---
title: Insurance letter: "We cannot pay for the damage, as the flood was an… — Soft words for hard things: drinking a… · tree and pragmatics
description: Insurance letter: "We cannot pay for the damage, as the flood was an act of God." What does the company mean? Test 7 of lesson 31 «Soft words for hard things: drinking and drugs and religion and fate» of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the q
---

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# Test 7 · Soft words for hard things: drinking and drugs and religio…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Insurance letter: "We cannot pay for the damage, as the flood was an act of God." What does the company mean?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** We, flood, company · **What happens:** not pay, be, mean · **To what, where:** Insurance letter

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 7 of lesson 31 «Soft words for hard things: drinking and drugs and religion and fate» 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/31-drinking-drugs-religion-fate/#t7).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Insurance letter: "We cannot pay for the damage, as the flood was an act of God."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:31-drinking-drugs-religion-fate:t7:1
# text = Insurance letter: "We cannot pay for the damage, as the flood was an act of God."
1	Insurance	insurance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	compound	_	_
2	letter	letter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	8	punct	_	_
4	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	We	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
6	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	8	advmod	_	_
8	pay	pay	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	acl:relcl	_	_
9	for	for	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	damage	damage	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
13	as	as	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	flood	flood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	nsubj	_	_
16	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	18	cop	_	_
17	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	act	act	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	advcl	_	_
19	of	of	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
20	God	God	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	18	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **pay** *in a quote* | can | We | Insurance letter *not said here* |  |  |  | for the damage | vn pay-68-1 «NP V NP PP.theme»: agent=Agent letter=Asset for damage=Theme |
| 2 | **is** *in a quote* | past | the flood |  |  |  |  | as a act; of God | tree rules |

<!-- .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 the company mean?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:31-drinking-drugs-religion-fate:t7:2
# text = What does the company mean?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	5	obj	_	_
2	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	company	company	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	mean	mean	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The flood was a miracle

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:31-drinking-drugs-religion-fate:t7:o1:1
# text = The flood was a miracle
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	flood	flood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	miracle	miracle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | the flood | a miracle |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
God will pay for the damage instead of the company

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:31-drinking-drugs-religion-fate:t7:o2:1
# text = God will pay for the damage instead of the company
1	God	God	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	pay	pay	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	damage	damage	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
7	instead	instead	ADV	RB	ExtPos=ADP	10	case	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	fixed	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	company	company	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pay** | future | God |  |  |  |  | for the damage; instead the company | vn pay-68-1 «NP V NP PP.theme»: agent=Agent for damage=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A priest caused the flood

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:31-drinking-drugs-religion-fate:t7:o3:1
# text = A priest caused the flood
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	priest	priest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	caused	cause	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	flood	flood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cause** | past | a priest | the flood |  |  |  |  | vn engender-27.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Precondition flood=Patient |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It was a natural disaster nobody is to blame for

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:31-drinking-drugs-religion-fate:t7:o4:1
# text = It was a natural disaster nobody is to blame for
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	natural	natural	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	disaster	disaster	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	nobody	nobody	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	9	nsubj	_	_
7	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	blame	blame	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	acl:relcl	_	_
10	for	for	ADP	IN	_	9	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | It | a natural disaster |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** | present | nobody |  |  |  |  | blame *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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