told the kids yet, she's moving jo… — Closed doors, whispers and secrets · tree and pragmatics
description: Gossip at the gate: «They haven't told the kids yet, she's moving jobs to Glasgow.» Why might the parents wait? Test 9 · ★ of lesson 35 «Closed doors, whispers and secrets» of the adult life course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; 
---

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# Test 9 · ★ · Closed doors, whispers and secrets

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Gossip at the gate: «They haven't told the kids yet, she's moving jobs to Glasgow.» Why might the parents wait?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** she, parents · **What happens:** not tell, move, wait · **To what, where:** They, kids, jobs, Glasgow · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is test 9 · ★ of lesson 35 «Closed doors, whispers and secrets» 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/35-closed-doors-whispers-and-secrets/#t9).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Gossip at the gate: «They haven't told the kids yet, she's moving jobs to Glasgow.»

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:35-closed-doors-whispers-and-secrets:t9:1
# text = Gossip at the gate: «They haven't told the kids yet, she's moving jobs to Glasgow.»
1	Gossip	gossip	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
2	at	at	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	gate	gate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	10	punct	_	_
6	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj:pass	_	_
8	have	have	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	10	advmod	_	_
10	told	tell	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	1	parataxis	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	kids	kid	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	iobj	_	_
13	yet	yet	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
15	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	17	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	17	aux	_	_
17	moving	move	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	10	advcl	_	_
18	jobs	job	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	17	obj	_	_
19	to	to	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
20	Glasgow	Glasgow	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	17	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **tell** *speech: assert* *in a quote* | present · perfect · passive |  | They | the kids |  | yet |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: subject=Recipient kid=Topic |
| 2 | **move** *in a quote* | present · progressive | she | jobs | Glasgow |  |  |  | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V NP PP.result»: agent=Agent job=Theme to glasgow=Result |

<!-- .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 might the parents wait?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:35-closed-doors-whispers-and-secrets:t9:2
# text = Why might the parents wait?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	5	advmod	_	_
2	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	parents	parent	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
5	wait	wait	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **wait** | might | the parents |  |  |  |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Because the move is a surprise party

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:35-closed-doors-whispers-and-secrets:t9:o1:1
# text = Because the move is a surprise party
1	Because	because	ADP	IN	ExtPos=ADP	3	case	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	move	move	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	surprise	surprise	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	party	party	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To tell the children once, when they know more

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:35-closed-doors-whispers-and-secrets:t9:o2:1
# text = To tell the children once, when they know more
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	tell	tell	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	once	once	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	2	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
7	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	9	advmod	_	_
8	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
9	know	know	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	advcl	_	_
10	more	more	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	9	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tell** *speech: assert* | to-infinitive |  |  | the children |  |  | once *property* | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent child=Recipient |
| 2 | **know** | present | children *= child* | more |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer more=Stimulus |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Because children never need to know

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:35-closed-doors-whispers-and-secrets:t9:o3:1
# text = Because children never need to know
1	Because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	4	mark	_	_
2	children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	need	need	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	know	know	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **need** | present | children |  |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 2 | **know** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | children *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Because they want the children to find out by gossip

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:35-closed-doors-whispers-and-secrets:t9:o4:1
# text = Because they want the children to find out by gossip
1	Because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	3	mark	_	_
2	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	want	want	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	find	find	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
8	out	out	ADP	RP	_	7	compound:prt	_	_
9	by	by	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	gossip	gossip	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **want** | present | they | the children |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **find out** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | the children *not said here* |  |  |  |  | by gossip | vn learn-14-2-1 «NP V PP.topic»: 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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- ← previous: [Closed doors, whispers and secrets, test 8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/adult-life/35-closed-doors-whispers-and-secrets/t8/)
- next →: [Closed doors, whispers and secrets, test 10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/adult-life/35-closed-doors-whispers-and-secrets/t10/)
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