---
title: In a TV show, a kid secretly sells his bike to pay his family's rent… — The electric meter, the food bank and… · tree and pragmatics
description: In a TV show, a kid secretly sells his bike to pay his family's rent and saves the day. What's more real? Test 6 · ★★ of lesson 488 «The electric meter, the food bank and «we can't afford it»» of the everyday course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question an
---

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# Test 6 · ★★ · The electric meter, the food bank and «we can't afford it»

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
In a TV show, a kid secretly sells his bike to pay his family's rent and saves the day. What's more real?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** kid, family · **What happens:** sell, pay, save, rent, be · **To what, where:** bike, TV show, rent

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 6 · ★★ of lesson 488 «The electric meter, the food bank and «we can't afford it»» 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/488-the-electric-meter-the-food-bank-and-we-cant-afford-it/#t6).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* In a TV show, a kid secretly sells his bike to pay his family's rent and saves the day.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:488-the-electric-meter-the-food-bank-and-we-cant-afford-it:t6:1
# text = In a TV show, a kid secretly sells his bike to pay his family's rent and saves the day.
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	TV	TV	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
4	show	show	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	kid	kid	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
8	secretly	secretly	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
9	sells	sell	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
10	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
11	bike	bike	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
12	to	to	PART	TO	_	13	mark	_	_
13	pay	pay	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	advcl	_	_
14	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	15	nmod:poss	_	_
15	family	family	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	's	's	PART	POS	_	15	case	_	_
17	rent	rent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obj	_	_
18	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	19	cc	_	_
19	saves	save	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	conj	_	_
20	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
21	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	9	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sell** | present | a kid | kid's bike |  | a TV show |  | secretly *property* | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent bike=Theme |
| 2 | **pay** | to-infinitive | a kid *not said here* | kid's family's rent |  |  |  |  | vn pay-68-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent rent=Asset |
| 3 | **save** | present | a kid *not said here* |  |  |  | day |  | vn get-13.5.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **rent** |  | kid's family |  |  |  |  |  | nom rent «possession transitive»: poss=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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* What's more real?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:488-the-electric-meter-the-food-bank-and-we-cant-afford-it:t6:2
# text = What's more real?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	4	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	more	more	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	4	amod	_	_
4	real	real	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Every kid can pay the rent by selling toys

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:488-the-electric-meter-the-food-bank-and-we-cant-afford-it:t6:o1:1
# text = Every kid can pay the rent by selling toys
1	Every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	2	det	_	_
2	kid	kid	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	pay	pay	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	rent	rent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	by	by	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
8	selling	sell	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	4	advcl	_	_
9	toys	toy	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pay** | can | every kid | the rent |  |  |  |  | vn pay-68-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent rent=Asset |
| 2 | **sell** | gerund | every kid *not said here* | toys |  |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent toy=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Rent is a grown-up's job, and kids can't fix it

<!-- fold The tree, 13 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:488-the-electric-meter-the-food-bank-and-we-cant-afford-it:t6:o2:1
# text = Rent is a grown-up's job, and kids can't fix it
1	Rent	rent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
4	grown	grow	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	up	up	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	's	's	PART	POS	_	6	case	_	_
8	job	job	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
11	kids	kid	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	nsubj	_	_
12	ca	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	14	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	14	advmod	_	_
14	fix	fix	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	conj	_	_
15	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **grow** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **is a** | present | Rent | a grown up's job |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **not** **fix** | can | kids | Rent |  |  |  |  | vn shake-22.3-2 «NP V NP together»: agent=Agent it=Patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Selling one bike pays rent for a whole year

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:488-the-electric-meter-the-food-bank-and-we-cant-afford-it:t6:o3:1
# text = Selling one bike pays rent for a whole year
1	Selling	sell	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	4	csubj	_	_
2	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	3	nummod	_	_
3	bike	bike	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	pays	pay	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	rent	rent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
6	for	for	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	whole	whole	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	year	year	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sell** | gerund |  | one bike |  |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent bike=Theme |
| 2 | **pay** | present | Selling | rent |  |  | year |  | vn pay-68-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent rent=Asset |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Landlords only accept money from children

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:488-the-electric-meter-the-food-bank-and-we-cant-afford-it:t6:o4:1
# text = Landlords only accept money from children
1	Landlords	landlord	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	only	only	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	accept	accept	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	money	money	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
5	from	from	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **accept** | present | Landlords | money |  |  |  | from children | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP PP.source»: agent=Agent money=Theme from child=Source |

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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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