---
title: Why do traffic lights for walkers in many US cities show a countdown? — Traffic lights, crossings and parked c… · tree and pragmatics
description: Why do traffic lights for walkers in many US cities show a countdown? Test 6 · ★ of lesson 42 «Traffic lights, crossings and parked cars» 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 wrong.
---

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# Test 6 · ★ · Traffic lights, crossings and parked cars

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why do traffic lights for walkers in many US cities show a countdown?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** walkers · **What happens:** do, show · **To what, where:** traffic lights, countdown

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 6 · ★ of lesson 42 «Traffic lights, crossings and parked cars» 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/42-lights-crossings-and-parked-cars/#t6).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:42-lights-crossings-and-parked-cars:t6:1
# text = Why do traffic lights for walkers in many US cities show a countdown?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	2	advmod	_	_
2	do	do	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	advcl	_	_
3	traffic	traffic	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
4	lights	light	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	walkers	walker	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	nsubj	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
9	US	US	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	cities	city	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nmod	_	_
11	show	show	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
12	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	countdown	countdown	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	11	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | present | walkers in many US cities *not said here* | traffic lights |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent light=Eventuality |
| 2 | **show** | present | walkers in many US cities | a countdown |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent countdown=Recipient |

<!-- .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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
So you know when the bus is coming

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:42-lights-crossings-and-parked-cars:t6:o1:1
# text = So you know when the bus is coming
1	So	so	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
2	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	know	know	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	8	advmod	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	bus	bus	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
7	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
8	coming	come	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	3	ccomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **know** | present | you |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V how S\_INF»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 2 | **come** | present · progressive | the bus |  |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
So you can race the cars to the other side before they move off

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:42-lights-crossings-and-parked-cars:t6:o2:1
# text = So you can race the cars to the other side before they move off
1	So	so	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
2	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
3	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	race	race	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	cars	car	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
7	to	to	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	side	side	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
11	before	before	SCONJ	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
12	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
13	move	move	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	advcl	_	_
14	off	off	ADP	RP	_	13	compound:prt	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **race** | can | you | the cars |  | the other side |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V NP PP.trajectory»: agent=Agent car=Theme to side=Trajectory |
| 2 | **move off** | present | cars *= car* |  |  |  |  |  | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP.theme V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
So drivers know when to speed up

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:42-lights-crossings-and-parked-cars:t6:o3:1
# text = So drivers know when to speed up
1	So	so	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
2	drivers	driver	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	know	know	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	6	advmod	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	speed	speed	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	ccomp	_	_
7	up	up	ADP	RP	_	6	compound:prt	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **know** | present | drivers |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V how S\_INF»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 2 | **speed up** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
So you know how long is left and do not start too late

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:42-lights-crossings-and-parked-cars:t6:o4:1
# text = So you know how long is left and do not start too late
1	So	so	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
2	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	know	know	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	advcl	_	_
4	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	5	advmod	_	_
5	long	long	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	7	advmod	_	_
6	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux:pass	_	_
7	left	leave	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
9	do	do	AUX	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	11	aux	_	_
10	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	11	advmod	_	_
11	start	start	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	conj	_	_
12	too	too	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
13	late	late	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	11	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **know** | present | you |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 2 | **leave** | present · passive |  |  |  |  |  | long *property* | vn escape-51.1-1-1 «NP V» |
| 3 | **not** **start** | infinitive · do-support |  |  |  |  |  | late *property* | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality |

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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: [Traffic lights, crossings and parked c…, test 5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/42-lights-crossings-and-parked-cars/t5/)
- next →: [Traffic lights, crossings and parked c…, test 7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/42-lights-crossings-and-parked-cars/t7/)
- ↑ back to [Traffic lights, crossings and parked cars](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/42-lights-crossings-and-parked-cars/)