---
title: «black cat crossed my path, worst day ever coming» What is right? — Cats through history: Egypt's sacred c… · tree and pragmatics
description: «black cat crossed my path, worst day ever coming» What is right? Test 5 · ★★★ of lesson 294 «Cats through history: Egypt's sacred cats, ship cats and Tom and Jerry» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's cho
---

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# Test 5 · ★★★ · Cats through history: Egypt's sacred cats, ship cats and T…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«black cat crossed my path, worst day ever coming» What is right?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** black cat, worst day · **What happens:** cross, come, be · **To what, where:** path · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 5 · ★★★ of lesson 294 «Cats through history: Egypt's sacred cats, ship cats and Tom and Jerry» of the biology 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/biology/294-cats-through-history-egypt-s-sacred-cats-ship-cats-and-tom-and-jerry/#t5).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:294-cats-through-history-egypt-s-sacred-cats-ship-cats-and-tom-and-jerry:t5:1
# text = «black cat crossed my path, worst day ever coming» What is right?
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	black	black	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	cat	cat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	crossed	cross	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	path	path	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
8	worst	bad	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	9	amod	_	_
9	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	appos	_	_
10	ever	ever	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	11	advmod	_	_
11	coming	come	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	9	acl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	11	punct	_	_
13	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	15	nsubj	_	_
14	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	cop	_	_
15	right	right	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cross** *in a quote* | participle | black cat | my path |  |  |  |  | vn crane-40.3.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent path=Patient |
| 2 | **come** *in a quote* | gerund | worst day *not said here* |  |  |  | ever |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | right *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.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is only superstition; in Britain and Japan black cats can mean good luck

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:294-cats-through-history-egypt-s-sacred-cats-ship-cats-and-tom-and-jerry:t5:o1:1
# text = It is only superstition; in Britain and Japan black cats can mean good luck
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	only	only	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	superstition	superstition	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	Britain	Britain	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	appos	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	Japan	Japan	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	conj	_	_
10	black	black	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	cats	cat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	nsubj	_	_
12	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	_
13	mean	mean	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	parataxis	_	_
14	good	good	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	15	amod	_	_
15	luck	luck	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | It | superstition |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **mean** | can | black cats | good luck |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent luck=Topic |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Black cats are witches

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:294-cats-through-history-egypt-s-sacred-cats-ship-cats-and-tom-and-jerry:t5:o2:1
# text = Black cats are witches
1	Black	black	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	cats	cat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	witches	witch	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Black cats always bring bad luck, so it's best to go home and stay in bed

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:294-cats-through-history-egypt-s-sacred-cats-ship-cats-and-tom-and-jerry:t5:o3:1
# text = Black cats always bring bad luck, so it's best to go home and stay in bed
1	Black	black	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	cats	cat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	4	advmod	_	_
4	bring	bring	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	bad	bad	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	luck	luck	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
8	so	so	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
9	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	expl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	cop	_	_
11	best	good	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	4	conj	_	_
12	to	to	PART	TO	_	13	mark	_	_
13	go	go	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	advcl	_	_
14	home	home	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
15	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
16	stay	stay	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	13	conj	_	_
17	in	in	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
18	bed	bed	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **bring** | present | Black cats | bad luck |  |  |  | always *property* | vn bring-11.3-1 «NP V NP together»: agent=Agent luck=Theme |
| 2 | **is** | present | Black cats *not said here* |  |  |  |  | good *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **go** | to-infinitive | Black cats *not said here* |  |  |  |  | home *property* | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 4 | **stay** | infinitive | Black cats *not said here* |  |  | bed |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in bed=Location |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Only black cats cause accidents

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:294-cats-through-history-egypt-s-sacred-cats-ship-cats-and-tom-and-jerry:t5:o4:1
# text = Only black cats cause accidents
1	Only	only	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
2	black	black	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	cats	cat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	cause	cause	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	accidents	accident	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cause** | present | black cats | accidents |  |  |  |  | vn engender-27.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Precondition accident=Patient |

<!-- 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 -->

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