---
title: Why did people queue for hours for nylon stockings when they first c… — Plastics: useful and stubborn · tree and pragmatics
description: Why did people queue for hours for nylon stockings when they first came out? Test 8 of lesson 29 «Plastics: useful and stubborn» 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 right.
---

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# Test 8 · Plastics: useful and stubborn

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why did people queue for hours for nylon stockings when they first came out?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** people · **What happens:** queue, come out

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 of lesson 29 «Plastics: useful and stubborn» 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/29-plastics-useful-stubborn/#t8).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chemistry:29-plastics-useful-stubborn:t8:1
# text = Why did people queue for hours for nylon stockings when they first came out?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	queue	queue	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	hours	hour	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
7	for	for	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	nylon	nylon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	stockings	stocking	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
10	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	13	advmod	_	_
11	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
12	first	first	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	13	advmod	_	_
13	came	come	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	advcl	_	_
14	out	out	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **queue** | past · do-support | people |  |  |  | hour | for nylon stockings | tree rules |
| 2 | **come out** | past | people |  |  |  |  | first, out *property* | vn become-109.1 «NP V ADJ»: 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.

## The options {#options}

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nylon was a cheap, strong new silk replacement

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chemistry:29-plastics-useful-stubborn:t8:o1:1
# text = Nylon was a cheap, strong new silk replacement
1	Nylon	Nylon	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
4	cheap	cheap	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
6	strong	strong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
7	new	new	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
8	silk	silk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	replacement	replacement	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | Nylon | a cheap strong new silk replacement |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nylon stockings were free on the first day

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chemistry:29-plastics-useful-stubborn:t8:o2:1
# text = Nylon stockings were free on the first day
1	Nylon	Nylon	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	compound	_	_
2	stockings	stocking	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	free	free	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	on	on	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	first	first	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	8	amod	_	_
8	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | Nylon stockings |  |  |  | day | free *property* | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nylon was only sold to kings

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chemistry:29-plastics-useful-stubborn:t8:o3:1
# text = Nylon was only sold to kings
1	Nylon	Nylon	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
3	only	only	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	sold	sell	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	kings	king	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sell** | past · passive |  | Nylon | kings |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: subject=Theme to king=Recipient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nylon made people warmer than wool

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chemistry:29-plastics-useful-stubborn:t8:o4:1
# text = Nylon made people warmer than wool
1	Nylon	Nylon	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	made	make	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
4	warmer	warm	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	2	xcomp	_	_
5	than	than	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	wool	wool	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | past | Nylon | people |  |  |  | warm *property* | vn build-26.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent people=Product |

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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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- ← previous: [Plastics: useful and stubborn, test 7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/chemistry/29-plastics-useful-stubborn/t7/)
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