--- title: "is my brother off with the pixies again?? he's staring at the wall.… — Soft words for hard things: stupidity… · tree and pragmatics description: "is my brother off with the pixies again?? he's staring at the wall." What is the brother doing? Test 11 · ★ of lesson 36 «Soft words for hard things: stupidity and madness» of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/36-dim-and-round-the-bend/t11/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [Euphemisms](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/) / [Soft words for hard things: stupidity…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/36-dim-and-round-the-bend/) / t11 # Test 11 · ★ · Soft words for hard things: stupidity and madness "is my brother off with the pixies again?? he's staring at the wall." What is the brother doing? **Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** he, brother · **What happens:** be, stare, do · **To what, where:** brother This is test 11 · ★ of lesson 36 «Soft words for hard things: stupidity and madness» 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/36-dim-and-round-the-bend/#t11). ## The question {#question} *Sentence 1:* "is my brother off with the pixies again?? he's staring at the wall." ```conllu # sent_id = question:euphemisms:36-dim-and-round-the-bend:t11:1 # text = "is my brother off with the pixies again?? he's staring at the wall." 1 " " PUNCT `` _ 4 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 2 is be AUX VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 4 cop _ _ 3 my my PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 4 nmod:poss _ _ 4 brother brother NOUN NN Number=Sing 0 root _ _ 5 off off ADP RP _ 9 advmod _ _ 6 with with ADP IN _ 8 case _ _ 7 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 8 det _ _ 8 pixies pixie NOUN NNS Number=Plur 5 nmod _ _ 9 again again ADV RB _ 4 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 10 ?? ?? PUNCT , _ 13 punct _ _ 11 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 13 nsubj _ SpaceAfter=No 12 's be AUX VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 13 aux _ _ 13 staring stare VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 4 advcl _ _ 14 at at ADP IN _ 16 case _ _ 15 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 16 det _ _ 16 wall wall NOUN NN Number=Sing 13 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 17 . . PUNCT . _ 4 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 18 " " PUNCT '' _ 4 punct _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **is a** *in a quote* | present | | my brother | | | again | | tree rules | | 2 | **stare** *in a quote* | present · progressive | he | | | | | at the wall | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent at wall=Theme | 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. *Sentence 2:* What is the brother doing? ```conllu # sent_id = question:euphemisms:36-dim-and-round-the-bend:t11:2 # text = What is the brother doing? 1 What what PRON WP PronType=Int 5 obj _ _ 2 is be 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 brother brother NOUN NN Number=Sing 5 nsubj _ _ 5 doing do VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 0 root _ SpaceAfter=No 6 ? ? PUNCT . _ 5 punct _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **do** | present · progressive | the brother | | | | | | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent what=Eventuality | ## The options {#options} ### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1} Playing with pixie toys ```conllu # sent_id = question:euphemisms:36-dim-and-round-the-bend:t11:o1:1 # text = Playing with pixie toys 1 Playing play VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 0 root _ _ 2 with with ADP IN _ 4 case _ _ 3 pixie pixie NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 compound _ _ 4 toys toy NOUN NNS Number=Plur 1 obl _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **play** | gerund | | | | | | with pixie toys | vn play-114.2-1 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent with toy=Theme | ### Option 2 {#o2} Looking for a lost pixie in the garden ```conllu # sent_id = question:euphemisms:36-dim-and-round-the-bend:t11:o2:1 # text = Looking for a lost pixie in the garden 1 Looking look VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 0 root _ _ 2 for for ADP IN _ 5 case _ _ 3 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 5 det _ _ 4 lost lose VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 5 amod _ _ 5 pixie pixie NOUN NN Number=Sing 1 obl _ _ 6 in in ADP IN _ 8 case _ _ 7 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 8 det _ _ 8 garden garden NOUN NN Number=Sing 1 obl _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **look** | gerund | | | | the garden | | for a lost pixie | vn rummage-35.5 «NP V PP.location PP.theme»: agent=Agent for pixie=Theme in garden=Location | | 2 | **lose** | participle | | | | | | | vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | ### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3} Daydreaming and not paying attention ```conllu # sent_id = question:euphemisms:36-dim-and-round-the-bend:t11:o3:1 # text = Daydreaming and not paying attention 1 Daydreaming daydreaming NOUN NN Number=Sing 0 root _ _ 2 and and CCONJ CC _ 4 cc _ _ 3 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 4 advmod _ _ 4 paying pay VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 1 conj _ _ 5 attention attention NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 obj _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **not** **pay** | gerund | | attention | | | | | vn pay-68-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent attention=Asset | ### Option 4 {#o4} Gone out with friends ```conllu # sent_id = question:euphemisms:36-dim-and-round-the-bend:t11:o4:1 # text = Gone out with friends 1 Gone go VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 0 root _ _ 2 out out ADP RP _ 1 compound:prt _ _ 3 with with ADP IN _ 4 case _ _ 4 friends friend NOUN NNS Number=Plur 1 obl _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **go out** | participle | | | | | | with friends | vn interact-36.6 «NP V PP.co-agent»: agent=Agent with friend=Co-Agent | **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. - ← previous: [Soft words for hard things: stupidity…, test 10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/36-dim-and-round-the-bend/t10/) - next →: [Soft words for hard things: stupidity…, test 12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/36-dim-and-round-the-bend/t12/) - ↑ back to [Soft words for hard things: stupidity and madness](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/36-dim-and-round-the-bend/)