---
title: "steel wool burns but my spoon doesn't, they're both steel, wtf" Bes… — The candle and what burning is · tree and pragmatics
description: "steel wool burns but my spoon doesn't, they're both steel, wtf" Best answer? Test 8 · ★★★ of lesson 11 «The candle and what burning is» of the chemistry course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was wrong.
---

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# Test 8 · ★★★ · The candle and what burning is

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
"steel wool burns but my spoon doesn't, they're both steel, wtf" Best answer?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** steel wool, spoon, they · **What happens:** burn, not do, be · **To what, where:** steel

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 · ★★★ of lesson 11 «The candle and what burning is» of the chemistry 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/chemistry/11-the-candle-and-burning/#t8).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chemistry:11-the-candle-and-burning:t8:1
# text = "steel wool burns but my spoon doesn't, they're both steel, wtf" Best answer?
1	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	steel	steel	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	wool	wool	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	burns	burn	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
6	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	spoon	spoon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
8	does	do	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	8	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
11	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	're	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	cop	_	_
13	both	both	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
14	steel	steel	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
16	wtf	wtf	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	19	punct	_	_
18	Best	good	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	19	amod	_	_
19	answer	answer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **burn** *in a quote* | present | steel wool |  |  |  |  |  | vn light\_emission-43.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **not** **do** *in a quote* | present | my spoon |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **is a** *in a quote* | present | they | steel |  |  |  | both *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 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Spoons are fireproof plastic

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chemistry:11-the-candle-and-burning:t8:o1:1
# text = Spoons are fireproof plastic
1	Spoons	spoon	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	fireproof	fireproof	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	plastic	plastic	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Steel wool is not made of metal at all, it is a kind of sheep's wool

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:chemistry:11-the-candle-and-burning:t8:o2:1
# text = Steel wool is not made of metal at all, it is a kind of sheep's wool
1	Steel	steel	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	compound	_	_
2	wool	wool	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
4	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
5	made	make	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	metal	metal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
8	at	at	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
11	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	_
12	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	cop	_	_
13	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	kind	kind	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	parataxis	_	_
15	of	of	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
16	sheep	sheep	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	18	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	's	's	PART	POS	_	16	case	_	_
18	wool	wool	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **make** | present · passive |  | Steel wool |  | all |  | of metal | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: subject=Product |
| 2 | **is a** | present | wool | a kind |  |  |  | of sheep's wool | tree rules |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Thin threads have lots of surface for oxygen to reach

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chemistry:11-the-candle-and-burning:t8:o3:1
# text = Thin threads have lots of surface for oxygen to reach
1	Thin	thin	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	threads	thread	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	have	have	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	lots	lot	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	surface	surface	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
7	for	for	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	oxygen	oxygen	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
9	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
10	reach	reach	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | Thin threads | lots of surface |  |  |  | for oxygen | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent lot=Patient |
| 2 | **reach** | to-infinitive | Thin threads *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn body\_motion-49.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Only spoons are coated with ice

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chemistry:11-the-candle-and-burning:t8:o4:1
# text = Only spoons are coated with ice
1	Only	only	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
2	spoons	spoon	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	coated	coat	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	with	with	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	ice	ice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **coat** | present · passive |  | spoons |  |  |  | with ice | vn fill-9.8-1 «NP V NP PP.theme»: subject=Destination with ice=Theme |

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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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