---
title: In a cartoon, a book's first page is just "Blah blah blah, the end."… — Openings that hook the reader · tree and pragmatics
description: In a cartoon, a book's first page is just "Blah blah blah, the end." What would a writing teacher say? Test 3 · ★ of lesson 40 «Openings that hook the reader» 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 was
---

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# Test 3 · ★ · Openings that hook the reader

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
In a cartoon, a book's first page is just "Blah blah blah, the end." What would a writing teacher say?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** first page, book, writing teacher · **What happens:** be, page, say · **To what, where:** Blah blah blah, cartoon · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 3 · ★ of lesson 40 «Openings that hook the reader» 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/40-openings-that-hook-the-reader/#t3).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* In a cartoon, a book's first page is just "Blah blah blah, the end."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:40-openings-that-hook-the-reader:t3:1
# text = In a cartoon, a book's first page is just "Blah blah blah, the end."
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	15	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	book	book	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	's	's	PART	POS	_	6	case	_	_
8	first	first	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	9	amod	_	_
9	page	page	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nsubj	_	_
10	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	cop	_	_
11	just	just	ADV	RB	_	15	advmod	_	_
12	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	15	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	Blah	blah	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	15	amod	_	_
14	blah	blah	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	compound	_	_
15	blah	blah	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	end	end	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	15	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	15	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** *in a quote* | present | a book's first page | Blah blah blah and the end |  | a cartoon |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **page** |  | a book |  |  |  |  |  | nom page «communication transitive»: poss=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 would a writing teacher say?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:40-openings-that-hook-the-reader:t3:2
# text = What would a writing teacher say?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	6	obj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	writing	writing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	teacher	teacher	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	say	say	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | would | a writing teacher |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent what=Topic |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Books should only have one page

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:40-openings-that-hook-the-reader:t3:o1:1
# text = Books should only have one page
1	Books	book	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
2	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	only	only	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	have	have	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	6	nummod	_	_
6	page	page	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | should | Books | one page |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent page=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is perfect because it is short

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:40-openings-that-hook-the-reader:t3:o2:1
# text = It is perfect because it is short
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	perfect	perfect	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
6	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
7	short	short	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | It |  |  |  |  | perfect *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** | present | it |  |  |  |  | short *property* | tree rules |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It needs a hook and a real story

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:40-openings-that-hook-the-reader:t3:o3:1
# text = It needs a hook and a real story
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	needs	need	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	hook	hook	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	real	real	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	story	story	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **need** | present | It | a hook and a real story |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot hook=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It needs more blahs to be funny

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:40-openings-that-hook-the-reader:t3:o4:1
# text = It needs more blahs to be funny
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	needs	need	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	more	more	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	4	amod	_	_
4	blahs	blah	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
6	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	cop	_	_
7	funny	funny	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **need** | present | It | more blahs |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot blah=Theme |
| 2 | **is** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | funny *property* | tree rules |

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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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