---
title: A boy is scared of the dentist's drill. What would help him most? — Facing fears · tree and pragmatics
description: A boy is scared of the dentist's drill. What would help him most? Test 5 · ★ of lesson 90 «Facing fears» 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 5 · ★ · Facing fears

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A boy is scared of the dentist's drill. What would help him most?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** boy · **What happens:** be, help · **To what, where:** boy

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 5 · ★ of lesson 90 «Facing fears» 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/90-facing-fears/#t5).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* A boy is scared of the dentist's drill.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:90-facing-fears:t5:1
# text = A boy is scared of the dentist's drill.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	boy	boy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	scared	scared	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	dentist	dentist	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	's	's	PART	POS	_	7	case	_	_
9	drill	drill	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | a boy |  |  |  |  | of the dentist's drill; scared *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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* What would help him most?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:90-facing-fears:t5:2
# text = What would help him most?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	help	help	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	obj	_	_
5	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	3	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **help** | would |  |  | boy |  |  |  | vn help-72.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Beneficiary |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Knowing what comes next and having a stop signal

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:90-facing-fears:t5:o1:1
# text = Knowing what comes next and having a stop signal
1	Knowing	know	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	_
3	comes	come	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	ccomp	_	_
4	next	next	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	having	have	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	1	conj	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	stop	stop	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	signal	signal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **know** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V how S\_INF»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 2 | **come** | present |  |  |  |  |  | next *property* | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **have** | gerund |  | a stop signal |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent signal=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Closing his eyes and keeping silent

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:90-facing-fears:t5:o2:1
# text = Closing his eyes and keeping silent
1	Closing	close	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	3	nmod:poss	_	_
3	eyes	eye	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	obj	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	keeping	keep	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	1	conj	_	_
6	silent	silent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **close** | gerund |  | his eyes |  |  |  |  | vn crane-40.3.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent eye=Patient |
| 2 | **keep** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | silent *property* | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Biting the dentist's finger

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:90-facing-fears:t5:o3:1
# text = Biting the dentist's finger
1	Biting	bite	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	dentist	dentist	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	's	's	PART	POS	_	3	case	_	_
5	finger	finger	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **bite** | gerund |  | the dentist's finger |  |  |  |  | vn swat-18.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent finger=Patient |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Not going at all and just hoping that his teeth stay fine on their own

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:90-facing-fears:t5:o4:1
# text = Not going at all and just hoping that his teeth stay fine on their own
1	Not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	2	advmod	_	_
2	going	go	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	7	csubj	_	_
3	at	at	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	2	obl	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
6	just	just	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	hoping	hope	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
8	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
9	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
10	teeth	tooth	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	nsubj	_	_
11	stay	stay	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	advcl	_	_
12	fine	fine	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	xcomp	_	_
13	on	on	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	15	nmod:poss	_	_
15	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **go** | gerund |  |  |  | all |  |  | vn occur-48.3-2 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme at all=Location |
| 2 | **hope** | gerund | going |  |  |  |  |  | vn long-32.2 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Pivot |
| 3 | **stay** | present | his teeth |  |  | teeth's own |  | fine *property* | vn exist-47.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme on own=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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- ← previous: [Facing fears, test 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/90-facing-fears/t4/)
- next →: [Facing fears, test 6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/90-facing-fears/t6/)
- ↑ back to [Facing fears](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/90-facing-fears/)