---
title: Identify the principal reason for which a cheap item that breaks qui… — Coins, pocket money, saving, spending… · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal reason for which a cheap item that breaks quickly may prove costly. Exam question 2 of lesson 308 «Coins, pocket money, saving, spending wisely and planning time» of the everyday course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of ea
---

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# Exam question 2 · Coins, pocket money, saving, spending wisely and planning…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal reason for which a cheap item that breaks quickly may prove costly.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, cheap item · **What happens:** identify, break, prove · **To what, where:** principal reason

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This is exam question 2 of lesson 308 «Coins, pocket money, saving, spending wisely and planning time» of the everyday 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/everyday/308-coins-pocket-money-saving-and-planning-time/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:308-coins-pocket-money-saving-and-planning-time:e2:1
# text = Identify the principal reason for which a cheap item that breaks quickly may prove costly.
1	Identify	identify	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	14	obl	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	cheap	cheap	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	item	item	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nsubj	_	_
10	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	11	nsubj	_	_
11	breaks	break	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	acl:relcl	_	_
12	quickly	quickly	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
13	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	14	aux	_	_
14	prove	prove	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	acl:relcl	_	_
15	costly	costly	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **identify** | imperative | you *not said here* | the principal reason |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent reason=Theme |
| 2 | **break** | present | a cheap item |  |  |  |  | quickly *property* | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Patient |
| 3 | **prove** | may | a cheap item |  |  |  |  | for the principal reason; costly *property* | vn declare-29.4-1-1 «NP V what S\_INF»: 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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Cheap items lose value at once

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:308-coins-pocket-money-saving-and-planning-time:e2:o1:1
# text = Cheap items lose value at once
1	Cheap	cheap	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	items	item	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	lose	lose	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	value	value	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	once	once	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lose** | present | Cheap items | value |  |  |  |  | vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent value=Eventuality |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It may cost more over time than one item that lasts

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:308-coins-pocket-money-saving-and-planning-time:e2:o2:1
# text = It may cost more over time than one item that lasts
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	cost	cost	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	more	more	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	3	obj	_	_
5	over	over	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
7	than	than	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	9	nummod	_	_
9	item	item	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
10	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	11	nsubj	_	_
11	lasts	last	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	acl:relcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cost** | may | It | more |  |  | time | than one item | vn cost-54.2 «NP V NP.value»: agent=Theme more=Value |
| 2 | **last** | present | one item |  |  |  |  |  | vn cost-54.2 «NP V NP.value»: agent=Theme |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Cheap items cannot be returned

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:308-coins-pocket-money-saving-and-planning-time:e2:o3:1
# text = Cheap items cannot be returned
1	Cheap	cheap	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	items	item	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	6	advmod	_	_
5	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	aux:pass	_	_
6	returned	return	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **return** | can · passive |  | Cheap items |  |  |  |  | vn send-11.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Cheap items are taxed more heavily

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:308-coins-pocket-money-saving-and-planning-time:e2:o4:1
# text = Cheap items are taxed more heavily
1	Cheap	cheap	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	items	item	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	taxed	tax	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	more	more	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	4	advmod	_	_
6	heavily	heavily	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tax** | present · passive |  | Cheap items |  |  |  | heavily *property* | vn bill-54.5-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: subject=Recipient |

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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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