---
title: In a cartoon, a boy plays drums perfectly after one lesson and becom… — Being bad at something and keeping going · tree and pragmatics
description: In a cartoon, a boy plays drums perfectly after one lesson and becomes a rock star by Friday. What is more realistic? Test 4 of lesson 37 «Being bad at something and keeping going» of the arts course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option
---

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# Test 4 · Being bad at something and keeping going

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
In a cartoon, a boy plays drums perfectly after one lesson and becomes a rock star by Friday. What is more realistic?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** boy · **What happens:** play, become, be · **To what, where:** drums, cartoon, rock star

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 4 of lesson 37 «Being bad at something and keeping going» 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/37-being-bad-at-something-and-keeping-going/#t4).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* In a cartoon, a boy plays drums perfectly after one lesson and becomes a rock star by Friday.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:arts:37-being-bad-at-something-and-keeping-going:t4:1
# text = In a cartoon, a boy plays drums perfectly after one lesson and becomes a rock star by Friday.
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	cartoon	cartoon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	boy	boy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	plays	play	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	drums	drum	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obj	_	_
9	perfectly	perfectly	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
10	after	after	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	12	nummod	_	_
12	lesson	lesson	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
13	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
14	becomes	become	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	conj	_	_
15	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
16	rock	rock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	compound	_	_
17	star	star	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	xcomp	_	_
18	by	by	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
19	Friday	Friday	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	17	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **play** | present | a boy | drums |  | a cartoon | after one lesson | perfectly *property* | vn use-105.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent drum=Theme |
| 2 | **become** | present | a boy *not said here* | a rock star by Friday |  |  |  |  | vn become-109.1-1-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* What is more realistic?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:arts:37-being-bad-at-something-and-keeping-going:t4:2
# text = What is more realistic?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	4	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	more	more	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	4	advmod	_	_
4	realistic	realistic	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Rock stars never practise, they just get lucky

```conllu
# sent_id = question:arts:37-being-bad-at-something-and-keeping-going:t4:o1:1
# text = Rock stars never practise, they just get lucky
1	Rock	rock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	compound	_	_
2	stars	star	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	practise	practise	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
6	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
7	just	just	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	get	get	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	advcl	_	_
9	lucky	lucky	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **practise** | present | Rock stars |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **get** | present | stars *= star* |  |  |  |  | lucky *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Skills take many weeks of practice and mistakes

```conllu
# sent_id = question:arts:37-being-bad-at-something-and-keeping-going:t4:o2:1
# text = Skills take many weeks of practice and mistakes
1	Skills	skill	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	take	take	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	weeks	week	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	practice	practice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	mistakes	mistake	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **take** | present | Skills |  |  |  | week |  | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Drums are the only instrument you can learn in a day

```conllu
# sent_id = question:arts:37-being-bad-at-something-and-keeping-going:t4:o3:1
# text = Drums are the only instrument you can learn in a day
1	Drums	drum	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	only	only	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	instrument	instrument	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
7	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
8	learn	learn	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	acl:relcl	_	_
9	in	in	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | Drums | the only instrument |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **learn** | can | you | the only instrument *not said here* |  |  | day |  | vn learn-14-2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent instrument=Topic |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Everyone becomes great after their first lesson

```conllu
# sent_id = question:arts:37-being-bad-at-something-and-keeping-going:t4:o4:1
# text = Everyone becomes great after their first lesson
1	Everyone	everyone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Tot	2	nsubj	_	_
2	becomes	become	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	great	great	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	xcomp	_	_
4	after	after	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
6	first	first	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	7	amod	_	_
7	lesson	lesson	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **become** | present | Everyone |  |  |  | after their first lesson | great *property* | vn become-109.1-1-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Patient |

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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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