---
title: A cartoon hero plays a piece once, badly, then wins a big contest th… — Practising when you would rather not · tree and pragmatics
description: A cartoon hero plays a piece once, badly, then wins a big contest the next day. What is wrong with this? Test 4 · ★ of lesson 3 «Practising when you would rather not» of the arts course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choic
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/arts/3-practising-when-you-would-rather-not/t4/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [Arts](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/arts/) / [Practising when you would rather not](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/arts/3-practising-when-you-would-rather-not/) / t4

# Test 4 · ★ · Practising when you would rather not

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A cartoon hero plays a piece once, badly, then wins a big contest the next day. What is wrong with this?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** cartoon hero · **What happens:** play, win, be · **To what, where:** piece, big contest

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 4 · ★ of lesson 3 «Practising when you would rather not» of the arts 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/arts/3-practising-when-you-would-rather-not/#t4).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* A cartoon hero plays a piece once, badly, then wins a big contest the next day.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:arts:3-practising-when-you-would-rather-not:t4:1
# text = A cartoon hero plays a piece once, badly, then wins a big contest the next day.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	cartoon	cartoon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	hero	hero	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	plays	play	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	piece	piece	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	once	once	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	4	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
9	badly	badly	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	4	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
11	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	12	advmod	_	_
12	wins	win	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
13	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
14	big	big	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	15	amod	_	_
15	contest	contest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obj	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
17	next	next	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	amod	_	_
18	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl:unmarked	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **play** | present | a cartoon hero | a piece |  |  |  | badly, once *property* | vn use-105.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent piece=Theme |
| 2 | **win** | present | a cartoon hero *not said here* | a big contest |  |  | then; day |  | vn succeed-74-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent contest=Eventuality |

<!-- .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 wrong with this?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:arts:3-practising-when-you-would-rather-not:t4:2
# text = What is wrong with this?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	wrong	wrong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	with	with	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	this	this	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | with this; wrong *property* | tree rules |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Heroes in cartoons never play music

```conllu
# sent_id = question:arts:3-practising-when-you-would-rather-not:t4:o1:1
# text = Heroes in cartoons never play music
1	Heroes	hero	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
2	in	in	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
3	cartoons	cartoon	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	nmod	_	_
4	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
5	play	play	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	music	music	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **play** | present | Heroes in cartoons | music |  |  |  |  | vn use-105.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent music=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nothing, that is exactly how all real musicians learn their pieces

```conllu
# sent_id = question:arts:3-practising-when-you-would-rather-not:t4:o2:1
# text = Nothing, that is exactly how all real musicians learn their pieces
1	Nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	10	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	10	nsubj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	cop	_	_
5	exactly	exactly	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
6	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	10	advmod	_	_
7	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	9	det	_	_
8	real	real	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	musicians	musician	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nsubj	_	_
10	learn	learn	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
11	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	12	nmod:poss	_	_
12	pieces	piece	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Nothing |  |  |  |  | exactly, learn *property* | tree rules |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Real skill needs weeks of practice, not one go

```conllu
# sent_id = question:arts:3-practising-when-you-would-rather-not:t4:o3:1
# text = Real skill needs weeks of practice, not one go
1	Real	real	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	skill	skill	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	needs	need	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	weeks	week	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	practice	practice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
8	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	10	advmod	_	_
9	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	10	nummod	_	_
10	go	go	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	parataxis	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **need** | present | Real skill |  |  |  | week |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Contests only let in beginners

```conllu
# sent_id = question:arts:3-practising-when-you-would-rather-not:t4:o4:1
# text = Contests only let in beginners
1	Contests	contest	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	only	only	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	let	let	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	RP	_	3	compound:prt	_	_
5	beginners	beginner	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **let in** | present | Contests | beginners |  |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent beginner=Theme |

<!-- div src -->

**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 -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [Practising when you would rather not, test 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/arts/3-practising-when-you-would-rather-not/t3/)
- next →: [Practising when you would rather not, test 5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/arts/3-practising-when-you-would-rather-not/t5/)
- ↑ back to [Practising when you would rather not](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/arts/3-practising-when-you-would-rather-not/)