---
title: Two brothers in Houston keep fighting over who gets the bigger half… — Thinking cleverly about people · tree and pragmatics
description: Two brothers in Houston keep fighting over who gets the bigger half of a sandwich. What simple rule solves it? Test 2 · ★★★ of lesson 60 «Thinking cleverly about people» of the everyday course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova'
---

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# Test 2 · ★★★ · Thinking cleverly about people

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Two brothers in Houston keep fighting over who gets the bigger half of a sandwich. What simple rule solves it?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Two brothers, simple rule · **What happens:** keep, fight, get, solve · **To what, where:** bigger half, half

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This is test 2 · ★★★ of lesson 60 «Thinking cleverly about people» 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/60-reasoning-about-people/#t2).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Two brothers in Houston keep fighting over who gets the bigger half of a sandwich.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:60-reasoning-about-people:t2:1
# text = Two brothers in Houston keep fighting over who gets the bigger half of a sandwich.
1	Two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	2	nummod	_	_
2	brothers	brother	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	Houston	Houston	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
5	keep	keep	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	fighting	fight	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	xcomp	_	_
7	over	over	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	9	nsubj	_	_
9	gets	get	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	advcl	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
11	bigger	big	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	12	amod	_	_
12	half	half	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing|NumForm=Word|NumType=Frac	9	obj	_	_
13	of	of	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	sandwich	sandwich	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **keep** | present | Two brothers in Houston |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **fight** | gerund | Two brothers in Houston *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn battle-36.4-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **get** | present |  | the bigger half of a sandwich |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer half=Stimulus |

<!-- .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 simple rule solves it?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:60-reasoning-about-people:t2:2
# text = What simple rule solves it?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	4	obj	_	_
2	simple	simple	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	rule	rule	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	solves	solve	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **solve** | present | simple rule | half |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Mum always gives the bigger half to the younger

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:60-reasoning-about-people:t2:o1:1
# text = Mum always gives the bigger half to the younger
1	Mum	mum	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	3	advmod	_	_
3	gives	give	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	bigger	big	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	6	amod	_	_
6	half	half	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing|NumForm=Word|NumType=Frac	3	obj	_	_
7	to	to	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	younger	young	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give** | present | Mum | the bigger half | the younger |  |  | always *property* | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent half=Theme to young=Recipient |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
One cuts, the other picks his half first

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:60-reasoning-about-people:t2:o2:1
# text = One cuts, the other picks his half first
1	One	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	2	nsubj	_	_
2	cuts	cut	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	nsubj	_	_
6	picks	pick	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
7	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
8	half	half	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing|NumForm=Word|NumType=Frac	6	obj	_	_
9	first	first	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	6	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cut** | present | One |  |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer |
| 2 | **pick** | present | the other | his half |  |  |  | first *property* | vn chew-39.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent half=Patient |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They take turns eating bites from the same half

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:60-reasoning-about-people:t2:o3:1
# text = They take turns eating bites from the same half
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	take	take	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	turns	turn	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
4	eating	eat	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	3	acl	_	_
5	bites	bite	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
6	from	from	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	same	same	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	half	half	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing|NumForm=Word|NumType=Frac	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **take** | present | They | turns |  | the same half |  |  | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP PP.initial\_location»: agent=Agent turn=Theme from half=Initial\_Location |
| 2 | **eat** | gerund | turns *not said here* | bites |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent bite=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The one who complains less gets the bigger half

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:60-reasoning-about-people:t2:o4:1
# text = The one who complains less gets the bigger half
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	one	one	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
3	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	4	nsubj	_	_
4	complains	complain	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	acl:relcl	_	_
5	less	less	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	4	obj	_	_
6	gets	get	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	bigger	big	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	9	amod	_	_
9	half	half	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing|NumForm=Word|NumType=Frac	6	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **complain** *speech: other* | present | the one | less |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **get** | present | the one | the bigger half |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer half=Stimulus |

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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: [Thinking cleverly about people, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/60-reasoning-about-people/t1/)
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