---
title: In a cartoon, a knight sets off on a quest with no map and rides in… — Planning before writing · tree and pragmatics
description: In a cartoon, a knight sets off on a quest with no map and rides in circles for years. What does this show about writing? Test 3 of lesson 39 «Planning before writing» of the English course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's c
---

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# Test 3 · Planning before writing

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
In a cartoon, a knight sets off on a quest with no map and rides in circles for years. What does this show about writing?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** knight, this · **What happens:** set off, ride, show · **To what, where:** cartoon, circles

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 3 of lesson 39 «Planning before writing» 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/39-planning-before-writing/#t3).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* In a cartoon, a knight sets off on a quest with no map and rides in circles for years.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:39-planning-before-writing:t3:1
# text = In a cartoon, a knight sets off on a quest with no map and rides in circles for years.
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	knight	knight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	sets	set	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	off	off	ADP	RP	_	7	compound:prt	_	_
9	on	on	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	quest	quest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
12	with	with	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	14	det	_	_
14	map	map	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod	_	_
15	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
16	rides	ride	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	conj	_	_
17	in	in	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
18	circles	circle	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	16	obl	_	_
19	for	for	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
20	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	16	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **set off** | present | a knight |  |  | a cartoon |  | on a quest with no map | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **ride** | present | a knight *not said here* |  |  | circles | year |  | vn nonvehicle-51.4.2 «NP.agent V»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .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 does this show about writing?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:39-planning-before-writing:t3:2
# text = What does this show about writing?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	4	obj	_	_
2	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	this	this	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	4	nsubj	_	_
4	show	show	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	about	about	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	writing	writing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **show** | present · do-support | this |  |  |  |  | about writing | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent what=Recipient about writing=Topic |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Maps are only useful for real journeys on horses

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:39-planning-before-writing:t3:o1:1
# text = Maps are only useful for real journeys on horses
1	Maps	map	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	only	only	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	useful	useful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	real	real	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	journeys	journey	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
8	on	on	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	horses	horse	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Maps |  |  |  |  | for real journeys on horses; useful *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Riding a horse is always better than writing

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:39-planning-before-writing:t3:o2:1
# text = Riding a horse is always better than writing
1	Riding	ride	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	6	csubj	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	horse	horse	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
5	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	6	advmod	_	_
6	better	good	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	_
7	than	than	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	writing	writing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ride** | gerund |  | a horse |  |  |  |  | vn nonvehicle-51.4.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent horse=Theme |
| 2 | **is** | present | Riding |  |  |  |  | than writing; always, good *property* | tree rules |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Without a plan you can go round in circles

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:39-planning-before-writing:t3:o3:1
# text = Without a plan you can go round in circles
1	Without	without	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	plan	plan	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
4	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
5	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
6	go	go	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
7	round	round	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	circles	circle	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **go round** | can | you |  |  | circles |  | without a plan; round *property* | vn occur-48.3-2 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme in circle=Location |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Knights in armour cannot write any stories well

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:39-planning-before-writing:t3:o4:1
# text = Knights in armour cannot write any stories well
1	Knights	knight	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
2	in	in	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
3	armour	armour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nmod	_	_
4	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	6	advmod	_	_
6	write	write	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
7	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	8	det	_	_
8	stories	story	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obj	_	_
9	well	well	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	6	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **write** | can | Knights in armour | any stories |  |  |  | well *property* | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent story=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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