---
title: Theo's mate: "Footballers are thick, they never say anything interes… — Breakfast and chat shows: celebrity go… · tree and pragmatics
description: Theo's mate: "Footballers are thick, they never say anything interesting." What is the fairer view? Test 11 · ★ of lesson 53 «Breakfast and chat shows: celebrity gossip on the sofa» of the adult life course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each
---

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# Test 11 · ★ · Breakfast and chat shows: celebrity gossip on the sofa

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Theo's mate: "Footballers are thick, they never say anything interesting." What is the fairer view?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** mate, Footballers, fairer view · **What happens:** be, not say · **To what, where:** anything · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 11 · ★ of lesson 53 «Breakfast and chat shows: celebrity gossip on the sofa» 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/53-breakfast-and-chat-shows-celebrity-gossip-on-the-sofa/#t11).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Theo's mate: "Footballers are thick, they never say anything interesting."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:53-breakfast-and-chat-shows-celebrity-gossip-on-the-sofa:t11:1
# text = Theo's mate: "Footballers are thick, they never say anything interesting."
1	Theo	Theo	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	's	PART	POS	_	1	case	_	_
3	mate	mate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	8	punct	_	_
5	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	Footballers	footballer	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
7	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
8	thick	thick	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
10	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
11	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	12	advmod	_	_
12	say	say	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	conj	_	_
13	anything	anything	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	12	obj	_	_
14	interesting	interesting	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** *in a quote* | present | Theo's mate |  |  |  |  | thick *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **not** **say** *speech: assert* *in a quote* | present | Footballers *= footballer* | anything |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent anything=Topic |

<!-- .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 the fairer view?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:53-breakfast-and-chat-shows-celebrity-gossip-on-the-sofa:t11:2
# text = What is the fairer view?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	fairer	fair	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	5	amod	_	_
5	view	view	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They are trained to be careful, because words get twisted

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:53-breakfast-and-chat-shows-celebrity-gossip-on-the-sofa:t11:o1:1
# text = They are trained to be careful, because words get twisted
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	trained	train	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
5	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	cop	_	_
6	careful	careful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
8	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
9	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nsubj	_	_
10	get	get	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	parataxis	_	_
11	twisted	twisted	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **train** | present · passive |  | They |  |  |  |  | vn hire-13.5.3 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 2 | **is** | to-infinitive | They *not said here* |  |  |  |  | careful *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **get** | present | words |  |  |  |  | twisted *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They save interesting things for their pets

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:53-breakfast-and-chat-shows-celebrity-gossip-on-the-sofa:t11:o2:1
# text = They save interesting things for their pets
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	save	save	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	interesting	interesting	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	things	thing	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	pets	pet	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **save** | present | They | interesting things |  |  |  | for things's pets | vn get-13.5.1-1 «NP V NP PP.beneficiary»: agent=Agent thing=Theme for pet=Beneficiary |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He's right; footballers cannot think at all, they only kick

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:53-breakfast-and-chat-shows-celebrity-gossip-on-the-sofa:t11:o3:1
# text = He's right; footballers cannot think at all, they only kick
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	right	right	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
5	footballers	footballer	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
6	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	8	advmod	_	_
8	think	think	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	conj	_	_
9	at	at	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
12	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	_
13	only	only	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
14	kick	kick	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | He |  |  |  |  | right *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **not** **think** *speech: other* | can | footballers |  |  | all |  |  | vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **kick** | present | footballers *= footballer* |  |  |  |  |  | vn split-23.2 «NP V apart»: agent=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Footballers are banned from talking about football to anybody

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:53-breakfast-and-chat-shows-celebrity-gossip-on-the-sofa:t11:o4:1
# text = Footballers are banned from talking about football to anybody
1	Footballers	footballer	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	banned	ban	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	from	from	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
5	talking	talk	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	3	advcl	_	_
6	about	about	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	football	football	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
8	to	to	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	anybody	anybody	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ban** | present · passive |  | Footballers |  |  |  |  | vn forbid-64.4-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 2 | **talk** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | about football; to anybody | vn talk-37.5 «NP V PP.co-agent PP.topic»: agent=Agent about football=Topic to anybody=Co-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.

<!-- /div -->

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- ← previous: [Breakfast and chat shows: celebrity go…, test 10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/adult-life/53-breakfast-and-chat-shows-celebrity-gossip-on-the-sofa/t10/)
- next →: [Breakfast and chat shows: celebrity go…, test 12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/adult-life/53-breakfast-and-chat-shows-celebrity-gossip-on-the-sofa/t12/)
- ↑ back to [Breakfast and chat shows: celebrity gossip on the sofa](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/adult-life/53-breakfast-and-chat-shows-celebrity-gossip-on-the-sofa/)