---
title: Ascertain the meaning of the notice "Dogs must be carried on the esc… — Olympiad: tricky comprehension · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the meaning of the notice "Dogs must be carried on the escalator." Exam question 3 of lesson 60 «Olympiad: tricky comprehension» 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 wrong.
---

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# Exam question 3 · Olympiad: tricky comprehension

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the meaning of the notice "Dogs must be carried on the escalator."

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, notice · **What happens:** ascertain, carry, mean · **To what, where:** meaning, Dogs, escalator, notice

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 60 «Olympiad: tricky comprehension» of the English course of Mova's primary school, asked in stiff, formal language. 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/60-olympiad-tricky-comprehension/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:60-olympiad-tricky-comprehension:e3:1
# text = Ascertain the meaning of the notice "Dogs must be carried on the escalator."
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	meaning	meaning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	notice	notice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
7	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	Dogs	dog	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	nsubj:pass	_	_
9	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	11	aux	_	_
10	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	11	aux:pass	_	_
11	carried	carry	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	acl	_	_
12	on	on	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	escalator	escalator	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* | the meaning of the notice |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent meaning=Topic |
| 2 | **carry** *in a quote* | must · passive | the notice *not said here* | Dogs |  | the escalator |  |  | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 3 | **mean** |  |  | the notice |  |  |  |  | nom meaning «communication transitive»: of=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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Dogs may carry small items

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:60-olympiad-tricky-comprehension:e3:o1:1
# text = Dogs may carry small items
1	Dogs	dog	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	carry	carry	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	small	small	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	items	item	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **carry** | may | Dogs | small items |  |  |  |  | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent item=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Dogs are prohibited on the escalator

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:60-olympiad-tricky-comprehension:e3:o2:1
# text = Dogs are prohibited on the escalator
1	Dogs	dog	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	prohibited	prohibit	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	on	on	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	escalator	escalator	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **prohibit** | present · passive |  | Dogs |  | the escalator |  |  | vn forbid-64.4-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
All persons must carry a dog

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:60-olympiad-tricky-comprehension:e3:o3:1
# text = All persons must carry a dog
1	All	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	2	det	_	_
2	persons	person	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	carry	carry	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	dog	dog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **carry** | must | all persons | a dog |  |  |  |  | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent dog=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Persons with dogs must carry them

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:60-olympiad-tricky-comprehension:e3:o4:1
# text = Persons with dogs must carry them
1	Persons	person	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
2	with	with	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
3	dogs	dog	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	nmod	_	_
4	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
5	carry	carry	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **carry** | must | Persons with dogs | dogs *= dog* |  |  |  |  | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=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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