---
title: A report says the rebels chose "soft targets" like markets. What doe… — Soft words for hard things: war, the m… · tree and pragmatics
description: A report says the rebels chose "soft targets" like markets. What does it mean? Test 8 · ★ of lesson 26 «Soft words for hard things: war, the military and violence» of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's ch
---

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# Test 8 · ★ · Soft words for hard things: war, the military and violence

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A report says the rebels chose "soft targets" like markets. What does it mean?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** report, rebels, it · **What happens:** say, choose, mean · **To what, where:** soft targets · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 · ★ of lesson 26 «Soft words for hard things: war, the military and violence» of the euphemisms 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/euphemisms/26-war-and-the-military/#t8).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* A report says the rebels chose "soft targets" like markets.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:26-war-and-the-military:t8:1
# text = A report says the rebels chose "soft targets" like markets.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	report	report	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	rebels	rebel	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
6	chose	choose	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	ccomp	_	_
7	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	soft	soft	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	targets	target	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	12	punct	_	_
11	like	like	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	markets	market	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | a report |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **choose** | past | the rebels | soft targets and markets |  |  |  |  | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent target=Theme |

<!-- .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 mean?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:26-war-and-the-military:t8:2
# text = What does it mean?
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	mean	mean	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They attacked unprotected ordinary people

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:26-war-and-the-military:t8:o1:1
# text = They attacked unprotected ordinary people
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	attacked	attack	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	unprotected	unprotected	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
4	ordinary	ordinary	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **attack** | past | They | unprotected ordinary people |  |  |  |  | vn attack-60.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent people=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They picked targets that were easy to miss

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:26-war-and-the-military:t8:o2:1
# text = They picked targets that were easy to miss
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	picked	pick	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	targets	target	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
4	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	6	nsubj	_	_
5	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
6	easy	easy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	acl:relcl	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	miss	miss	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pick** | past | They | targets |  |  |  |  | vn chew-39.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent target=Patient |
| 2 | **is** | past | targets |  |  |  |  | easy *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **miss** | to-infinitive | targets *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn admire-31.2 «NP V that S»: agent=Experiencer |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They attacked pillow shops

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:26-war-and-the-military:t8:o3:1
# text = They attacked pillow shops
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	attacked	attack	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	pillow	pillow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
4	shops	shop	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **attack** | past | They | pillow shops |  |  |  |  | vn attack-60.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent shop=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They attacked well-guarded army bases

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:26-war-and-the-military:t8:o4:1
# text = They attacked well-guarded army bases
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	attacked	attack	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	well	well	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	5	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	guarded	guard	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	amod	_	_
6	army	army	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	bases	basis	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **attack** | past | They | guarded army bases |  |  |  |  | vn attack-60.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent basis=Patient |
| 2 | **guard** | participle |  |  |  |  |  | well *property* | vn defend-72.3 «NP V S\_ING»: 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.

<!-- /div -->

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