---
title: Why is a smoke alarm better at detecting a fire than a sleeping pers… — Fire at home · tree and pragmatics
description: Why is a smoke alarm better at detecting a fire than a sleeping person? Test 8 · ★ of lesson 34 «Fire at home» 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.
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/34-fire-at-home/t8/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[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/) / [Everyday](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/) / [Fire at home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/34-fire-at-home/) / t8

# Test 8 · ★ · Fire at home

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why is a smoke alarm better at detecting a fire than a sleeping person?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **What happens:** be, detect, sleep · **To what, where:** smoke alarm, fire

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 · ★ of lesson 34 «Fire at home» 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/34-fire-at-home/#t8).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:34-fire-at-home:t8:1
# text = Why is a smoke alarm better at detecting a fire than a sleeping person?
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	5	det	_	_
4	smoke	smoke	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	alarm	alarm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	better	well	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	5	advmod	_	_
7	at	at	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
8	detecting	detect	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	5	advcl	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	fire	fire	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	than	than	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
12	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
13	sleeping	sleep	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	14	amod	_	_
14	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present |  | a smoke alarm |  |  |  | well *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **detect** | gerund |  | a fire |  |  |  | than a sleeping person | vn see-30.1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Experiencer fire=Stimulus |
| 3 | **sleep** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn snooze-40.4-1 «NP V»: 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 senses smoke while people are asleep and cannot smell well

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:34-fire-at-home:t8:o1:1
# text = It senses smoke while people are asleep and cannot smell well
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	senses	sense	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	smoke	smoke	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
4	while	while	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
5	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
6	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
7	asleep	asleep	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	advcl	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
9	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	11	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	11	advmod	_	_
11	smell	smell	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	conj	_	_
12	well	well	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	11	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sense** | present | It | smoke |  |  |  |  | vn see-30.1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Experiencer smoke=Stimulus |
| 2 | **is** | present | people |  |  |  |  | asleep *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **not** **smell** | can |  |  |  |  |  | well *property* | vn smell\_emission-43.3 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It hears the crackle of fire from far away

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:34-fire-at-home:t8:o2:1
# text = It hears the crackle of fire from far away
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	hears	hear	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	crackle	crackle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	fire	fire	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
7	from	from	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	far	far	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	9	advmod	_	_
9	away	away	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hear** | present | It | the crackle of fire |  |  |  | away *property* | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Experiencer crackle=Stimulus |
| 2 | **crackle** |  | fire |  |  |  |  |  | nom crackle «event intransitive»: of=agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is warmer than a person

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:34-fire-at-home:t8:o3:1
# text = It is warmer than a person
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	warmer	warm	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	_
4	than	than	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | It |  |  |  |  | than a person; warm *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It can see flames through walls

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:34-fire-at-home:t8:o4:1
# text = It can see flames through walls
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	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	flames	flame	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
5	through	through	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	walls	wall	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **see** | can | It | flames |  | walls |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer flame=Stimulus |

<!-- div src -->

**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 -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [Fire at home, test 7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/34-fire-at-home/t7/)
- next →: [Fire at home, test 9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/34-fire-at-home/t9/)
- ↑ back to [Fire at home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/34-fire-at-home/)