---
title: Why is it best not to pick a scab on your knee? — Doctors, cuts and grazes · tree and pragmatics
description: Why is it best not to pick a scab on your knee? Test 2 of lesson 83 «Doctors, cuts and grazes» 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 2 · Doctors, cuts and grazes

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why is it best not to pick a scab on your knee?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** not be · **To what, where:** knee

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This is test 2 of lesson 83 «Doctors, cuts and grazes» 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/83-doctors-cuts-and-grazes/#t2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:83-doctors-cuts-and-grazes:t2:1
# text = Why is it best not to pick a scab on your knee?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	7	advmod	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	obj	_	_
4	best	well	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	7	advmod	_	_
5	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	7	advmod	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	pick	pick	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	scab	scab	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
10	on	on	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	12	nmod:poss	_	_
12	knee	knee	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **is** | present |  |  |  | your knee |  | pick, well *property* | 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.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It will make your knee bend the wrong way

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:83-doctors-cuts-and-grazes:t2:o1:1
# text = It will make your knee bend the wrong way
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	make	make	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	knee	knee	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	bend	bend	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	ccomp	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	wrong	wrong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl:unmarked	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | future | It |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **bend** | present | your knee | the wrong way |  |  |  |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Scabs are poisonous to touch

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:83-doctors-cuts-and-grazes:t2:o2:1
# text = Scabs are poisonous to touch
1	Scabs	scab	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	poisonous	poisonous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	touch	touch	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Scabs |  |  |  |  | poisonous *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **touch** | to-infinitive | Scabs *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn contiguous\_location-47.8-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It protects new skin and picking can scar

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:83-doctors-cuts-and-grazes:t2:o3:1
# text = It protects new skin and picking can scar
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	protects	protect	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	new	new	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	skin	skin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
6	picking	picking	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
7	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
8	scar	scar	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **protect** | present | It | new skin |  |  |  |  | vn defend-72.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent skin=Beneficiary |
| 2 | **scar** | can | picking |  |  |  |  |  | vn image\_impression-25.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The scab will grow bigger if picked

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:83-doctors-cuts-and-grazes:t2:o4:1
# text = The scab will grow bigger if picked
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	scab	scab	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	grow	grow	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	bigger	big	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	4	xcomp	_	_
6	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
7	picked	pick	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **grow** | future | the scab |  |  |  |  | big *property* | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **pick** *a condition, not said to happen* | participle | the scab *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn chew-39.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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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: [Doctors, cuts and grazes, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/83-doctors-cuts-and-grazes/t1/)
- next →: [Doctors, cuts and grazes, test 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/83-doctors-cuts-and-grazes/t3/)
- ↑ back to [Doctors, cuts and grazes](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/83-doctors-cuts-and-grazes/)