---
title: In a cartoon, a teacher says «The road is treacherous» and the kids… — Vocabulary in context · tree and pragmatics
description: In a cartoon, a teacher says «The road is treacherous» and the kids think it's a road that tells lies. What is true? Test 6 of lesson 20 «Vocabulary in context» of the English course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice w
---

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# Test 6 · Vocabulary in context

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
In a cartoon, a teacher says «The road is treacherous» and the kids think it's a road that tells lies. What is true?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** teacher, road, kids · **What happens:** say, be, think, tell · **To what, where:** cartoon, road, lies · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 6 of lesson 20 «Vocabulary in context» of the English 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/english/20-vocabulary-in-context/#t6).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* In a cartoon, a teacher says «The road is treacherous» and the kids think it's a road that tells lies.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:20-vocabulary-in-context:t6:1
# text = In a cartoon, a teacher says «The road is treacherous» and the kids think it's a road that tells lies.
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	teacher	teacher	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	road	road	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
11	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	cop	_	_
12	treacherous	treacherous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	12	punct	_	_
14	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	17	cc	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	kids	kid	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	17	nsubj	_	_
17	think	think	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	conj	_	_
18	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	21	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	21	cop	_	_
20	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
21	road	road	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	ccomp	_	_
22	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	23	nsubj	_	_
23	tells	tell	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	21	acl:relcl	_	_
24	lies	lie	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	23	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | a teacher |  |  | a cartoon |  |  | vn pronounce-29.3.1 «NP V NP PP.manner»: agent=Agent in cartoon=Manner |
| 2 | **is** *in a quote* | present | the road |  |  |  |  | treacherous *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **think** *speech: other* | present | the kids |  |  |  |  |  | vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **is a** | present | road | a road |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 5 | **tell** *speech: assert* | present | a road | lies |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent lie=Recipient |

<!-- .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 true?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:20-vocabulary-in-context:t6:2
# text = What is true?
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	true	true	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Treacherous only means telling lies

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:20-vocabulary-in-context:t6:o1:1
# text = Treacherous only means telling lies
1	Treacherous	Treacherous	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	only	only	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	telling	tell	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	3	xcomp	_	_
5	lies	lie	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | Treacherous |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **tell** *speech: assert* *not said to happen* | gerund | Treacherous *not said here* | lies |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent lie=Recipient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Treacherous means bumpy and fun

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:20-vocabulary-in-context:t6:o2:1
# text = Treacherous means bumpy and fun
1	Treacherous	Treacherous	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	bumpy	bumpy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	xcomp	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	fun	fun	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | Treacherous |  |  |  |  | bumpy *property* | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Roads can lie

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:20-vocabulary-in-context:t6:o3:1
# text = Roads can lie
1	Roads	road	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	lie	lie	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lie** | can | Roads |  |  |  |  |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Here treacherous means dangerous

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:20-vocabulary-in-context:t6:o4:1
# text = Here treacherous means dangerous
1	Here	here	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	2	advmod	_	_
2	treacherous	treacherous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	nsubj	_	_
3	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	dangerous	dangerous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | treacherous |  |  |  |  | dangerous *property* | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent |

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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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