---
title: What would happen if a big ship blocked the narrow Bab-el-Mandeb? — Straits: Bosporus, Gibraltar, Malacca,… · tree and pragmatics
description: What would happen if a big ship blocked the narrow Bab-el-Mandeb? Test 6 · ★★ of lesson 19 «Straits: Bosporus, Gibraltar, Malacca, Hormuz and the other narrow doors» of the geography course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's c
---

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# Test 6 · ★★ · Straits: Bosporus, Gibraltar, Malacca, Hormuz and the othe…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What would happen if a big ship blocked the narrow Bab-el-Mandeb?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** big ship · **What happens:** happen, block · **To what, where:** narrow Bab el

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 6 · ★★ of lesson 19 «Straits: Bosporus, Gibraltar, Malacca, Hormuz and the other narrow doors» of the geography 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/geography/19-straits-the-narrow-doors/#t6).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:19-straits-the-narrow-doors:t6:1
# text = What would happen if a big ship blocked the narrow Bab-el-Mandeb?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	happen	happen	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	big	big	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	ship	ship	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
8	blocked	block	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
10	narrow	narrow	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
11	Bab	bab	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	el	el	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	15	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	Mandeb	Mandeb	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	13	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **happen** | would |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **block** *a condition, not said to happen* | past | a big ship | the narrow Bab el |  |  |  |  | vn forbid-64.4-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Causer el=Theme |

<!-- .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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The Red Sea would slowly start to dry up without the water from the ocean

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:19-straits-the-narrow-doors:t6:o1:1
# text = The Red Sea would slowly start to dry up without the water from the ocean
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	Red	Red	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	Sea	Sea	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
4	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
5	slowly	slowly	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	start	start	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	dry	dry	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	xcomp	_	_
9	up	up	ADP	RP	_	8	compound:prt	_	_
10	without	without	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
13	from	from	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	ocean	ocean	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **start** | would | the Red Sea |  |  |  |  | slowly *property* | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **dry up** | to-infinitive | the Red Sea *not said here* |  |  | the ocean |  | without the water | vn other\_cos-45.4-1 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ships could simply sail round it, as the strait there is hundreds of kilometres wide

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:19-straits-the-narrow-doors:t6:o2:1
# text = Ships could simply sail round it, as the strait there is hundreds of kilometres wide
1	Ships	ship	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
2	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	simply	simply	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	sail	sail	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	round	round	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
8	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	strait	strait	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
11	there	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	12	expl	_	_
12	is	be	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
13	hundreds	hundred	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	nsubj	_	_
14	of	of	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	kilometres	kilometre	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	nmod	_	_
16	wide	wide	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sail** | could | Ships |  |  | it |  | simply *property* | vn nonvehicle-51.4.2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent round it=Trajectory |
| 2 | **be** | present | the strait |  |  | there |  | wide *property* | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nothing much, because almost no ships use the Red Sea route these days

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:19-straits-the-narrow-doors:t6:o3:1
# text = Nothing much, because almost no ships use the Red Sea route these days
1	Nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	0	root	_	_
2	much	much	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	1	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
4	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
5	almost	almost	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
6	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	7	det	_	_
7	ships	ship	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
8	use	use	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	conj	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
10	Red	Red	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	compound	_	_
11	Sea	Sea	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	12	compound	_	_
12	route	route	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
13	these	this	DET	DT	Number=Plur|PronType=Dem	14	det	_	_
14	days	day	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl:unmarked	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **use** | present | no ships | the Sea route |  |  | day |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent route=Patient |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ships between Suez and the Indian Ocean would be held up or go round Africa

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:19-straits-the-narrow-doors:t6:o4:1
# text = Ships between Suez and the Indian Ocean would be held up or go round Africa
1	Ships	ship	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	between	between	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
3	Suez	Suez	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	1	nmod	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	Indian	Indian	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	Ocean	Ocean	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	conj	_	_
8	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	10	aux	_	_
9	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	aux:pass	_	_
10	held	hold	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
11	up	up	ADP	RP	_	10	compound:prt	_	_
12	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
13	go	go	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	conj	_	_
14	round	round	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	Africa	Africa	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hold up** | would · passive |  | Ships between Suez and the Indian Ocean |  |  |  |  | vn support-15.3-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 2 | **go** | infinitive |  |  |  | Africa |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme round africa=Initial\_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.

<!-- /div -->

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