---
title: In a cartoon, the villain explains his whole secret plan to the hero… — Building tension and suspense · tree and pragmatics
description: In a cartoon, the villain explains his whole secret plan to the hero before doing anything. What does it do to the suspense? Test 3 · ★★ of lesson 42 «Building tension and suspense» of the English course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each op
---

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# Test 3 · ★★ · Building tension and suspense

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
In a cartoon, the villain explains his whole secret plan to the hero before doing anything. What does it do to the suspense?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** villain, hero, plan · **What happens:** explain, do, plan · **To what, where:** whole secret plan, hero, cartoon, anything

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 3 · ★★ of lesson 42 «Building tension and suspense» 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/42-building-tension-and-suspense/#t3).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* In a cartoon, the villain explains his whole secret plan to the hero before doing anything.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:42-building-tension-and-suspense:t3:1
# text = In a cartoon, the villain explains his whole secret plan to the hero before doing anything.
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	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	villain	villain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	explains	explain	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
9	whole	whole	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
10	secret	secret	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	plan	plan	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
12	to	to	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	hero	hero	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod	_	_
15	before	before	SCONJ	IN	_	16	mark	_	_
16	doing	do	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	14	acl	_	_
17	anything	anything	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	16	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **explain** *speech: assert* | present | the villain | villain's whole secret plan | the hero | a cartoon |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent plan=Topic to hero=Recipient |
| 2 | **do** | gerund | the hero *not said here* | anything |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent anything=Eventuality |
| 3 | **plan** |  | villain |  |  |  |  | to the hero | nom plan «cognition transitive»: poss=agent to=obl |

<!-- .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 it do to the suspense?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:42-building-tension-and-suspense:t3:2
# text = What does it do to the suspense?
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	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	do	do	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	suspense	suspense	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | present · do-support | plan |  |  |  |  | to the suspense | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent what=Eventuality |

## The options {#options}

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It drains it, as nothing is left to guess

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:42-building-tension-and-suspense:t3:o1:1
# text = It drains it, as nothing is left to guess
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	drains	drain	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
5	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
6	nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	8	nsubj:pass	_	_
7	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux:pass	_	_
8	left	leave	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	conj	_	_
9	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
10	guess	guess	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **drain** | present | It | it |  |  |  |  | vn clear-10.3-1 «NP V NP.source»: agent=Agent it=Source |
| 2 | **leave** | present · passive |  | nothing |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **guess** | to-infinitive | nothing *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn conjecture-29.5-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It makes the whole story much more tense and scary

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:42-building-tension-and-suspense:t3:o2:1
# text = It makes the whole story much more tense and scary
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	makes	make	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	whole	whole	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	story	story	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	much	much	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	more	more	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	8	advmod	_	_
8	tense	tense	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	advcl	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
10	scary	scary	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | present | It | the whole story |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.material V NP»: agent=Material story=Product |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It makes the villain far more mysterious than before

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:42-building-tension-and-suspense:t3:o3:1
# text = It makes the villain far more mysterious than before
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	makes	make	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	villain	villain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	far	far	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	6	advmod	_	_
6	more	more	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	7	advmod	_	_
7	mysterious	mysterious	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	xcomp	_	_
8	than	than	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	before	before	ADV	RB	_	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | present | It | the villain |  |  |  | mysterious *property* | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.material V NP»: agent=Material villain=Product |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It turns the cartoon into a cliffhanger

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:42-building-tension-and-suspense:t3:o4:1
# text = It turns the cartoon into a cliffhanger
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	turns	turn	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	cartoon	cartoon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	into	into	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	cliffhanger	cliffhanger	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **turn** | present | It | the cartoon |  | a cliffhanger |  |  | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V NP PP.trajectory»: agent=Agent cartoon=Theme into cliffhanger=Trajectory |

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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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