---
title: Why is a train harder to dodge than a car? — Trains, the Underground and subways · tree and pragmatics
description: Why is a train harder to dodge than a car? Test 2 · ★ of lesson 270 «Trains, the Underground and subways» of the everyday course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was right.
---

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# Test 2 · ★ · Trains, the Underground and subways

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why is a train harder to dodge than a car?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **What happens:** be, dodge

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 2 · ★ of lesson 270 «Trains, the Underground and subways» of the everyday 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/everyday/270-trains-and-subways/#t2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:270-trains-and-subways:t2:1
# text = Why is a train harder to dodge than a car?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	5	advmod	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	train	train	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl:unmarked	_	_
5	harder	hard	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	dodge	dodge	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	xcomp	_	_
8	than	than	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	car	car	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | a train *obl:unmarked*; hard *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **dodge** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | than a car | vn avoid-52 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .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 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is fast, heavy and cannot stop or turn quickly

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:270-trains-and-subways:t2:o1:1
# text = It is fast, heavy and cannot stop or turn quickly
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	fast	fast	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
5	heavy	heavy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	conj	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
7	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	9	advmod	_	_
9	stop	stop	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	conj	_	_
10	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
11	turn	turn	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	conj	_	_
12	quickly	quickly	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | It |  |  |  |  | fast *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **be** |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **not** **stop** | can |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality |
| 4 | **turn** | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | quickly *property* | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP.theme V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It always rings a bell before it comes

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:270-trains-and-subways:t2:o2:1
# text = It always rings a bell before it comes
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	3	advmod	_	_
3	rings	ring	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	bell	bell	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	before	before	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
7	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
8	comes	come	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ring** | present | It | a bell |  |  |  | always *property* | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location bell=Theme |
| 2 | **come** | present | bell |  |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It moves slower than a car

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:270-trains-and-subways:t2:o3:1
# text = It moves slower than a car
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	moves	move	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	slower	slow	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	2	xcomp	_	_
4	than	than	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	car	car	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **move** | present | It |  |  |  |  | slow *property* | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP.theme V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It can steer away from people

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:270-trains-and-subways:t2:o4:1
# text = It can steer away from people
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	steer	steer	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	away	away	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
5	from	from	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **steer away** | can | It |  |  |  |  | from people; away *property* | vn accompany-51.7 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent from people=Destination |

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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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- ← previous: [Trains, the Underground and subways, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/270-trains-and-subways/t1/)
- next →: [Trains, the Underground and subways, test 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/270-trains-and-subways/t3/)
- ↑ back to [Trains, the Underground and subways](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/270-trains-and-subways/)