---
title: Zara: «but sir there really ARE power cuts here». What's the point t… — «The dog ate it»: excuses for homework · tree and pragmatics
description: Zara: «but sir there really ARE power cuts here». What's the point the teacher is making? Test 6 · ★ of lesson 426 ««The dog ate it»: excuses for homework» 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 w
---

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# Test 6 · ★ · «The dog ate it»: excuses for homework

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Zara: «but sir there really ARE power cuts here». What's the point the teacher is making?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** sir · **What happens:** be · **To what, where:** power cuts

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 6 · ★ of lesson 426 ««The dog ate it»: excuses for homework» 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/426-the-dog-ate-it-excuses-for-homework/#t6).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Zara: «but sir there really ARE power cuts here».

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:426-the-dog-ate-it-excuses-for-homework:t6:1
# text = Zara: «but sir there really ARE power cuts here».
1	Zara	Zara	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	10	punct	_	_
3	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
5	sir	sir	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
6	there	there	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	5	advmod	_	_
7	really	really	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
8	ARE	are	X	AFX	_	10	cop	_	_
9	power	power	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	cuts	cut	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	appos	_	_
11	here	here	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	10	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** *in a quote* |  | sir | power cuts |  | here |  |  | tree rules |

<!-- .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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* What's the point the teacher is making?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:426-the-dog-ate-it-excuses-for-homework:t6:2
# text = What's the point the teacher is making?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	8	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	point	point	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj:outer	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	teacher	teacher	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
7	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
8	making	make	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present · progressive |  |  |  |  |  | make *property* | tree rules |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Homework must be done by candle

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:426-the-dog-ate-it-excuses-for-homework:t6:o1:1
# text = Homework must be done by candle
1	Homework	homework	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	done	do	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	candle	candle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | must · passive | candle | Homework |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Eventuality |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Only teachers may talk about power cuts

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:426-the-dog-ate-it-excuses-for-homework:t6:o2:1
# text = Only teachers may talk about power cuts
1	Only	only	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
2	teachers	teacher	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	talk	talk	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	about	about	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	power	power	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	cuts	cut	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **talk** | may | teachers |  |  |  |  | about power cuts | vn talk-37.5 «NP V PP.topic»: agent=Agent about cut=Topic |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A real problem that didn't happen to you is still a lie

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:426-the-dog-ate-it-excuses-for-homework:t6:o3:1
# text = A real problem that didn't happen to you is still a lie
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	real	real	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	problem	problem	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	_
4	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	7	nsubj	_	_
5	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	7	advmod	_	_
7	happen	happen	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	acl:relcl	_	_
8	to	to	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs	7	obl	_	_
10	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	cop	_	_
11	still	still	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
12	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	lie	lie	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **happen** | past · do-support | a real problem |  | you |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **is a** | present | a real problem | a lie |  |  | still |  | tree rules |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Power cuts never happen in Cape Town

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:426-the-dog-ate-it-excuses-for-homework:t6:o4:1
# text = Power cuts never happen in Cape Town
1	Power	power	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	compound	_	_
2	cuts	cut	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	happen	happen	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	Cape	Cape	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	Town	Town	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **happen** | present | Power cuts |  |  | Cape Town |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme in town=Location |

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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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- next →: [«The dog ate it»: excuses for homework, test 7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/426-the-dog-ate-it-excuses-for-homework/t7/)
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